1975 Matty Healy kisses bandmate Ross McDonald during the band’s set at the Good Vibes Festival in Malaysia on Friday. The remainder of the festival was later cancelled, and despite Healy’s intentions, some members of the LGBTQ community in Malaysia worry that the incident will do more harm than good.
Homosexuality is prohibited in Malaysia and carries a penalty of up to 20 years. Because of this, Healy said the band “made a mistake” by agreeing to play the festival. “When we were booking shows, I wasn’t looking forward to it,” he told the audience.
“I don’t see the damn point, do I? I don’t see the point in calling 1975 into a country and then telling us who we can have sex with.” “I’m sorry if this offends you, and you’re religious, and it’s part of your goddamn government… I don’t care anymore. If you push, I’ll push back. I’m not in a fucking mood.”
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“Unfortunately, you don’t get a bunch of great songs because I’m so angry. And it’s not fair to you, because you’re not representative of your government. Because you’re young, and I’m sure many of you are like me and advanced. It’s silly, silly, to tell people what they can do with this and that,” he added, pointing to his crotch. “If you want to invite me here to do a show, you can walk away. I’ll take your money. You can ban me, but I’ve done this before, and it doesn’t feel good.”
Shortly after Healy kissed McDonald, the band was informed that the remainder of their set had been cancelled. On Saturday, festival organizers announced that the festival’s remaining two days of Saturday and Sunday – which were to be headlined by The Stokes and The Kid Laroi – had been cancelled.
In a statement, the organizers said: “Prior to the festival, the 1975 management team reassured us that Healy and the band would adhere to local performance guidelines. Regrettably, Healy did not respect these assurances despite our confidence in their commitment. Healy’s actions took us completely by surprise, and we stopped the show as soon as possible after the incident.”
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A representative for The 1975 defended Healy’s actions, saying in a statement: “Matty has a long record of standing up for the LGBTQ+ community and the band wanted to stand up for LGBTQ+ fans and the community.”
While Hailey’s actions were meant to be a show of support for LGBT rights in Malaysia, some members of the country’s LGBT community worry about the long-term repercussions. in A viral Twitter threadMalaysian-born Joe Lee expressed concern that the government would use Healy’s actions as justification to target the LGBTQ community and criticized the band for leaving Malaysian fans to “deal with the aftermath”.
Another Twitter user, identified as Malaysian gay, He said“Matty and his bandmates are rich white guys who lose nothing by doing what they’ve done. Mostly? They lose listeners from Malaysia and earn a little less now. They have no actual noticeable consequences for their word and their gimmicks. Nobody.”
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“Malaysian queers have worked hard to try and campaign for our rights, many of them entirely volunteer-based and funded entirely by other local queers. We pour so much blood, sweat, and tears to make sure our peers have a safe place, especially in such a hostile environment,” the Twitter user wrote. Conservatives are getting over us here and literally raided Swatch for having a pride group. All this he does is toughen the laws against us and increase the number of eyes on us.”
There are also concerns that Hailey’s actions will affect the music industry in Malaysia. The live concert industry in Malaysia [sic] Joe Lee explained in his Twitter thread. Meanwhile, Good Vibes Future Sound Asia Festival organizer said he feared the incident could “erode the confidence of music promoters and various stakeholders in the live entertainment industry across the country and threaten the stability of our thriving live arts scene.”
1975 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia is banned after Matty Healy and bandmate Ross McDonald kiss on stage during their set at the Good Vibes festival.
Before the kiss, Hailey gave a speech about his disappointment at the country’s discrimination against the LGBTQIA+ community. pic.twitter.com/XcHuPHiYr5
—Pop Crave (PopCrave) July 21, 2023
Well, that’s the thing the whole Good Vibes Festival is about.
This is his entirely personal take based on the information and official sources I’ve put together.
– ᴊᴏᴇ ʟᴇᴇ (@iamjoelee) July 22, 2023
I am an eccentric Malaysian. I don’t know about 1975 nor about Mattie Healy, so here are my impartial thoughts on the whole GVF affair (subject) pic.twitter.com/Wick5SbGUd
—Fish (MercuryJax) July 21, 2023
