Over Labor Day weekend, LGBTQ+ protestors and allies gathered to put on a delightfully absurd show of resistance during a far-right concert in Seattle’s Gas Works Park.
The event, Revive in 25, was a concert held by Christian activist group Let Us Worship, which is led by openly anti-LGBTQ+ leader Sean Feucht. In the past, Feucht has spewed hateful rhetoric, including likening Pride Month to a “demonic agenda,” and has said via social media that drag queens are “demonic, sick, twisted” and “perverting the minds of children.” He has also called for a “Christian uprising.” Feucht was formerly a worship leader at the controversial Bethel Church in Redding, California.
So it’s no surprise that approximately 200 pro-LGBTQ+ protestors crowded into Gas Works Park to offer some excellent counter-programming. Specifically, they rocked out to Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club” on kazoo, drowning out the nearby evangelical concert.
Folks on the right responded very normally.
If it sounds silly, that was by design. Speaking with KUOW, the Kazoo Karaoke organizer said the point was to bring “clown energy” to the protest. “The point of [Let Us Worship’s] event was to rage bait our community into eliciting a response,” Rae told the publication. So they began crafting a response that would “diffuse” that energy — and inspiration struck.
“I pitched the kazoos. And my friend was like, ‘Well, why don’t we do like kazoo karaoke?’” Rae said. “And we were like, ‘What do all the gays and the girlies love right now? It’s Chappell Roan.’”
The intention was to meet the anti-LGBTQ+ hate with queer joy. It was a stark contrast to the May Day USA Prayer Rally held in the heart of Seattle’s queer district last May, which led to more aggressive clashes between attendees and counter-protestors and resulted in 22 arrests.
Sometimes all you need to do to speak out is raise your fist… to your mouth with a kazoo and belt out gay pop hits.
This article originally appeared on Pride: Gays drowning out Christian hate with ‘Pink Pony Club’ on kazoo is the best thing you’ll see today