After The 1975’s Matty Healy criticized Malaysia’s anti-LGBTQ laws and kissed one of his male band members on stage during the first day of the Good Vibes festival, the entire festival was cancelled. The band The 1975 was also banned in the country after the incident.
Now Matty Healy’s actions are receiving more criticism – and this time from the country’s LGBTQI community, reports The Guardian.
“He can fly out of the country without facing the consequences,” says Malaysian drag show performer Carmen Rose, suggesting that it is instead Malaysian LGBTQI people who must bear the negative consequences of Matty Healy’s actions.
She believes that what Matty Healy did could have negative consequences instead of positive ones.
— What works in the Western world does not always work here. They can actually do more harm than good, says Carmen Rose.
Dhia Rezki Rohaizad, who works at Jejaka, which is a support group for LGBTQI people, criticizes the country’s handling of the situation. At the same time, Dhia Rezki Rohaizad adds that Matty Healy did not act in the way that the country’s LGBTQI people themselves had wanted to highlight the discriminatory laws in Sweden.
In Malaysia, homosexuality is illegal and can lead to up to 20 years in prison.