Matty Healy of the 1975 pop group is being condemned by critics for having a “white saviour complex” and seeking to impose “western” values on Malaysia. The accusation comes after he used his recent Kuala Lumpur concert to denounce the country’s harsh anti-LGBTQ+ laws. But he got roars of approval from the crowd. They clearly agreed with what he said.
And while some Malaysian LGBT people were critical, others were supportive. They argue that queer rights are a universal human right, not a western one, and that these rights are now supported by a sizeable minority of the Malaysian population – especially young people.
I seriously doubt it was Healy’s motivation or intention to “save” Malaysia from homophobia or hijack the LGBTQ+ struggle there. As far as I can see, he simply wanted to show solidarity with Malaysia’s persecuted queer community. He was also anxious about his own band members’ risk of imprisonment if they had same-sex relations. That strikes me as perfectly valid.
Calls for the 1975 to show “sensitivity and respect” to Malaysian culture are tantamount to giving a homophobic government a free pass. It wants acquiesence and deference, not protest.
In my view, it was honourable for Healy to admit that it was a “mistake” to perform in Malaysia. When booking the gig, he was not aware of the country’s homophobic laws. By speaking out, he was seeking to atone for the band’s de facto collusion with an anti-LGBTQ+ regime. Surely that’s commendable?
Healy appears also to have realised that speaking out would lead to the cancellation of the show – and presumably hit the band with a hefty compensation payment to the festival organisers. The 1975 lost their gig and probably their money. That’s a substantial price to pay for supporting LGBTQ+ equality.
I’m not keen on the expletive-laden content of Healy’s speech but he’s a pop star. That’s what they do and the fans did not seem to mind. Nevertheless, an equally passionate but more polite denunciation might have been a better tactic.
Whatever you think about Healy’s actions, he succeeded in drawing global attention to Malaysia’s persecution of its queer citizens. Hundreds of millions of people are now aware that Malaysia penalises LGBTQ+ people with up to 20 years jail, plus caning and fines – under a colonial-era law originally imposed by Britain in 1871.
Moreover, discrimination and hate crime are rife, with no laws to protect LGBTQ+ people. State-sanctioned forced conversion practices are commonplace.
In an incident that’s typical of the country’s homophobia, last year police raided a private gay Halloween party, arresting dozens of participants. Only two months ago, Malaysian authorities confiscated Swatch watches, merely because they were rainbow coloured. Homophobic repression has worsened since 2018. It coincides with the increasing Islamification of Malaysian society and the trend towards theocracy, which even some Muslims reject.
In response to Friday’s incident, the Malaysian government was quick to denounce the 1975 and ban them from playing again. But that’s a clear violation of article 10 of Malaysia’s constitution which guarantees freedom of expression. The ban on homosexuality is also against the constitution. Article 8 states that all citizens are entitled to equal rights.
Moreover, Malaysia has signed and pledged to uphold two international conventions that prohibit all discrimination: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Commonwealth charter.
Criticisms of the 1975 deflect attention from where the criticisms should be most urgently directed: against the homophobia of the Kuala Lumpur regime. It is delighted when we focus on the conduct of Healy, rather than the LGBTQ+ human rights abuses he was condemning.
Having said that, it’s true that white European critics of global south tyrannies must avoid acting like neocolonial overlords. That’s offensive and counter-productive. It is why my international campaigns are based on consultation with local activists. I was acting at their request and in solidarity with their struggle, when I attempted a citizen’s arrest of the Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe in 2001, when I went to Moscow in 2007 to support Russian LGBTQ+ people, and when I staged a protest shortly before last year’s football World Cup in Qatar. It is unclear whether the 1975 liaised with any Malaysian LGBTQ+ activists.
Critics claim that Healy’s actions will provoke a crackdown on Malaysian LGBTQ+ people. It’s a valid concern but so far it remains speculation. In any case, backlash and repression are standard reactions to every social justice struggle, from the Chartists to the Suffragettes, the US black civil rights movement and the anti-apartheid campaign in South Africa. They never gave up their fight, despite the intensified crackdown. That’s how they triumphed in the end.
Malaysian queer people are already suffering persecution and it’s driven by religion-inspired state-sponsored homophobia, not by the pro-LGBTQ+ comments of western pop stars.
Peter Tatchell is director of the Peter Tatchell Foundation and the subject of the Netflix documentary, Hating Peter Tatchell
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