Arts & Entertainment
The 1975 lead singer kisses male fan in Dubai in protest of UAE’s anti-LGBT laws
Matty Healy doesn’t ‘think we’ll be allowed back’
Matty Healy, the lead singer of English pop-rock band The 1975, kissed a male fan during a concert in Dubai on Thursday in protest of the United Arab Emirates’ anti-LGBT laws.
The 1975 was playing their song “Loving Someone” when the male fan asked Healy to marry him. Healy responded by kissing the fan and saying, “We’re all human, right?”
Later in the show, Healy says, “If youāre gay I love you. And God f**king loves you.ā In another clip posted on social media Healy tells the crowd, āI just want us to identify as humans and not as groups of individual different people. Iām sorry, I know it seems indulgent for me to cry but I do this every night and itās the same thing, I see so much passion and pain and I know what you guys are going through and I know youāre not representative of your governments.ā
@Truman_Black inspired me to come out to my mum today??ļøā?? #matty #the1975DXB pic.twitter.com/DTwEm1MwWw
ā tat? (@banditobitxh) August 14, 2019
Aight so I went to The 1975ās concert in Dubai, and Matty looked me right in the eye, pointed at me and said this.
ā Omar Al Refai (@OmarDaRefai) August 14, 2019
Iām straight tho but I love you too??????
#the1975 #1975dxb @the1975 @the1975dxb pic.twitter.com/QOLFM9Zo3k
Literally my favorite moment during The 1975ās concert in Dubai! Ily @Truman_Black @the1975 ?ā„ļø pic.twitter.com/RIazv646DL
ā āāā£ā”āāā (@ninjaaa__) August 14, 2019
In the UAE, sodomy is punishable by up to 10 years. Gay and lesbian couples have also been jailed for displaying public affection.
Healy tweeted after the show, “Thank you Dubai you were so amazing. I donāt think weāll be allowed back due to my ābehaviourā but know that I love you and I wouldnāt have done anything differently given the chance again.”
“But who knows maybe they will let me back in letās just wait and see,” he added.
But who knows maybe they will let me back in letās just wait and see :)
ā ?? (@Truman_Black) August 15, 2019
Some fans were concerned that Healy’s display of affection could put the male fan at risk.
You’re literally so sick, it doesn’t matter what your behaviour is it matters to that fan. How can you live with yourself if you know he’s going to be punished for your actions?
ā ā (@namjikuk) August 15, 2019
Matty, I know you had good intentions for kissing the fan in Dubai, But please check on him he might get in trouble with the government and poissbly go to jail for ten years. Love you lots.
ā Hanna2HS (@Hana2Hs) August 15, 2019
Other fans thought the display of affection was admirable.
the amount of people that you gave a safe space to over there is beyond amazing. we love you so much, and thank you for always being you no matter what others say ?
ā danica // (@theloneIystreet) August 15, 2019
In conclusion, we stan harder than ever before
ā ange (@insideyourhann) August 15, 2019
Nightlife
Ed Bailey brings Secret Garden to Project GLOW festival
An LGBTQ-inclusive dance space at RFK this weekend
When does a garden GLOW? When itās run by famed local gay DJ Ed Bailey.
This weekend, music festival Project GLOW at RFK Festival Grounds will feature Baileyās brainchild the Secret Garden, a unique space just for the LGBTQ community that he launched in 2023.
While Project GLOW, running April 27-28, is a stage for massive electronic DJ sets in a large outdoor space, Secret Garden is more intimate, though no less adrenaline-forward. Heās bringing the nightclub to the festival. The garden is a dance area that complements the larger stages, but also stands on its own as a draw for festival-goers. Its focus is on DJs that have a presence and following in the LGBTQ audience world.
āThe Secret Garden is a showcase for what LGBTQ nightlife, and nightclubs in general, are all about,ā he says. āTrue club DJs playing club music for people that want to dance in a fun environment that is high energy and low stress. Itās the cool party inside the bigger party.ā
Project GLOW launched in 2022. Bailey connected with the operators after the first event, and they discussed Bailey curating his own space for 2023. āThey were very clear that they wanted me to lean into the vibrant LGBTQ nightlife of D.C. and allow that community to be very visibly a part of this area.ā
Last year, club icon Kevin Aviance headlined the Secret Garden. The GLOW festival organizers loved the its energy from last year, and so asked Bailey to bring it back again, with an entire year to plan.
This year, Bailey says, he is ābringing in more D.C. nightlife legends.ā Among those are DJ Sedrick, āa DJ and entertainer legend. He was a pivotal part of Tracks nightclub and is such a dynamic force of entertainment,ā says Bailey. āI am excited for a whole new audience to be able to experience his very special brand of DJing!ā
Also, this year brings in Illustrious Blacks, a worldwide DJ duo with roots in D.C.; and āhouse music legendsā DJs Derrick Carter and DJ Spen.
Bailey is focusing on D.C.ās local talent, with a lineup including Diyanna Monet, Strikestone!, Dvonne, Baronhawk Poitier, THABLACKGOD, Get Face, Franxx, Baby Weight, and Flower Factory DJs KS, Joann Fabrixx, and PWRPUFF.
Secret Garden also brings in performers who meld music with dance, theater, and audience interactions for a multi-sensory experience.
Bailey is an owner of Trade and Number Nine, and was previously an owner of Town Danceboutique. Over the last 35 years, Bailey owned and operated more than 10 bars and clubs in D.C. He has an impressive resume, too. Since starting in 1987, heās DJād across the world for parties and nightclubs large and intimate. He says that he opened āin concert for Kylie Minogue, DJed with Junior Vasquez, played giant 10,000-person events, and small underground parties.ā Heās also held residencies at clubs in Atlanta, Miami, and here in D.C. at Tracks, Nation, and Town.Ā
With Secret Garden, Bailey and GLOW aim to bring queer performers into the space not just for LGBTQ audiences, but for the entire music community to meet, learn about, and enjoy. While they might enjoy fandom among queer nightlife, this Garden is a platform for them to meet the entirety of GLOW festival goers.
Weekend-long Project GLOW brings in headliners and artists from EDM and electronic music, with big names like ILLENIUM, Zedd, and Rezz. In all, more than 50 artists will take the three stages at the third edition of Project GLOW, presented by Insomniac (Electric Daisy Carnival) and Club Glow (Echostage, Soundcheck).
Out & About
Washington Improv Theatre hosts āThe Queeriesā
Event to celebrate queer DMV talent and pop culture camp
The Washington Improv Theatre, along with the Mayorās Office of LGBTQ Affairs and the Gay Menās Chorus of Washington DC, will team up to host āThe Queeries!ā on Friday, April 26 at 9:30 p.m. at Studio Theatre.
The event will celebrate Queer DMV talent and pop culture camp. With a mixture of audience-submitted nominations and blatantly undemocratically declared winners, āThe Queeries!ā mimics LGBTQ life itself: unfair, but far more fun than the alternative.
The event will be co-hosted by Birdie and Butchie, who have invited some of their favorite bent winos, D.C. “D-listers,” former Senate staffers, and other stars to sashay down the lavender carpet for the selfie-strewn party of the year.
Tickets are just $15 and can be purchased on WITVās website.Ā
Out & About
Drag Underground returns
Indiana Bones, Bombalicious Eklaver, Shi-Queeta Lee, Cake Pop! to perform
Dupont Underground and the Washington Blade have teamed up to host āDrag Undergroundā on Friday, April 26 at 7:30 p.m. at Dupont Underground.
Performers include Indiana Bones, Bombalicious Eklaver, Shi-Queeta Lee and Cake Pop.
Tickets start at $15 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.
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