Singer Ricky Martin made a powerful statement last week when he changed the lyrics “she” to “he” while performing a love song in Morocco.
Homosexuality is illegal in the Islamic North African country, with penalties including fines and between six months to three years imprisonment.
Martin, who has been openly gay since 2010, made the subversive move as he performed his 1999 track She’s All I Ever Had at the Mawazine music festival in Raba.
In the original, released when the star was still in the closet, he addressed a female lover, but mid way through the recent Cameroon performance he switched the gender of his lover, singing instead:
“It’s the way he makes me feel/ It’s the only thing that’s real. It’s the way he understands / He’s my lover, he’s my friend / When I look into his eyes it’s the way I feel inside / Like the man I want to be / He’s all I ever need.”
Watch the performance below.
