The 1975 cancels shows after LGBT controversy

The 1975 mentioned on Sunday they’ve cancelled reveals in Taiwan and Muslim-majority Indonesia, a day after Malaysia banned them from performing there after their frontman kissed a bandmate on stage and criticised the nation’s anti-LGBT legal guidelines.

“Sadly, as a consequence of present circumstances, it’s not possible to proceed with the scheduled reveals,” the group mentioned in a press release, with out elaborating.

Malaysia’s authorities halted a music competition within the capital Kuala Lumpur on Saturday and barred The 1975 after what it referred to as “disrespectful actions”.

Homosexuality is against the law in Muslim-majority Malaysia. Rights teams have warned of rising intolerance in opposition to lesbian, homosexual, bisexual and transgender individuals.

The occasions on Friday in Malaysia triggered an uproar, angering not solely the federal government, however members of the LGBT group, who mentioned frontman Matty Healy’s actions might expose LGBT individuals to extra stigma and discrimination.

The 1975 have been as a consequence of play on Sunday in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, the place homosexuality is a taboo topic, although not unlawful besides in sharia-ruled Aceh province.

Different LGBT-related occasions have additionally been cancelled in Indonesia as a consequence of objections from Islamic teams, together with a deliberate go to final December by a U.S. LGBT particular envoy, and the scrapping this month of a Southeast Asia LGBT occasion. Each got here after strain from non secular conservatives.

It was not instantly clear why the band cancelled their July 25 present in Taiwan, which has a proud repute as a bastion of LGBT rights and liberalism, together with permitting same-sex marriage in 2019.

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