Malaysian rock band’s defence of song encouraging the death of gay people is the most pathetic thing we’ve seen this week
Bunkface (lai seng sin/AFP via Getty)
Malaysian rock band Bunkface has defended its decision to release a song featuring the lyric “go die LGBT+” and insisted they do not “promote hate” against queer people.
The band have come under fire from fans and from LGBT+ people from the discriminatory song, titled “Akhir Zaman”, which means “the end of times”.
The song includes the lyric “LGBT pergi mampus”, which translates as either “go to hell LGBT” or “go die LGBT”.
While the song’s sentiment is fairly clear, the band has now tried to defend themselves, but refused to accept any of the criticism levelled at them.
In a statement posted to Instagram, the band insisted that they accept “all criticism, both positive and negative” – but went on to claim that their anti-LGBT+ message is perfectly fine.
Bunkface said the lyric is ‘not directed at any specific individual’ but at the ‘LGBT movement’.
“Based on those criticisms, the majority of Malaysians accepted and supported the message that we’re trying to convey.”
Bunkface continued: “We would like to take a moment to explain a certain part of the song’s lyrics that has been claimed by certain parties that it promotes hate towards the LGBT+ community.”
Incredibly, the band defended themselves by saying that the lyric is “not directed to any specific individual”, but is instead directed at “the growing LGBT+ movement in the world, especially in Malaysia”.
They went on to claim that the lyric is addressed specifically at Muslims.
“We’d like to express that we have no intention to hate or to promote hate to any individual. We’re only making it clear that we do not support the movement that tries to push on ‘rights’ for LGBT+ here in Malaysia, especially those whom are Muslims.”
The statement ends by claiming: “The definition of Islam itself is to submit and to obey The Almighty and His rulings. Who are we to question those rulings?”
The controversial Bunkface song has since been removed from YouTube and from Spotify, but is still available on Apple Music, according to QueerLapis.com.
We’re only making it clear that we do not support the movement that tries to push on ‘rights’ for LGBT here in Malaysia, especially those whom are Muslims.
In a statement to the LGBT+ website, Apple Music said: “Apple welcomes and appreciates your comments and suggestions. To ensure that all artists are treated fairly, our policy is not to censor artist content that may be deemed offensive, indecent, or objectionable.”
They said that those who have concerns about the Bunkface song should instead complain to the artist’s record label.
“Though the label might not agree to withdraw the content, they might be able to offer a ‘clean’ version on the iTunes Store,” the statement added.
The YouTube video had been flooded with homophobic comments from fans by the time it was removed.
The YouTube video featuring the song had been viewed more than 700,000 times when the streaming platform removed it.
Worryingly, the video was flooded with homophobic comments before it was taken down. One person commented that LGBT+ people are “obviously against the law of nature”. Another commenter praised the band and told them to “keep up” with their “struggle”.
Another said: “I also do not support the LGBT+ community because I know my religion.” They went on to claim that they cannot support queer people because they want to get into heaven.
The band faced a wave of condemnation on Twitter. One person said they were trying to “climb their way back into the mainstream” with the anti-LGBT+ track.
While many have swiftly condemned the band, they have also gained a worrying amount of support from young fans in Malaysia.
One fan tweeted: “I’m with you hating LGBT+. F**k LGBT+.”
