Hundreds execute ‘gay dance party’ at home of Vice President-elect Mike Pence
A gay rights group has carried out a “queer dance party” at the home of Vice President-elect Mike Pence two days before he is sworn in as Vice President.
The dance party which took place on for 18 January, was organised by WERK for Pence which describes itself as “a grassroots movement using dance to promote peace”, and Disrupt J20, which states that there will be “no peaceful transition” at the inauguration of Pence and President-elect Donald Trump.
Organisers live-streamed the event on Facebook (see below).
The event attracted hundreds of people, after more than a thousand have shown an interest in the event.
“The homo/transphobic Mike Pence has graciously invited us to shake our booties and bodies in front of/around his house in Chevy Chase,” reads the event page on Facebook.
“We plan on leaving behind [biodegradable] glitter and rainbow paraphinalia that he can NEVER forget.”
“That’s right, get ready to WERK it and tell Daddy Pence: homo/transphobia is not tolerated in our country…” the description continues. “Bring your flyest rainbow gear and your booty/body shaking skills!”
Posting on the page for the Facebook event, many people suggested violent threats against the revellers at the party.
One person wrote: “I sure hope a semi truck barrels out of control right through your dance party!!”
Another said: “Do you vile dogs not have anything better to do?”
Last month a man who bears an uncanny resemblance to Pence said he would use his looks (and very tight hot pants) to raise money for LGBT+ charities.
Mike Hot-Pence, played by Glen Pannell, wears a suit and tie on his top half and hot pants on his bottom half.
He has been collecting hundreds of dollars in donations to LGBT charity the Trevor Project, Planned Parenthood and The Natural Resources Defense Council.
Earlier in 2016, Pence’s evangelical voting bloc helped add a plank to the Republican platform opposing a ban on gay cure therapy on ‘religious freedom’ grounds. His spokesperson did not address this to the NYT.
Of course, the former Governor of Indiana has a much longer anti-LGBT record.
Pence, who has been influential in packing the Trump administration with anti-LGBTconservatives, recently confirmed plans to roll back Barack Obama’s executive protections on LGBT rights, so that “the transgender bathroom issue can be resolved with common sense at the local level”.
Pence in 2016 appeared unable to answer when asked whether it should be legal to fire people because of their sexuality.
The Governor of Indiana stirred up international outrage last year when he signed Indiana’s controversial ‘Religious Freedom Restoration Act’, giving businesses the right to discriminate against gay people on the grounds of religion.
Pence claimed the law was intended to “protect” organisations from having to provide services for same-sex weddings, saying: “I support the freedom of religion for every Hoosier [Indiana citizen] of every faith.
“The Constitution of the United States and the Indiana Constitution both provide strong recognition of the freedom of religion but today, many people of faith feel their religious liberty is under attack.”
An investigation also found that Pence approved extreme anti-LGBT articles when he was the head of the Indiana Policy Review journal in the 1990s.
In an item published under his editorial tenure in the December 1993 issue, Pence’s journal criticised The Wall Street Journal for taking part in a job fair for gay journalists – suggesting that “gaydom” was a “pathological condition”, and arguing that gay journalists would be biased in their coverage because of their sexuality.
It claimed: “The more extreme of the gay movement consider themselves members of a sexual determined political party.”
Another edition published in 1993 attacked Bill Clinton for reforms to permit closeted gay people to serve in the army.
It claimed: “Homosexuals are not as a group able bodied. They are known to carry extremely high rates of disease brought on because of the nature of their sexual practices and the promiscuity which is a hallmark of their lifestyle.”
