On Saturday, Malaysian authorities cancelled a weekend music festival after the frontman of a British indie rock band kissed his male bandmate following a tirade against the country’s anti-LGBTQ laws.
In Malaysia, homosexuality is banned and laws punishing sodomy are punished by imprisonment.
Authorities regularly discriminate against LGBTQ persons in the country.
British rock band The 1975 stopped their Good Vibes music festival concert short on Friday after lead singer Matty Healy slammed Malaysia’s anti-gay laws in a profanity-laced speech before kissing bassist Ross MacDonald on stage.
Healy told his fans that the band thought of cancelling the event, adding, “I do not see the point of inviting The 1975 to a country and then telling us who we can have sex with.” He then said, “All right, we gotta go. We just got banned from Kuala Lumpur.”
Healy’s on-stage protest was not his first. In 2019, he kissed a male fan at a concert in the United Arab Emirates, which has strict anti-LGBTQ laws.
Malaysian Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil promised quick action in response to the kiss, calling it a “very rude act” in a news report posted early Saturday.
After meeting with organizers, he later ordered the “immediate cancellation” of the three-day festival.
“Never touch the sensitivities of the community, especially those that are against the manners and values of the local culture,” he said in a subsequent tweet.