During the alt-rockers' performance at Good Vibes Festival in the capital city of Malaysia on Friday,lead singer and rhythm guitaristMatty Healyexpressed his frustrationsabout the country’sLGBTQ+ restrictionsand knowingly inviting the band to perform there.
“I made a mistake when we were booking shows, I wasn’t looking into it. I don’t see the f—ing point, right? I do not see the point of inviting The 1975 to a country and telling us who we can have sex with,” Healy, 34, told the crowd.
“And I’m sorry if that offends you and you’re religious, but your government … I don’t care anymore. If you push I’m gonna push back. I’m not in the f—ing mood. I’m not in the f—ing mood anymore.”
Matty Healy performs with The 1975 on July 9, 2023 in Glasgow, Scotland.Roberto Ricciuti/Redferns
Roberto Ricciuti/Redferns
The frontman continued, “Unfortunately you don’t get a set of loads of uplifting songs because I’m f—ing furious. And that’s not fair on you, because you’re not representative of your government. Because you’re young people, and I’m sure a lot of you are gay and progressive and cool,” he said.
From left: Ross MacDonald, Matty Healy, George Daniel and Adam Hann of The 1975.Samuel Bradley
Samuel Bradley
Healy then revealed that the British band had backed out of their headlining festival slot on Thursday before deciding to proceed.
“I pulled this show yesterday and we had a conversation, we said, ‘You know what, we can’t let the kids down because they’re not the government.’ But I’ve done this before,” he said, referring toa 2019 incident in Dubai.
“I’ve gone to a country where it’s f—ing ridiculous, it’s f—ing ridiculous to tell people what they can do with that [points to crotch] and that [points to mouth]. And if you want to invite me here to do a show, you can f— off. I’ll take your money, you can ban me, but I’ve done this before and it doesn’t feel good. And I’m f—ed off,” he concluded.
Bassist Ross MacDonald, 34, thenwalked over to Healy and gave him a long kissas their 2018 track “I Like America & America Likes Me” played. They finished the song and played another before Healy announced the band had to leave as they “just got banned from Kuala Lumpur.”
The 1975 in 2022.Samuel Bradley
Healy regrammed the announcement, writing, " OK well why don’t you try and not make out with Ross for 20 years. Not as easy as it looks."
Meanwhile, a source close to The 1975 told PEOPLE, “Matty has a long-time record of advocating for the LGBTQ+ community and the band wanted to stand up for their LGBTQ+ fans and community.”
Healy’s mother, British actress Denise Welch,was in full support, writing, “He’s my son 🌈” above a social media video of the incident.
This isn’t the first time the rockers have garnered attention for a same-sex kiss on stage in a country with anti-LGBTQ+ laws.
He wrote on Twitter at the time, “I don’t think we’ll be allowed back due to my ‘behaviour’ but know that I love you and I wouldn’t have done anything differently given the chance again.”
Healy later toldThe Timesthat he was subsequently threatened with arrest.
“They had given me a list of s— that I couldn’t do and they said there could be no ‘gay propaganda,'" he told the publication.
Matty Healy performs with The 1975 on June 11, 2023 in Manchester, England.Shirlaine Forrest/Getty
Shirlaine Forrest/Getty
“As soon as the big gay pride flag comes up in the show all the security guys come running down to the side of the stage, trying to pull us off it," Healy continued.
“They were going to arrest me,” he claimed, adding that he was going to turn himself into the police. Healy later revealed that the group was able to leave the country that night at 5 a.m.
The 1975 are currently on the road in support of their latest album,Being Funny in a Foreign Language, and willreturn to North America for their second tour legthis fall.
source: people.com
