Under the pretense of putting on a “first annual talent show,” five Democrat senators colluded with a producer of the “Hamilton” musical to stage a “guerrilla theater” gay pride concert protesting President Donald Trump Monday night.
"This is our way of reoccupying the Kennedy Center," “Hamilton” lead Producer Jeffrey Seller said, touting the event as a protest of Pres. Trump’s role as Kennedy Center board chairman.
Featuring "gay characters, gay culture, gay music and gay pride," the concert was also intended to celebrate June as “Gay Pride Month.”
The protest was held in the Kennedy Center’s Justice Forum lecture hall, which had been rented out by Sens. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nevada), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).
“Mr. Hickenlooper reached out to Mr. Seller a few weeks ago, asking if he wanted to engage in some ‘guerrilla theater,’ Mr. Seller said in an interview before the event,” The New York Times reports.
“Guerrilla” tactics are irregular military actions, such as harassment and sabotage.
The Democrats issued a press release about the event to portray the LGBTQ community as a victim, accusing the Trump Administration of “hateful attacks on LGBTQ+ Americans,” “bigotry,” and “an attack on human rights.”
But, it’s actually the Democrat senators and entertainment activists boycotting the Kennedy Center who are practicing bigotry, Kennedy Center President Richard Grenell noted Monday in a social media post:
“Hamilton Producer @jseller and Hamilton Creator @Lin_Manuel are working with Democratic Senators and the New York Times to boycott the Kennedy Center, refusing to perform for audience members who don't share their personal politics, and cosplay as victims of intolerance.”
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“[T]hey've made it clear that they won't perform for audiences that might contain Americans who disagree with them on matters irrelevant to the arts.”
What’s more, Sen. Hickenlooper’s staff claimed the event would be a talent show when they booked the event. Eventually, it was discovered to be a political “stunt” – and a non-inclusive one at that – Grenell reports:
“Earlier this month, Senator @Hickenlooper staff asked to rent space at the Kennedy Center for what his team billed as a first annual Talent show. We were pleased to welcome them to the Kennedy Center in this capacity.
“We were only later notified by the New York Times that Senator Hickenlooper's event was instead an invite-only political stunt where, once again, the Kennedy Center was being used by political operatives to larp [Live Action Role Play] as victims of intolerance in order to get a story in the Times.”
“No one has been cancelled by the Kennedy Center; we welcome everyone who wants to celebrate the arts, including our compatriots on the other side of the political aisle,” Grenell explained.
“We especially welcome artists and audience members who come to the Kennedy Center not for partisan political pranks but to experience excellence in the performing arts,” Grenell said.
Grenell concluded by asking Seller and “Hamilton” Creator Lin-Manuel Miranda to “consider performing for all the families, school children, and others from across America who come to the Kennedy Center without imposing on them a political litmus test.”