The 1975 have canceled upcoming showed in Indonesia in Taiwain following the cancellation of their show in Malaysia.
Matty Healy kissed bass player Ross McDonald after a long rant against the Malaysian government’s stance on homosexuality. “I don’t see the fucking point of inviting The 1975 to a country and then telling us who we can have sex with,” Healy told the crowd. “Unfortunately you don’t get a set of loads of uplifting songs because I’m fucking 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.”
Matty Healy played “I Like America & America Likes Me” before the band walked off stage, with Healy telling the audience, “All right, we just got banned from Kuala Lumpur—see you later.” The kissing controversy led to the cancellation of the Good Vibes festival the next day.
The 1975 were scheduled to perform as part of We the Fest, a music festival in Jakarta, Indonesia. The band canceled those shows with the following statement:
“The band never takes the decision to cancel a show lightly and had been eagerly looking forward to playing for fans in Jakarta and Taipei, but unfortunately—due to current circumstances, it is impossible to proceed with the scheduled shows.”
There are no explicit laws in Indonesia that make homosexuality illegal, but local bylaws are a different story. There are also attempts to criminalize homosexuality in the country’s government. Neither the government nor the festival organizers have commented on the cancellation.
Taiwan was the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage, so that cancellation is a bit surprising. Healy is no stranger to on-stage protests—in 2019 he kissed a male fan in the United Arab Emirates, sparking controversy there.