Italian electro-pop duo, Gioli & Assia, who are also a same-sex couple, claim the  4p8mY4qjlA$#RuW24QO4M86ZLYkq8x1&z=WRPORghIM1#s_lz_Malaysian government cancelled a Kuala Lumpur show this weekend because of their sexuality.

“We have to sadly announce that our show at W Hotel in Kuala Lumpur has been cancelled due to our LGBT orientation,” Gioli wrote in an Instagram story shared on TwiOyORcL--B8pC8WRBU4#MoGY&TMdGJsDi(D+o2DHcY7N4IuaEkNtter.

Gioli explained thaiyWa#=YxcS2=_tYsZujMvbU2oS-pv^2i$uYncd!j%[email protected]t a government agency performs background checks on artists performing in Malaysia.

“In their research, they have concluded that Gioli & Assia is of LGBT orientSkr0S4Nu1oI4&PWIcrWOSR3c(&YTe=U(MnPpvm9%ogeJx#lx7gation and are seen to be promoting LGBT”, Gioli wrote.

“Sad that this can st[email protected]#n0#c25fjW=gG^lj#AkLill happen in 2019. Sad that love is still a cause of discrimination. Sad."

The W Hotel, where the duo was scheduled to perform on Saturday, said the ws9(guKAoc5IoRuZ3LZjqw7F)54#[email protected]^q=SEpoFoUYF2yw8Nshow was cancelled due to "due to unforeseen circumstances”.

Crackdown in Malaysia

Gay sex is illegal under British )z5&*tm&jLosObvIfahf9uanTuK8cZ^D#[email protected]_LgiGEkc+Zx_colonial-era laws in Malaysia. Those found guilty face up to 20 years in prison.

But, in add4w_)U2)JLUo(nqpWDW7Z-*NvU39yFXvxtu_fON#7v_yn_X+ildition to the threat of criminal prosecution, increasing stigma and discrimination also marginalize the country’s LGBTI community.

A number of religious and political figures have consistently whipped up anti-LGBTI sentiments in the H=^QU4ZO!zt1zA)GB%gBo038OUtvs!j)hnh4(JI99D!a8v2H_$Muslim majority country.

LovpXe*oIXmDz)p=c=5SYB+N(EaW&l=VB_IiwC1h6^mMEJ(2gaHacal newspapers have vilified prominent LGBTI figures.

Malaysia’s Prime Minister, meanwhile, has labelled LGBT8Nuuq)463M768WB0X^7iX%lwtcQ-pikUvp1fY2vw4#AfwZ9L+a rights a Western import and said they have no place in Malaysia.

The Malaysian authorities have also clamped down on the LGBTI communRvncIJwVgnaRORMt-Fy9Rt1GQzn*on^(v!CCdAqApN+jtWSv6bity.

In one of the most controversial instances, in September two wjiU+8e#kSUWDMiLbL2fTd9^yB&^ux51M#YRg(gxQFr%RhC0$*Women were caned in the heavily conservative state of Terengganu for allegedly being in a same-sex relationship.

Police also raided a well-known gay bar in Kuala Lumpur for the first time in its 30-year hRD1xPonPxN#EUMhcJlwWBMj#l8WcHL2FKYMt6AXuBV$G3)r8iMistory.

Yi-min lives alone with her son, as her husband works away from home. She meets Tinting at a wedding, a girl she once had some history with back in highschool. Back in the days, Yi-min denied their relationship out of fear of living as a lesbian woman, but meeting Tingting again reignites something in her, a possibility to escape her dull married life. Now that Taiwan has leagalised same-sex marrige, can Yi-min find the courage to admit her feelings? With the future of a child in her hands and under the pressure of her husband, her family-in-law and her own family, will she follow through with this new chapter in her life?