6 Times Artists Protested Anti-LGBTQ Laws During Live Shows: The 1975, Lady Gaga & More

Following their controversial performance at Malaysia’s Good Vibes Festival, The 1975 can’t seem to escape the discourse surrounding LGBTQ activism in music. 

During the band’s July 21 headlining performance at the festival, lead singer Matty Healy decided to protest Malaysia’s anti-LGBTQ laws in a fiery speech to those in the audience. “I’m sure a lot of you are gay and progressive and cool,” he told the crowd. “I’ve done this before. I’ve gone to a country where it’s — I don’t know what it f–king is. Ridiculous. F–king ridiculous to tell people what they can do with that and that. If you want to invite me here to do a show, you can f–k off. I’ll take your money, you can ban me.” 

Healy’s statement, as well as his on-stage kiss with bandmate Ross MacDonald, ended up getting the band’s set cut short; shortly after, the rest of the festival was canceled due to the incident. Now, Future Sound Asia — the Malaysian organizer of the festival — is seeking $2.7 million in damages from the band for a breach of contract. 

The event’s organizers are not the only ones calling out the band — while some have praised Healy’s statement of support for the community, many LGBTQ people in Malaysia have called out Healy’s actions as counterproductive, claiming the kiss and subsequent speech stemmed from a “white savior complex,” and insisting that the singer was “ignorant to the actual experience of the LGBT community in Malaysia.”

With so much discussion around The 1975’s actions on stage at the Good Vibes Festival, Billboard is taking a look back at six other instances when artists took aim at anti-LGBTQ policies while onstage. Take a look at examples from Lady Gaga, Little Mix, Måneskin and more below: