A music festival in Malaysia’s capital was canceled Saturday after two male band members of a British band kissed on stage in defiance of the country’s anti-LGBT laws.
During a performance at the Good Vibes Festival on Friday in Kuala Lumpur, Matty Healy, the frontman of The 1975, delivered a profanity laden speech before the kiss.
"I made a mistake. When we were booking shows, I wasn't looking into it," he said. "I don't see the (expletive) point ... of inviting The 1975 to a country and then telling us who we can have sex with."
Healy then kissed bassist Ross McDonald.
Not long after that, Healy stopped the band’s performance short and announced, “All right, we've got to go. We just got banned from Kuala Lumpur. I'll see you later."
In a Tweet on Saturday, Malaysia’s Communication Minister Fahmi Fadzil announced the “Immediate Cancellation” of the festival, which was originally set to last until Sunday.
The minister criticized the “very rude actions and statements” of the band, adding that there would be “no compromise for any party that challenges, violates or disparages Malaysian law.” He also urged festival organizers to find a way to compensate those who bought tickets to the festival.
Homosexuality is a crime in Malaysia.
In 2019, Healy did something similar in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where homosexuality is also a crime, when he kissed a male fan on stage.
Some information for this report came from Reuters.
