Michelle Shocked, an alt-folk singer who had success in the 1980s and ’90s, shocked audience members at Yoshi’s in San Francisco Sunday night with a homophobic rant that wound up clearing out the club.
The crowd had come, presumably, to hear songs like “Come a Long Way” and “On the Greener Side,” which got airplay on MTV back in the day. (“Greener Side” was even up for a VMA against Madonna‘s “Vogue.”)
Instead they were treated to a tirade that allegedly included Shocked announcing “God hates fags.”
Matt Penfield, who was live-tweeting the show from onstage called her rant, delivered during her second set, “totally sincere [and] super anti-gay and hateful.”
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
We’re still trying to get the full text of her speech, but apparently she told fans “you can go on twitter and say Michelle Shocked said ‘God hates fags.'”
Another Twitter user posted that Shocked “said she lives in fear that the world will be destroyed if gays are allowed to marry.”
The singer has been open about being a born-again Christian, but was still active in progressive politics. (She was arrested at an Occupy L.A. event in 2011).
Raised Mormon, Shocked joined the West Angeles Church of God in the 1990s and has been cagey about LGBT issues in recent years, even though she had been frequently identified as a lesbian in the press. (A misidentification, Shocked claims.)
“I am a believer. I am a devout practicing Christian,” she told Edge on the Net in 2008. “I don’t like the ring of that because I know so many people who profess the faith, and I look at their social conscious, and I can’t see how they reconcile their faith with their politics.”
In that same 2008 interview she confessed to some “inconvenient truths,” like how the Bible teaches homosexuality is immoral. “But homosexuality is no more less a sin than fornication,” she said. “And I’m a fornicator with a capital F.”
That’s not the F-word we’re concerned with, Michelle.
h/t: MEOWOnline
Cam
Ask any Lesbian who was a fan of hers in the 80’s and 90’s and they will tell you that they have NO doubt she is a lesbian.
Just another sick sad, twisted closet case whose sanity is ruined by buying in to the bigoted religion she is a member of. Pathetic.
Dionte
She wanted attention, this is all she will get from me.
Elmwoodmac
Give her credit, at least she got her name in the news. First time since, maybe the 90’s?
queerty1958
From now on, when I hear or read the statement “God Hates Fags”, I’m going to think “God Hates Cigarettes”. Fag is the British slang for cigarette. The other is meaningless, irrelevant, and baseless! Kind of like the people who make such a stupid statement! And where in the Bible does the word ‘fag’ appear? Nowhere! 🙂
jackpapa
Never heard her music. Now I never will. Slink back under your obscurity rock – you can be a ‘true believer’ anywhere: no need to involve us.
startenout
Who is she and why is she relevant?
Gigi Gee
Never heard of her until now. Trying to stay relevant? She never was.
PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID
This long interview (relevant part near end) outlines her position on homosexuality. http://www.leeaaron.com/john/michelle-shocked-went-for-the-singing-and-stayed-for-the-song
It’s worth reading in full to put her stance in context; not least her being hospitalised for paranoid schizophrenia (she blames LSD or litrature or something). She certainly comes across as having a persecution complex . She’s seriously fallen out with everyone in her life and she’s always the victim.
She reveals herself to be one of *those* tiresome pseudo “radical” types motivated by nothing more noble than an overweeing egotistical compulsion to appear “edgier” and “different” in order to stand out from the other kids. In short, a twat.
Grrrowler
Michelle who? No matter. Good luck to her on trying to keep a career going with only the right-wingers to support her.
Dominickj
What a nasty JERK! She should remember when the Ire of the Gay community is raised we rise up against them and they Lose. Remember the Juice Queen miss THANG????
xamthor
there goes the last of her fan base…..
RxCello
Nice to hear that the placed cleared out. Idiot picked the wrong city for her hate tirade.
Sammy Schlipshit
It must be a fact that she is a loon and delusional because any semi-sane person would never pick San Francisco to say such a thing.
Good thing that folks there are so tolerant that they didn’t stone (and not the good kind) the cretin.
Just how deep is her closet?
bmwblonde
Amazing to see someone embarrassing themselves by projecting out their own concentrated Total Loser energy. But then, that’s what the Mormons “teach” — self-hatred, inverted out against others. As for her possibly being a paranoid schitz — that’s just a synonym for all Haters-For-Jesus, evangelical religious “persons” (robots).
erikwm
I’ve never heard of her, but she does look pretty butch in that picture.
So let me translate her statement. When she said “God hates fags”, what she really meant to say is “I hate myself.”
The end.
Cam
@erikwm:
BLAM! You just gave Michelle a taste of the Bitch Pudding! lol
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSW5VlhD4VI
Jason
She’s made some cool, insightful music. The folks making snarky comments to show off that they’ve missed it all … are kinda sad.
