Matty Healy of The 1975 performs reside on stage throughout day two of Lollapalooza Brazil on March 25.

Mauricio Santana/Getty Photographs

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Mauricio Santana/Getty Photographs

Matty Healy of The 1975 performs reside on stage throughout day two of Lollapalooza Brazil on March 25.

Mauricio Santana/Getty Photographs

Matty Healy is thought for sharing a kiss on stage, sometimes with a stranger, as a part of his efficiency.

However in Malaysia, that routine act — this time, kissing male bandmate Ross MacDonald — led to a bunch of hassle for the band and the music pageant that had invited the group to play.

On Saturday, the Malaysian authorities canceled the annual Good Vibes Competition, which was set to run till Sunday, in addition to banned The 1975 from ever performing in Malaysia once more — including that the band displayed “impolite” actions and statements.

“The federal government is at all times dedicated to supporting the event of inventive industries and freedom of expression. Nonetheless, by no means contact the sensitivities of the group, particularly these which can be in opposition to the manners and values ​​of the native tradition,” Fahmi Fadzil, the nation’s communications minister, wrote on Twitter.

The British pop rock band carried out on the pageant in Kuala Lumpur, the nation’s capital, on Friday evening. Throughout their set, Healy knowledgeable the viewers that he had made a “mistake” agreeing to come back to the nation.

“After we have been reserving reveals, I wasn’t wanting into it,” he mentioned. “I do not see the purpose of inviting The 1975 to a rustic after which telling us who we will have intercourse with.”

Healy went on to ship an impassioned speech criticizing the nation’s anti-LGBTQ legal guidelines. Then, he gestured to the group’s bassist, Ross MacDonald, to come back nearer and the 2 kissed and embraced earlier than they went on to carry out “I Like America and America Likes Me.”

Homosexuality is unlawful in Malaysia, a Muslim-majority nation. An announcement on the pageant’s web site says Malaysia’s Ministry of Communications stands “in opposition to any events that problem, ridicule or contravene Malaysian legal guidelines.”

This is not the primary such motion by Healy. In 2019, the singer kissed a male viewers member at a live performance in Dubai in defiance of anti-LGBTQ legal guidelines there.

The band was scheduled to carry out in one other Muslim-majority nation, Indonesia, on Sunday, and Taiwan on Tuesday, however cancelled the live shows at quick discover on Sunday morning.

“The 1975 remorse to announce that their forthcoming reveals in Jakarta and Taipei will now not be going forward as deliberate,” the band mentioned in a press release Sunday on the We The Fest Instagram web page.

“The band by no means take the choice to cancel a present flippantly and had been eagerly wanting ahead to enjoying for followers in Jakarta and Taipei however sadly, as a consequence of present circumstances, it’s unattainable to proceed with the scheduled reveals.”

There are native legal guidelines discriminating in opposition to LGBTQ+ folks in Indonesia however its nationwide legal guidelines have by no means made homosexuality a criminal offense. Taiwan is house to a big LGBTQ group.

The band’s workforce didn’t instantly reply to NPR’s request for remark.

NPR’s Chloe Veltman contributed reporting.