Malaysian festival cancelled after The 1975 frontman kisses bandmate onstage

The Malaysian festival Good Vibes was cut short after the 1975 frontman Matty Healy made a statement attacking the anti-LGBTQ+ laws in the country.

The political statement is not Healy's first, having been banned from the United Arab Emirates after he kissed a male fan onstage in 2019 as a protest against the country's anti-LGBTQ+ laws.

ummm? The 1975 just got banned from kl💀 pic.twitter.com/Sxsyp8MJV3

— melanie⁷ 🫧 (@vanillarumsboat) July 21, 2023

During the show, he apologised to the audience, saying he "made a mistake" when the band accepted Good Vibes' invitation to play as he wasn't aware of the country's laws at the time. In Malaysia, homosexuality is a crime punishable by up to 20 years in prison and caning.

"I don’t see the fucking point of inviting the 1975 to a country and then telling us who we can have sex with," said Healy in an impassioned speech just a few songs into their set, as seen in videos posted to social media. "Unfortunately you don’t get a set of loads of uplifting songs because I’m fucking furious. 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."

After his speech, during the next song in the band's set, Healy kissed the 1975 bassist Ross MacDonald, actively breaking the country's homosexuality laws. Thirty minutes later, their set was cut short.

"All right, we just got banned from Kuala Lumpur, see you later."

The festival made a statement the next day announcing the entire rest of the festival's lineup would be cancelled as a response to the incident, which included headlining sets from the Kid Laroi and The Strokes. According to the statement, Malaysia's ministry of communications and digital gave an "immediate cancellation directive", carrying out its "unwavering stance against any parties that challenge, ridicule or contravene Malaysian laws."

The band later announced it would be cancelling its upcoming shows in Jakarta and Taipei as scheduled. "The band never takes the decision to cancel a show lightly," said the band in a statement. "But unfortunately, due to current circumstances, it is impossible to proceed with the scheduled shows.” The 1975 are still scheduled to play the English festival Reading and Leeds later this year, replacing Lewis Capaldi.

The 1975 regret to announce that their forthcoming shows in Jakarta and Taipei will no longer be going ahead as planned.

Please see the official statement from the band. pic.twitter.com/XpZskFnyeD

— We The Fest (@WeTheFest) July 23, 2023

Despite Healy's attempt to defend the queer community, some members of the Malaysian LGBTQ+ have voiced their disapproval of the singer's actions.

"One can appreciate the meaning of Healy’s protest," said Malaysian LGBTQ+ activist Thilaga Sulathireh to The Washington Post about the incident. "But I think the timing of it may not necessarily benefit folks. Political parties are currently campaigning, and we know LGBT issues are often scapegoated.”

They went on to say they hoped that the 1975 would now support the festival organizers as they face a police investigation over the kiss. "That would show they’re not just this White band that came in and have this White savior complex and have just left with people having to deal with all these consequences."