Michelle Shocked. - PHOTO: Wikipedia
SPACE, a club in Evanston, Ill., has canceled a May 5 performance by Michelle Shocked, who shocked fans with an anti-gay tirade during a performance in San Francisco on March 17.
On its Facebook page and website, the club in the Chicago suburb offered refunds to ticket-holders. A statement read, "After speaking with the promoter of that show about the nature of the remarks, it's clear that this is no longer a show we're willing to put our name on."
Shocked, now a born-again Christian, told her San Francisco crowd, “God hates fags and you can tweet that I said so," according to the Chronicle.
And that's what audience members at the popular Yoshi's did.
Shocked spoke in defense of Proposition 8, the California amendment banning recognition of same-sex marriage. She said, "When they stop Prop 8 and force priests at gunpoint to marry gays, it will be the downfall of civilisation, and Jesus will come back."
As about two-thirds of the crowd walked out, the club pulled the plug on Shocked's mic and turned out the stage lights.
The singer-songwriter had, in the 1980s and 1990s, developed a progressive following with her earlier folk-rock recordings and was rumored to be a lesbian, something she denied in 2008 in an interview with the Dallas Voice.
Venues in California, Oregon and Colorado have also canceled shows.
A Boulder radio station, announcing the cancellation of a concert on its Facebook page, stated, "From the very beginning, our goal as an organization has been to foster a spirit of community and inclusiveness in all that we do – whether it's a radio taping, special event, concert or social cause we support."
