Malaysia will require concerts to have a “kill switch” after The 1975’s onstage same-sex kiss

Malaysia is reportedly requiring an emergency “kill switch” to quickly shut down concerts following an onstage same-sex kiss between members of the British rock band The 1975 at a Malaysian music festival.

The incident occurred onstage at the Good Vibes Festival in Kuala Lumpur over the summer. Healy blasted Malaysia’s anti-LGBTQ+ laws and kissed bassist Ross MacDonald to thunderous applause. He said he almost canceled the performance due to the government’s anti-LGBTQ+ policies but decided it was not fair to the fans, who had nothing to do with their government.

Related:

76 people arrested in Nigeria for attending an alleged gay wedding

Saturday’s raid is just the latest in a series of recent mass arrests targeting the country’s LGBTQ+ community.

“I’m f**king furious,” he said. “And that’s not fair on you, because you’re not representative of your government. Cause you are young people, and I’m sure a lot of you are gay and progressive.”

Global perspectives delivered right to your inbox

Our newsletter bridges borders to bring you LGBTQ+ news from around the world.

Daily

Weekly

Good News

He also stated, “I do not see the point of inviting The 1975 to a country and then telling us who we can have sex with.”

Homosexuality is outlawed in the majority-Muslim nation, where Muslims are subject to additional penalties up to capital punishment under Sharia Law.

The rest of the festival was then canceled, and The 1975 has since been banned from playing in Malaysia again.

Now, according to the South China Post, the Malaysian government is asking concert organizers to have a switch in place that can immediately cut off electricity in case of, as described by Deputy Communications and Digital Minister Teo Nie Ching, “any unwanted incident.”

Teo added that police will now be conducting background checks on artists from other countries before scheduling performances in Malaysia. She said that Puspal, the committee performance and filming by international artists, would be monitoring live performances from now on.

“During a performance, we ensure that the [relevant parties] such as the Immigration Department, Puspal, police and local authorities are at the venue,” Teo said.