But not as sad as the fact that she’s gone wacko. The rebel who made the Texas Campfire Tapes would certainly be disappointed by what she’s apparently become. Hey, ‘Chelle: “The secret to a long life is knowin’ when it’s time to go.” I think it’s time.
Ottoman
She’s just pissed that KD Lang and Melissa Etheridge got all the attention when lesbians became the rage in the early 90s. Her only useful contribution to society was getting hot speedo clad male models on MTV for young closeted gay boys to drool over before the internet was widely accessible.
Shuffle back up to Anchorage, sweetie.
krystina rose
(snort) just a sad repressed in the closet twit whatever happened to the les folk darlin oh well what “tiny” fanbase she had is gone gone gone
Cee
First lemme just say I don’t know who this bitch is.
I had to comment though because I’m confused. Did she forget where she was?
She was performing in San Francisco, the Gay Capitol making those comments?
I wish I was there. I would have thrown my drink in her face.
niles
I vaguely remember her name from the 80s. She basically is a never-was.
Ogre Magi
Why would anyone expect any thing better from a christian?
Victor_in_PA
Well, I can’t say I’m surprised. Being “born again” makes people think they’ve been magically elevated to “judge of the world” status and that they’re better than us common humans. It’s the ultimate “us & them”. Well, nice that she has an opinion but, like the old saying goes, “opinions are like assholes, everyone has one and no one thinks their’s stinks.” It just puzzles me why she would schedule a venue and then set herself on fire like that. Was it meant to be a farewell performance? Because she certainly won’t have a career after this (unless it’s playing weekend bible retreats).
mulletkitty
For those of you saying you don’t know who she is, that’s on you, not her. MS was huge in the alt-folk scene in late 80s and across the 1990s. She frames herself as a populist/activist in the Pete Seeger tradition. She is fond of referring to herself as a punk-skateboard-anarchist, which was maybe ok 20 years ago, but when you are reaching 50, it doesn’t quite work.
She is very active in the Occupy movement and toured the US last year raising money for local Occupy groups.
Lately, she’s been making her man central to her stage performances — which would not even be cute at a Taylor Swift concert. She has all his portraits of her on the stage, and she is fond of pulling out an iphone and calling her boyfriend on speaker phone during the concert and forcing us to listen to her tell him how much she loves him. I mean, Jesus, way to make your “alt-occupy-anarchy” tour heteronormative to the max…..
And she has a documented history of mental problems, acting out, walking off stage, (think Sinead O’Connor, only with more resentment and neediness….)
So basically, she just ended her career …. for the last time.
krystina rose
(snort ) and her (laughs) “concert” in chicago just got shit canned oh well enjoy your 5 miliseconds of “infamy”
Billysees
@Windsor519: 25
“Turn the other cheek” has more significance than we can imagine.
We know who said that, but for whom was it said ?
I reckon it’s been for us all along, simply to keep us from getting a criminal record and for keeping us from other life threatening situations from evil people.
That’s the “Christlikeness” in us.
We should be proud that we carry that mantle of his.
We are influenced by his Spirit.
jackpapa
Her future venues are dropping like flies. there is a Change.org petition to the tour dates to encourage the end of her career. feel free to sign
Tommy25
I don’t understand this. I listened to her music in college. She was always very progressive. I thought she was a lesbian or bisexual She was always very sympathetic to us. I think we need an explanation for how this happened before condemning her. She’s obviously delusional or mentally ill.
Will L
I’d call her a has-been but I don’t think she ever was. Never heard of her. Sounds like she hates herself and has gone off the deep end. I really don’t want to stereotype because of the butch cut but I get the feeling that she’s been dumped and is lashing out at herself and those around her. Either that or she has a house full of cats and she’s just bonkers.
alicep
Waited for the second show, eh? Pretty much the principle and conviction of the average hate-filled Christian: Waited until she had their money before she said what she thinks. I’m guessing she’s not posting “God Hate Fags” on posters advertising her shows in SF? Perhaps others will help her with that in the future.
Polaro
I used to like her. The operative word is “used”. I certain we can find something in the Bible to direct us to stone her.
Billysees
@alicep: 31
“Waited until she had their money before she said what she thinks.”
I was wondering the same thing, did she get paid for the whole gig ?
Also wondering why the “extreme attention getting” and what purpose will it serve.
Caliban
True to form, a “born again” person turns out to be someone you wish hadn’t been born the first time.
multitasker
Wow, I imagine she won’t be asked back to Santa Cruz again. Nobody would buy any tickets. Most of her audience was lesbians.
Teleny
What a horrible person. It’s clear that she’s a closet case.
Tommysole
I prefer the RAMONES and black flagg, as opposed to the shit she spouts. Henry Rollins never cared if you were gay, straight, bi or somewhere in the nether world, as long as you loved music.
The ramones is music I grew up with and many of the people I hung with in the mosh pits – Skin heads included- Knew about my sexual orientation.
This Mormon, hate spouting, so called, musician has gotten all the attention out of me that she will get.