Malaysian festival cancelled after Matty Healy’s onstage kiss
A festival in Malaysia has been cancelled after Matty Healy, the singer of The 1975, attacked the anti-LGBT laws that are part of Malaysian politics. Healy made a speech during his band’s performance at the Good Vibes Festival in Kuala Lumpur and kissed his bandmate in protest.
Homosexuality is illegal in the Asian country and is punishable by 20 years in prison. Healy and Ross McDonald kissed midway through a rendition of ‘I Like America and America Likes Me’, which was followed by the singer addressing the audience, clearly angered by the laws. However, this led to The 1975 being ushered off stage and the rest of the festival cancelled.
“When we were booking shows, I wasn’t looking into it,” Healy had said. “I don’t see the [expletive] point, right? I do not see the point of inviting the 1975 to a country and then telling us who we can have sex with.”
“Unfortunately, you don’t get a set of loads of uplifting songs because I’m [expletive] furious,” he continued. “And that’s not fair on you because you’re not representative of your government. Because you’re young people, and I’m sure a lot of you are gay and progressive and cool.”
Healy then grabbed his bass player, Ross MacDonald, and the two shared a kiss. It wasn’t long, though, before proceedings came to a halt.
Just 30 minutes into their set, Healy told the crowd, “Alright, we just got banned from Kuala Lumpur, see you later,” and the band were told to leave the festival by its organisers.
A source close to the band stated: “Matty has a long-time record of advocating for the LGBTQ+ community, and the band wanted to stand up for their LGBTQ+ fans and community.”
The order to cancel the festival came after an “immediate cancellation directive” from Malaysia’s Ministry of Communications and Digital because of the “unwavering stance against any parties that challenge, ridicule or contravene Malaysian laws”.
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