[Thanos]

This is what happens when performative outrage put on display by empty-headed celebrities causes a blowback that makes things worse for those they claim they're supporting. With allies & activists like this who needs enemies?

https://nordot.app/1055333291388174555? ... 7532812385

$1:

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) -Malaysia's government halted a music festival in the capital Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, a day after the frontman of British pop rock band The 1975 kissed a male bandmate onstage and criticised the country's anti-LGBT laws.

"There will be no compromise against any party that challenges, disparages and violates Malaysian laws," Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said in a Twitter post after meeting the organisers of the Good Vibes Festival, a three-day event set to run until Sunday.

The 1975 have also been banned from performing in Malaysia, said a government committee that oversees filming and performances by foreigners.

Homosexuality is a crime in Muslim-majority Malaysia. Rights groups have warned of growing intolerance against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

In videos posted on social media late on Friday, Matty Healy was seen kissing bassist Ross MacDonald after criticising Malaysia's stance against homosexuality in a profanity-laden speech to the festival audience.

"I made a mistake. When we were booking shows, I wasn't looking into it," he said. "I don't see the fucking point ... of inviting The 1975 to a country and then telling us who we can have sex with."

Healy later cut short the set, telling the crowd: "All right, we've got to go. We just got banned from Kuala Lumpur, I'll see you later."

The band could not immediately be reached for comment. In an Instagram story, Healy appeared to joke about the incident, posting the festival's cancellation notice along with a caption: "Ok well why don't you try and not make out with Ross for 20 years. Not as easy as it looks".

Healy was criticised for kissing a male fan at a 2019 concert in the United Arab Emirates, which also has laws against homosexual acts, media report.

Festival organiser Future Sound Asia (FSA) apologised for the cancellation of the show following Healy's "controversial conduct and remarks". It said The 1975's management had promised the band would obey performance guidelines.

"Regrettably, Healy did not honour these assurances," it said in a statement.

The festival had been scheduled to showcase 43 performances from local and international artists across the three-day weekend. The 1975 were the headlining act for Friday, with Australian singer The Kid Laroi and U.S. band The Strokes the main events on Saturday and Sunday. Performances on both days were called off.

FSA expressed concern that the incident could "erode the confidence of music promoters and various stakeholders ... and threaten the stability of our burgeoning live arts scene".
Communications Minister Fahmi said Malaysia was committed to supporting the development of creative industries and freedom of expression.

"However, never touch on the sensitivities of the community, especially those that are against the traditions and values of the local culture," he said.

The government in March introduced stricter guidelines, including on dress code and conduct, for foreign acts coming to Malaysia, citing the need to protect sensitivities, media reported.

Friday's incident sparked uproar on Malaysian social media, including among some members of the LGBT community, who accused Healy of "performative activism" and said his action could expose the community to more stigma and discrimination.

"Matt Healy undoubtedly just made it worse for queer Malaysians who actually live here, and have to face the consequences because we all know our politicians are gonna use this to further their agenda," Carmen Rose, a Malaysian drag queen and performer, said on Twitter.

The 1975 are on Sunday due to play at a festival in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, where a recent LGBT event was cancelled amid security threats.

The Jakarta festival's organisers did not immediately respond to requests for comment on whether the band would play.

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, has accused the government of not doing enough to protect the rights of Muslims.

The premier has said his government would uphold principles of Islam and will not recognise LGBT rights.

(Reporting by Rozanna Latiff; Additional reporting by Bernadette Christina in Jakarta; Editing by William Mallard, Robert Birsel and Nick Macfie)

To do it point by point:

1) LOL
2) thanks to one brat's antics an entire festival got cancelled, other bands lost their gigs, fans lost their money, organizers lost their money, and odds are great that the government will clamp down hard on other festivals going forward
3) said brat thinks the entire thing is funny and will undoubtedly repeat the same stunt in order to get the spotlight on his own personal wokeness in other sensitive locales causing the same scenario to happen all over again
4) the people this "ally" claims to be standing up for are now (allegedly) in more danger from him mouthing off for no other reason that to make himself the center of attention; he doesn't give a damn about the alphabet people anywhere because, just like every single other celebrity everywhere, for him "it's all about ME"
5) it's pretty much a Western supremacist mindset on full display as these sorts of choads have no hesitation whatsoever in going into Muslim countries and insulting the belief system there as much as they can by engaging publicly in what the locals consider to be obscene
6) again, LOL

Choose your white liberal allies carefully, movementarians, because most of them truly are only in it for their own personal benefit.

[raydan]

Personally, I'm OK with what he did. It would be even better if everybody who supports gay rights would boycott countries who don't. I'd never go there.

[Thanos]

He didn't have the courage to do that, Ray. Instead he took their money, insulted the host country, and laughed his way to the bank as the organizers who made the mistake of putting him on the card lost their shirts thanks to his behaviour. He's not just the living definition of a nitwit, he's also the embodiment of a backstabber as far as the other bands and festival organizers should be concerned. More importantly, how stupid or outright arrogant does one have to be to pull this kind of crap in a Muslim country where it's pretty much actually written on the walls what will and what won't be tolerated?

