British indie-rock band The 1975 canceled a planned concert in Indonesia on Sunday (July 23) after prompting the cancellation of a festival in neighboring Malaysia for an onstage kiss between singer and bassist.
On Friday, the group had to cut short their concert at the Good Vibes festival in Sepang, near Kuala Lumpur, after a kiss on stage between singer Matty Healy and bassist Ross MacDonald. Earlier on stage, Matty Healy had vehemently denounced the anti-LGBT laws in force in Malaysia, where homosexuality is illegal and can lead to prison sentences. “I don’t see the point of inviting The 1975 to a country and then telling us who we can have sex with,” the singer said.
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Malaysia’s communications and digital minister called the kiss “very rude” before ordering the “immediate cancellation” of the rest of the Good Vibes festival, which was to last three days. “Never touch the sensitivities of our community, especially those that go against the ways and values ??of the local culture,” he added on Twitter. In a statement also posted on Twitter, the festival confirmed that the cancellation had been decided by the ministry “following the conduct and controversial remarks of British artist Matty Healy”.
In Indonesia, the most populous Muslim-majority country in the world, legislation has never criminalized homosexuality, but local ordinances that discriminate against LGBT people do exist. Several events have been canceled there for several years following pressure from the opposition. Political figures and conservative groups try to criminalize homosexuality and same-sex couples often face discrimination there.
In its press release, The 1975 also announced the cancellation of its concert scheduled for Tuesday in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, an island at the forefront of the movement for LGBT rights in Asia, which legalized same-sex marriage in 2019.
