Malaysia raids Swatch stores, seizes colorful watches celebrating gay pride
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malaysian authorities raided Swatch stores and confiscated 164 watches from its collection celebrating gay pride, the Swiss watchmaker says.
The company said Tuesday that the Malaysian Ministry of Home Affairs officials raided its outlets in various malls across Malaysia on May 13 and 14 and seized the watches because they “bore LGBT connotations.”
The watches in Swatch’s Pride Collection come in a choice of six colors, matching those on the pride flag, and have two rainbow loops on their straps.
“We strongly contest that our collection of watches using rainbow colors and having a message of peace and love could be harmful for whomever,” Swatch Group CEO Nick Hayek Jr. said in a statement.
“On the contrary, Swatch always promotes a positive message of joy in life. This is nothing political. We wonder how the Regulatory and Enforcement Division of the Home Ministry will confiscate the many beautiful natural rainbows that are showing up a thousand times a year in the sky of Malaysia,” he said.
Malaysia, which is predominantly Muslim, criminalizes same-sex relationships, with punishments ranging from caning, under Islamic laws, to 20 years in prison for sodomy, under colonial-era civil laws that remain on the statute books. The opposition Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party recently criticized a scheduled concert in November by British band Coldplay because of its support of the LGBTQ+ movement.
Target is removing items and making changes to its LGBTQ+ merchandise ahead of Pride Month, after some customers engaged in violent confrontations with its workers.
Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution told the Associated Press that he was waiting for a full report on the matter before issuing a statement.
Swatch said that it has resumed selling the Pride Collection watches and that its legal department is looking into the seizure.
Gay rights group Jejaka slammed the confiscation of the watches, saying it showed “a deeply unsettling level of intolerance.”
“It is more than a matter of colorful watches. It’s about respect for diversity, freedom of expression, and, most importantly, love,” the group said in a statement. It urged the government to promote a culture of acceptance and understanding rather than of repression and discrimination.
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