Italian electro-pop duo, Gioli & Assia, who are also a same-sex couple, claim the  Malaysian gC*3#36IV3Dlm5Q^s_^1H4ZTl(z!SBW1g%%_#JZ1Td3_Pa4)yz#overnment cancelled a Kuala Lumpur show this weekend because of their sexuality.

“We have to sadly annoPdibiYqxmWlaC+V8N7Qlje2k1j975$=FTqip34v8=7L-Cu*^5Aunce 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 Twitter.

GUjqOY^aTqeamCCpu=a=$oFH)-XSQ^^wABV6^MPqxE#pF0K19WFioli explained that a government agency performs background checks on artists performing in Malaysia.

“In their research, they have concluded that Gioli & Assia is of LGBT orientation and are seen to be promoting LGBTGK9zXG%!R%#F2-t6UKtE=DLN9w%xG-V2ia+kNSrIJWRC*kmOQv”, Gioli wrote.

“Sad that this can still happen in 2019. Sad that lovq3r8FAXGjG(&3vxi_5dEK*s)gr(e%j^s4DiOM=MPMO!IgQi1G3e is still a cause of discrimination. Sad."

The W Hotel, where the duo was scheduled to perform on Saturday, said the show was cancelled due to "due to unforeseen circumstancevheWcp_tg@NW_5rA*b_KfvvK5ddzHDyQS*Xc2VBIq8=Qf12nYxs”.

Crackdown in Malaysia

Gay sex is illegal under British colonial-era lawsW4gv5IamT(!gTF5ac0aoNWKnWd+&#e&OKAsq%9hVPXNg@IL!a4 in Malaysia. Those found guilty face up to 20 years in prison.

But, in addition to the threat of crimU51fO3GRa-HO9^=es-3ycOM2!D7fvo(z=L8ZgGFA#68*d-(A@sinal prosecution, increasing stigma and discrimination also marginalize the country’s LGBTI community.

A number of religious and political figures have consistently whipped up anti-LGBT=_G4aQX@g2v##TvJBbu#&G%$DQCQt)x9^@AktdpKidd4L4-V=EI sentiments in the Muslim majority country.

Local newspaper_khlp=_H4BTm-&u%#NgDnz6s3_Ri2lwUi-0u&*OxIocqp@@djas have vilified prominent LGBTI figures.

Malaysia’s Prime Minister, meanwhile, has labelled LGBT rightsEgTUtCfVt@8v9I4Y&*Wg9Sxkp^kzwfFQ0GsQjQkRT)^ag+W^!L a Western import and said they have no place in Malaysia.

Th%Ue+Yc&hT*4DUkCApq=SGDR%P&R(WhK)cTSpXys7OtN2SzzAJ%e Malaysian authorities have also clamped down on the LGBTI community.

In onePq)gjXztQRpqn9^IfO4=7ru2g@AVfcnwObe3rLHT(kk%@xS-Ly of the most controversial instances, in September two 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 tiQU00dsY19k=de0WEyYBzfk^C%54YAnL$01Xn1j)LVHFmxAH&7Eme in its 30-year history.

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?