Watch- The 1975’s Matty Healy kisses male bandmate onstage in Malaysia, concert gets cancelled

Matty Healy has literally taken the bull by the horns. To register his protest against Malaysia’s strict anti-LGBT laws, the English singer kissed his male bandmate onstage during his performance at the Good Vibes music festival in Kuala Lumpur on Friday night.

A video of Healy kissing bassist Ross MacDonald has gone viral on social media. Before kissing MacDonald, Healy gave a speech in which he criticised the Malaysian Government for their policy on LGBT. He informed fans that due to Malaysian Government’s anti-LGBT stance, the band wanted to cancel their concert but held back for them.

“I made a mistake. When we were booking shows, I wasn’t looking into it. I don’t see the f*****g point … of inviting The 1975 to a country and then telling us who we can have sex with,” said Healy.

“I’m sorry if that offends you, and you’re religious… but your government are a bunch of f***ing r***** I don’t care anymore. If you push, I’m gonna push back. I’m not in the f**king mood,” he added.

Notably, Islam is the state religion in Malaysia and due to religious reasons, homosexuality is considered a crime there. Homosexual acts are punishable by fines and up to 20 years in prison.

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Several human rights groups have raised objections to its strict laws against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities.

Meanwhile, Healy was asked to end the concert after his actions. The three-day music festival was also cancelled. The Good Vibes Festival said in a statement following the incident, “We deeply regret to announce that the remaining schedule of the Good Vibes Festival 2023, planned for today and tomorrow has been canceled following the controversial conduct and remarks made by UK artist Matty Healy from the band The 1975.”

“This decision adheres to the immediate cancellation directive issued at 1:20 pm [local time], 22 July 2023, by the Ministry of Communications and Digital. The Ministry has underlined its unwavering stance against any parties that challenge, ridicule, or contravene Malaysian laws. We sincerely apologize to all of our ticket holders, vendors, sponsors, and partners,” read the festival’s statement.

Malaysia’s communications minister, Fahmi Fadzil, called out the band’s actions as “very disrespectful”.