I'd wouldn't hesitate in visiting countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, or Thailand in a heartbeat if I had the money to travel there. Do you know why? Because I'm actually capable of putting my own internal bullshit on hold when I'm around others, behaving like a respectful adult at least 95% of the time in general, and can contain my own opinions enough that if I was able to traverse the world I wouldn't build up a list of other people & cultures that I've insulted. I fail to see what's so fucking difficult in that, keeping my damn mouth shut while in someone else's home to make sure I don't grievously offend them not even by accident.

We used to call controlling one's own behaviour as politeness & respect. I guess those are just two more things that have gone completely extinct thanks to wokeness. Yay, wokies, you won again. Just more of the few good characteristics of humanity that had to be wiped out altogether, I guess.

[raydan]

Arguing with you is like arguing with the other haters we had here who are all either banned or don't post any more... with them it was the bad Muslims and with you, it's the bad gays or wokes.

[Thanos]

At least I don't sell out my sense of right & wrong to be on the trendy side of whatever atrocious piece of nonsense-of-the-moment has risen to the top of the zeitgeist's cesspool.

[raydan]

You know that pretty much every right that women/gays/blacks have today was once an "atrocious piece of nonsense-of-the-moment".

[Thanos]

Caving in to a mental illness is a dangerous way to expand civil liberties, Ray. And none of this sidetrack has anything to do with the subject of a toxic celebrity, who is also a heroin addict BTW (which means that any of his opinions should be taken even less seriously), being a major dick in someone else's country.

[DrCaleb]

Thanos Thanos:

At least I don't sell out my sense of right & wrong to be on the trendy side of whatever atrocious piece of nonsense-of-the-moment has risen to the top of the zeitgeist's cesspool.

You just called someone 'selfish' who is looking for equal rights. Is that not against your sense of right and wrong? You are fine if someone has different rights than you, if you don't like what they do or who they are?

That's not the Thanos I know.

[Thanos]

If what they do is harmful to others, especially to women and children, then what they're doing should never be considered a right at all. It should be considered a crime. And no one else is obligated to surrender any of their rights, especially the right to safety & personal security, in order to expand the freedoms to the most outrageous outliers imaginable.

And the freedom NOT to associate with those you don't want to be around, or have around your children, is as much of a right as the freedom to associate who you want to be around. You simply don't get to negate someone else's sense of security or right to their own safe spaces in order to satisfy your own political agenda.

[raydan]

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

Thanos Thanos:

At least I don't sell out my sense of right & wrong to be on the trendy side of whatever atrocious piece of nonsense-of-the-moment has risen to the top of the zeitgeist's cesspool.

You just called someone 'selfish' who is looking for equal rights. Is that not against your sense of right and wrong? You are fine if someone has different rights than you, if you don't like what they do or who they are?

That's not the Thanos I know.

When I first came here, I had problems with Thanos and frankly, he scared he. But with time, I started to understand what he was saying and came to love the guy (as much as you can love someone online). Now I feel pity and sadness, and it's kinda freaking me out.

[Thanos]

As opposed to the shemales you're carrying a torch for, Ray, there's zero danger of me attacking a woman or a child. And when those moments of completely preventable crime occur all of you supporting this insanity should be truly ashamed of yourselves because you've effectively given carte blanche to them to do whatever they want, whenever they want, and to whoever they want because apparently it's now their "right" to do so. You've opened the gates wide open to a type of predator that was barely corralled to begin with. Just because as adult males you weren't in any danger yourselves didn't give you the authority to put others in peril just to satisfy your ideology.

You people scare me far more than anything I've ever seen in the past. It's like you all got ergot poisoning at the same time and have descended into some sort of irreversible & comprehensive madness.

[DrCaleb]

Thanos Thanos:

If what they do is harmful to others, especially to women and children, then what they're doing should never be considered a right at all. It should be considered a crime. And no one else is obligated to surrender any of their rights, especially the right to safety & personal security, in order to expand the freedoms to the most outrageous outliers imaginable.

I agree completely. But this was two men showing affection for each other. Who was harmed?

Thanos Thanos:

And the freedom NOT to associate with those you don't want to be around, or have around your children, is as much of a right as the freedom to associate who you want to be around. You simply don't get to negate someone else's sense of security or right to their own safe spaces in order to satisfy your own political agenda.

No one is forcing you to do anything. But you are forcing people you don't like to do something. Double standard. You can not associate with people, and also ignore them.

[DrCaleb]

raydan raydan:

When I first came here, I had problems with Thanos and frankly, he scared he. But with time, I started to understand what he was saying and came to love the guy (as much as you can love someone online). Now I feel pity and sadness, and it's kinda freaking me out.

Right? Conspiracies are not harmless, and this one has sunk its teeth into T. bad.

Thanos Thanos:

You people scare me far more than anything I've ever seen in the past. It's like you all got ergot poisoning at the same time and have descended into some sort of irreversible & comprehensive madness.

Either we all took the blue pill at the same time, or just you did. Which is more likely?

[raydan]

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

Either we all took the blue pill at the same time, or just you did. Which is more likely?

Lowest common denominator

[Scape]