

Taiwanese diva A-Mei was banned from singing her LGBT-friendly song “Rainbow” at a concert in Singapore last weekend. She was informed the song about same-sex relationships would not be allowed shortly before her performance at the Spring Wave Music and Art Festival on 7 June, stunning her and her staff—particularly as she had performed the song and spoken on gay rights at previous gigs in the Lion City.

A-Mei, a Taiwanese aborigine from the Puyuma nation, previously courted controversy in 2000 when she sang the ROC national anthem at the inauguration of pro-Taiwanese independence president Chen Shui-bien. Beijing responded by ordering all radio stations to cease broadcasts of her music, banning her from performing in the PRC and pressuring Sprite into cutting their endorsement contract with her.

The music video for her 2004 single “Love is the Only Thing” featured a gay wedding and a kiss between two men—a scene that had to be cut before the video could air in China—and in 2009 she performed as Rainbow Ambassador at the Taipei Gay Pride Parade, setting the record for the largest gay pride event in Asia. Last year, she held a free concert in Taipei in support of gay rights that was attended by over 20,00 fans.

Images of kissing same-sex couples on the screen won loud cheers from the audience during A-Mei’s previous Singapore concert





By Ryan Kilpatrick



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