02/09/2023
Suri Chan, a prize winning Malaysian poet and member of the LGBT+ community, says that his fellow LGBT+ Malaysians should not be too harsh on Matty Healy, the lead singer of the pop group 1975, who incurred the wrath of the draconian authorities in the country by kissing a male friend on stage. Suri says "I agree that he didn’t pick the ideal time and place for activism. But he did not disrespect anyone.Healy may have been drunk when he ranted about the Kuala Lumpur regime. But under his sloppy, explicit-laden prose, lay a hint of truth. Regardless of whether you liked his delivery, the message was clear. Malaysia’s treatment of LGBTQ+ people is a human rights violation. Let’s not disguise homophobia as ‘Malaysian culture.’ Culture is food, clothing, art. Culture does not tell people who they can and cannot love. This oppression is not ‘cultural relativism.’ It’s bigotry".
https://www.petertatchell.net/international/matty-healy-did-not-disrespe...
