JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) 鈥� More than 200 conservative Muslims marched in Indonesia's capital on Wednesday, calling for the cancellation of a Coldplay concert that night over the British band's support for the LGBTQ+ community.
The protesters, marching about 1 kilometer (half a mile) away from the concert venue in Jakarta where the band was set to perform, held a large banner that read: 鈥淩eject, cancel and disband Coldplay concerts.鈥� It described the band as an LGBTQ+ 鈥減ropagandist,鈥� saying its stance damages 鈥渇aith and morals.鈥�
The same protest group also staged demonstrations last week at several locations in Jakarta, including the British Embassy.
Indonesia is secular and has a long history of religious tolerance, but a small extremist fringe has become more vocal in recent years.
Coldplay is renowned for interlacing its values with its shows, such as the band鈥檚 push for environmental sustainability. Lead singer Chris Martin has been known to wear rainbow colors and .
The protests follow concert cancellations earlier this year in Southeast Asia over LGBTQ+-related issues. British pop rock band in Jakarta and Taipei in July after the Malaysian government cut short a music festival in the wake of the band鈥檚 lead singer slamming the country鈥檚 anti-gay laws and kissing a male bandmate during their performance.
Lady Gaga canceled her sold-out show in Indonesia in 2012 over security concerns after Muslim hard-liners threatened violence if the pop star went ahead with her 鈥淏orn This Way Ball鈥� concert.
The Asian leg of Coldplay鈥檚 鈥淢usic Of The Spheres World Tour鈥� includes Wednesday's concert at Gelora Bung Karno stadium in Jakarta. More than 70,000 tickets were sold in less than two hours when sales opened in May.
Jakarta is one of the band鈥檚 top streaming hubs, with 1.6 million fans in the city.
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Associated Press writer Niniek Karmini in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.
Edna Tarigan, The Associated Press
