In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the three days of “Good Vibes” promised by the festival of the same name will no longer exist. The music demonstration, which ran from Friday July 21 to Sunday July 22, was canceled after the frontman of British rock band ‘1975’ Matty Healy took the stage to criticize the country’s anti-Lgbtqia+ laws. “We made a mistake,” Healy said during the performance. “When we organized the concert we didn’t take into account the Malaysian government’s position on community rights.” “I see no reason to invite our band to a country and then tell us who we can and can’t have sex with. I am angry and that is not fair to you because you are not representative of this leader. I’m sure a lot of you guys are gay, progressive and cool,” Healy concluded, (further) challenging the government by kissing bassist Ross MacDonald. According to the Manchester group’s frontman, the authorities forced the members off the stage and asked the festival organizers to cancel the program for the 2023 edition. There are no LGBT+ rights in Malaysia: in fact, homosexuality has been a crime in the country since the colonial days of the British Empire and is punishable by 20 years in prison. The order to cancel the event came directly from Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil. After meeting with the event’s organizers, Future Sound Asia, the executive director decided to “ban” Healy and his band from Kuala Lumpur. “He had assured us that he would respect local laws, unfortunately he didn’t keep his promise,” the organizers explained, who also said in a statement that the executive underlined its “firm position towards anyone who disputes or ridicules Malaysian laws”. But appearances of this kind are not new to Matty Healy: in 2019 he actually challenged the authorities in the United Arab Emirates, where homosexuality is punished with ten years in prison, with a similar gesture.
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— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) July 21, 2023
Cover Photo: Stock photo of Matthew “Matty” Healy and bassist Ross MacDonald
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