Mexican Governor Brings Marilyn Manson to State Fair in the Name of “Cultural Justice” Despite Protests

Marilyn Manson is once again causing controversy, this time over a free show the shock rocker performed in Mexico this past weekend.

Ricardo Gallardo Cardona, the governor of the Mexican state of San Luis Potosí and a renowned music lover, booked Manson to play the city’s annual state fair on August 10th, pulling a massive crowd of more than 205,000 fans to the show. The booking generated protests from local religious groups and conservative factions, citing the appearance as “inappropriate” for the family-friendly event.

In an interview with Billboard Español, Governor Gallardo Cardona pushed back against the protests by saying that Manson’s appearance was in “defense of freedom of expression,” as well as helping overcome the city’s decades-long “cultural lag” and “conservative mindsets” that have vilified hard rock and kept major concert events out of San Luis Potosí.

“There will always be opposing voices, and Marilyn Manson has faced them not just in Mexico but in other parts of the world too,” Gallardo Cardona said. “This isn’t about religion; it’s about cultural justice, about creating unity, and we must do it through music.”

Despite a cow’s head being left in front of the Metropolitan Cathedral of San Luis Potosí in response to Catholic groups demanding the show be canceled, and another conservative group collecting around 6,000 signatures in protest of the concert, a “visibly pleased” Manson took the stage at the Feria Nacional Potosina to a mob of excited fans from across Mexico and Latin America.

This isn’t the first time San Luis Potosí has balked at a hard rock show; in 1989, Black Sabbath’s proposed debut in the city was actually blocked, with protests claiming that the band “promoted satanism and anti-values.” The last-minute cancellation led to authorities shutting down Plan de San Luis Stadium with thousands of fans waiting outside the venue.

Earlier this year, a Marilyn Manson show in Brighton, England, that was scheduled to launch his UK tour in October was canceled after a member of Parliament and other protesters deemed the appearance went against the “city’s values.”

Manson has faced several allegations of sexual abuse and domestic violence. Just last year, he finally dropped a defamation suit he filed against actress Evan Rachel Wood after she publicly identified him as her abuser and was ordered by the court to pay her legal fees to the tune of nearly $327,000. The singer has also reached settlements with other women who came forward, including Game of Thrones actress Esmé Bianco.

Earlier this year, however, it was revealed that Manson wouldn’t face a series of abuse allegations from the years 2009-2011. Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said that the allegations fell outside the statute of limitations and that there wasn’t sufficient evidence against the rocker.