The 1975 frontman Matt Healy kissed a male fan onstage during a show in Dubai on Wednesday in protest of the country’s strident anti-LGBTQ laws. The Coca-Cola Arena show was the band’s first-ever concert in the United Arab Emirates. During the song “Loving Someone,” Healy stepped off the stage and embraced a male fan before kissing him on the lips to cheers and screams from the audience.
Healy tweeted after the show, “Thank you Dubai you were so amazing. I don’t think we’ll be allowed back due to my ‘behaviour’ but know that I love you and I wouldn’t have done anything differently given the chance again…But who knows maybe they will let me back in let’s just wait and see :)”
But who knows maybe they will let me back in let’s just wait and see 🙂
— 🥾🌍 (@Truman_Black) August 15, 2019
Homosexuality is illegal in the UAE, and can be punishable with up to 10 years in prison. The Healy kiss follows a similar on-stage demonstration by the band Rammstein, where two band members kissed at a Moscow show in protest of Russia’s own “gay propaganda” law.
The 1975, this isn’t the first time they’ve openly expressed their politics. Last year the band donated funds to help open London’s first LGBTQ center, and Healy targeted male misogynists in an acceptance speech at this year’s Brit Awards.
“I am a bit wary of talking about it because I don’t want to appear to be virtue-signalling, but me and the others in the band all felt it was obviously a good thing to put our money towards,” Healy told the Guardian about the LGBTQ center.