Elton John

  A Malaysian Muslim political party is demanding that Elton John be barred from performing in the country later this week because he is homosexual.

Nasruding Hassan Tantawi, head of the youth wing of the opposition Pan-Malaysian Islamic party (PAS), said the concert must be cancelled :

Artists who are involved in gay and lesbian activities must not be allowed to perform in Malaysia as they will promote the wrong values.

PAS will demand that the authorities cancel this immoral performance to protect our society from social degradation.

Homosexuality is illegal in Malaysia and is punishable by caning and up to 20 years in prison.

Elton John, who is scheduled to perform at a resort outside of Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, is an outspoken supporter of gay and lesbian rights.

Officials in Belarus have asked the organizers of an upcoming Elton John concert in Minsk to prevent the promotion of homosexuality.

The Public Council for Morality is to study recordings of earlier performances by the British singer to make sure they have no elements inconsistent with the law and morality, the head of the organization said.

We have requested the organizers of the concert to give us records of Elton John's earlier performances, he said.

Nikolai Cherginets said the Council is particularly concerned over the openly gay singer's statement in an interview with a U.S. magazine that Jesus was a super-intelligent gay man.

Elton John will play at the Minsk Arena on June 26 as part of his European summer tour.

The Public Council for Morality was established in 2009 by the Belarusian Orthodox Church and the Writers Union of Belarus, with the support of President Alexander Lukashenko.

Egypt's musician's union has rejected plans for British singer Elton John to perform a private concert scheduled for May 18, because of his controversial remarks attacking religions.

How do we allow a gay, who wants to ban religions, claimed that the prophet Eissa (Jesus) was gay and calls for Middle Eastern countries to allow gays to have sexual freedom, head of the Egyptian Musician Union, Mounir al-Wasimi told the German Press Agency dpa.

The pop superstar stirred controversy after his remarks to US celebrity news magazine Parade in February, where he said Try being a gay woman in the Middle East - you're as good as dead, after saying he believed Jesus was gay .

Al-Wasimi said that he has begun coordinating with security bodies to ban John's concert, saying that the union is the only body authorized to allow performances by foreign singers in Egypt.

Update: Concert Goes Ahead in Morocco

28th May 2010. From  azcentral.com

Elton John will be the highlight of Morocco's biggest music festival despite calls by the country's main Islamist party to shelve the British singer because of his homosexuality, organizers said.

The public spat between organizers for the Mawazine Festival and the Justice and Development Party, or PJD, the country's largest authorized Islamist group, illustrates the growing rift between Morocco's Western-leaning authorities and the more conservative Muslim movements that are on the rise in the North African kingdom.

This singer is famous for his homosexual behavior and for advocating it, said Mustapha Ramid, a leader and spokesman for the PJD, the biggest opposition party with 40 lawmakers in parliament.

We're a rather open party. ..BUT... promoting homosexuality is completely unacceptable, Ramid said in a phone interview, stating is was against Muslim values. Ramid feared the singer would encourage the phenomenon and be a bad influence for Morocco's youth.

While Egypt recently canceled an Elton John concert because of remarks he made on homosexuality, Moroccan officials ignored calls to ban him. We deal with artists and intellectuals for what they do, without taking into account their private life, Mawazine Festival organizer El Hassan Neffali told reporters. Somebody's private life is one thing, and their art or creative activities are another.