Malaysia cancels music festival after male bandmates kiss on stage

Malaysian authorities cancelled a weekend music festival on Saturday after the frontman of a British indie rock group kissed his male bandmate following a tirade against the country's anti-LGBTQ laws. Homosexuality is illegal in Malaysia and laws criminalising sodomy are punishable by imprisonment.

Malaysian authorities cancelled a weekend music festival on Saturday after the frontman of a British indie rock group kissed his male bandmate following a tirade against the country's anti-LGBTQ laws. Homosexuality is illegal in Malaysia and laws criminalising sodomy are punishable by imprisonment.

British rockers The 1975 cut their Friday show at the Good Vibes music festival short after lead singer Matty Healy slammed Malaysia's anti-gay laws in a profanity-filled speech, before kissing bassist Ross MacDonald on stage.

Healy told fans the band had thought of pulling out of the event, saying: "I do not see the point of inviting The 1975 to a country and then telling us who we can have sex with."

He later abruptly ended the set, saying: "All right, we gotta go. We just got banned from Kuala Lumpur."