Denise Welch has broken her silence after her son Matty Healy kissed a male bandmate in protest against anti-LGBT laws in Malaysia.
Matty, 34, criticized Malaysia’s anti-gay laws in a profanity-filled speech at the Good Vibes music festival in Kuala Lumpur, before kissing bassist Ross MacDonald.
Homosexuality is illegal in Malaysia and laws criminalizing sodomy are punishable by imprisonment.
The Loose Women panelist, 65, retweeted a Pop Crave article on Friday, along with a video of the bandmates kissing as she supported them.
Denise proudly wrote: “He is my son” and a rainbow emoji.
Denise Welch has stood by her son Matty Healy after the singer kissed a male bandmate in protest against anti-LGBT laws in Malaysia.
Matty, 34, criticized Malaysia’s anti-gay laws in a profanity-filled speech at the Good Vibes music festival, before kissing bassist Ross MacDonald (pictured on stage in Paris this month).
Fans responded to the host’s post, praising her for ‘raising such a wonderful man’ and sending their love.
One posted: ‘And what a wonderful son you have raised… so proud to support him in all he does. He is beyond deserving of ALL the happiness in the world. Thanks for making him who he is.
Yessss!! We are very proud!! Hope everyone is doing well and please send them all our love!!” another person shared.
A third wrote: “You grew into an amazing man who isn’t afraid to stand up for what’s right and his immeasurable ability to care shines through whatever BS people throw at him.”
Soon after, The 1975 was banned in Malaysia and the entire music festival was cancelled.
LGBTQ people in the country face regular discrimination from the authorities and rights groups have been warned of growing intolerance.
Healy told fans that the band had thought about pulling out of the event, saying, “I don’t see the point of inviting The 1975 to a country and then telling us who we can have sex with.”
And he added: ‘I made a mistake. When we were booking shows, I wasn’t doing research.
Support: The Loose Women panelist retweeted a Pop Crave article on Friday, along with a video of the bandmates kissing.
Family: To show her support, Denise proudly wrote: “He’s my son” and a rainbow emoji (pictured together this month in London)
He continued: “Unfortunately, you don’t get a set of a bunch of uplifting songs because I’m fucking mad and that’s not fair to you, because you’re not a representative of your government because you’re young people, and I’m sure a lot of you are gay and progressive and cool.”
He later abruptly ended the set, saying, ‘Okay, we have to go. We just got banned from Kuala Lumpur.
A source close to the band told MailOnline: “Matty has a long history of standing up for the LGBTQ+ community and the band wanted to stand up for their LGBTQ+ fans and the community.”
The 1975, made up of Healy, bassist MacDonald, lead guitarist Adam Hann and drummer George Daniel, are also banned from performing in Malaysia, according to a government committee that oversees performances by foreigners.
The onstage protest was not the first for Healy, who kissed a male fan at a 2019 concert in the United Arab Emirates, which also has harsh anti-LGBTQ laws.
Promising swift action early Saturday, Malaysia’s Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil published a news report about the kiss, calling it a “very rude act.”
He later ordered the “immediate cancellation” of the three-day festival after meeting with organizers.
“Never touch the sensibilities of the community, especially those that are against the customs and values of the local culture,” he said in a subsequent tweet.
In a statement also posted on Twitter, the festival confirmed that the cancellation had been ordered by the Ministry of Communications “following controversial conduct and comments made by British artist Matty Healy.”
Thoughts: Fans responded to the host’s post, praising her for ‘raising such a wonderful man’ and sending their love.
“The Ministry has underlined its unwavering stance against any party that defies, ridicules or contravenes Malaysian laws,” the statement added.
Healy later took to Instagram to respond to the statement, arguing: ‘Okay, why don’t you try not making out with Ross for 20 years? It’s not as easy as it sounds.’
He then teased an impending return for Sunday, writing ‘Good morning guys. I return 23/7.’
Meanwhile, Matty’s mom, Loose Women star Denise Welch, proudly tweeted, “He’s my son,” along with a rainbow emoji in response to the now-viral kiss video.
Friday’s incident sparked an uproar on social media, including among some members of the LGBT community, who accused Healy of “performance activism” and said his action would likely expose the community to further stigma and discrimination.
“Matt Healy has undoubtedly made things worse for queer Malaysians who actually live here and have to face the consequences because we all know our politicians will use this to further their agenda,” Carmen Rose, a Malaysian drag queen and performer, said on Twitter.
Another Twitter user commented: “This is crazy because you can go back to the US or UK and live comfortably but the local queer community will now have to suffer potential repercussions.”
A third said: ‘He just did so much damage and danger to the community that he calls so much ‘care’. This statement didn’t help anyone but himself and his image.
‘You are so blinded by this white savior performative activism. Please use your brain. Respect your fans. We didn’t deserve this.
But others were quick to defend him and criticized the law in Malaysia.
Luigi Grosu said: ‘Blaming him for the cancellation of the festival is misplaced. Why not blame the homophobic Malaysian government? Make sure you call the right party for once and put your personal issues aside.
The 1975 will play a festival in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim country, on Sunday, where a recent LGBT event was canceled amid security threats.
Answer: Shortly after The 1975 was banned in Malaysia and the entire music festival was cancelled, Matty posted a statement on his Instagram.
Cryptic: The 1975 frontman also hinted at an imminent return for Sunday
The Good Vibes Festival released a statement following the kissing storm, announcing the cancellation of the rest of the event.
Malaysia’s Digital and Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil condemned the kiss, calling it a “very rude act”. He then canceled the rest of the three-day festival.
Jakarta festival organizers did not immediately respond to requests for comment on whether the band would perform.
The uproar comes at a politically sensitive time in multi-ethnic Malaysia, where Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s progressive coalition government will face its first major test of public support in August when six states hold elections.
An alliance of opposition parties, largely representing the majority ethnic Malay community, accused the government of not doing enough to protect the rights of Muslims.
The prime minister has said that his government will uphold the principles of Islam and will not recognize LGBT rights.
