KUALA LUMPUR: The British pop rock band The 1975 had its set at a Malaysian music festival cut short on Friday night after frontman Matty Healy kissed a male bandmate onstage and criticised the country's anti-LGBTQIA2S+ laws.
Homosexuality is a crime in Muslim-majority Malaysia. Rights groups have warned of growing intolerance against the country's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
In videos posted on social media, Healy was seen kissing bassist Ross MacDonald after giving a profanity-laden speech to the audience at the Kuala Lumpur music festival Good Vibes, in which he criticised the Malaysian government's stance against homosexuality.
He said the band had considered pulling out of the show but did not want to disappoint their fans in Malaysia.
"I made a mistake. When we were booking shows, I wasn't looking into it," he said. "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 later cut short the set, telling the crowd: "All right, we gotta go. We just got banned from Kuala Lumpur, I'll see you later."
The band could not immediately be reached for comment. Healy was criticised for kissing a male fan at a 2019 concert in the United Arab Emirates, which also has laws against homosexual acts, according to media reports.
In a statement, Good Vibes organisers said the band's set was stopped due to "non-compliance with local performance guidelines".
Malaysia's communications minister, Fahmi Fadzil, called the band's performance "very disrespectful" in a Twitter posting, saying he would engage local authorities and summon the festival's organisers for an explanation.
The incident comes before crucial regional elections that will pit Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's progressive coalition against a mostly conservative ethnic-Malay, Muslim alliance, which has accused Anwar's government of not doing enough to protect the rights of Muslims in the multiracial country.
The premier has repeatedly said this month that his government would uphold principles of Islam, state media reported. He has said his administration will not recognise LGBTQIA2S+ rights.
In May, Malaysian authorities confiscated watches made by the Swiss company Swatch from its "Pride collection", which celebrates LGBTQIA2S+ rights.