Bloomberg Línea — Brazilian singer and drag queen Pabllo Vittar has provoked the ire of Brazilian electoral authorities by calling on youths attending the Lollapalooza festival to register to vote, and to vote for left-wing candidate and former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
During his performance on Friday, drag queen Pabllo Vittar asked 16- to 18-year-olds to get their voting cards to vote for Lula, and then ran around the stage hugging a towel emblazoned with the former president’s face.
In reaction to the performance, Raul Araújo, a minister of the supreme electoral court (TSE), prohibited artists performing at the festival from engaging in “electoral propaganda” while on stage.
“Although every citizen’s right to express their appreciation or dislike for any public official or even a possible candidate is guaranteed, that guarantee does not contemplate the manifestation portrayed, which characterizes propaganda, in which artists reject a candidate and praise another,” Araújo said in his formal communication of the decision.
However, until Sunday evening, the festival said it had not been notified of the decision and therefore has no obligation to comply with it.
The TSE imposed a fine of 50,000 reais ($10,492) per day if the decision is not complied with.
