Rather than boycott the entire state of Arizona over SB 1070 (and, let’s not forget, the state’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage), Lady Gaga showed up as planned in Phoenix on Saturday night.
And she did exactly what we hoped: Used her concert to raise awareness about discriminatory laws. “You really think that us dumb fucking pop stars are going to collapse the economy in Arizona?” she relayed in a story to attendees. “I will not cancel my show. I will yell and I will scream louder.”
Because for all the kids calling for boycotts of Arizona — like the tools at the Human Rights Campaign — there are 100,000 queer Arizonans who would directly suffer from such a boycott. And if you were really serious about boycotting states that put discriminatory laws on the books, you’ve got 42 of America’s 50 states that you cannot visit, patronize, or say nice things about. Until you’re ready to make that commitment, quit this other freakin’ nonsense.
EARLIER:
The Stupid Attempt to Get Lady Gaga to Cancel Her Arizona Concert
Did HRC Forget Its Boycott of Arizona Might Harm Gay Arizonans?
gaylib
Where was the outrage from HRC when Obama vacationed in Maine, a state whose bigoted citizenry denied our civil rights by popular vote?
Mr. Enemabag Jones
This is why American queers will never advance–far too much complacency. You’d much rather be entertained, than informed.
If you really believe that Lady GaGa will actually bring about any change in Arizona, you are delusional. All that happened was she got paid, and some queers–and anti-gay, racist hets–were entertained. This morning everything is back to the usual.
Az guy
@Mr. Enemabag Jones: well with your negative attitude nothing will be accomplished. What exactly are you doing to stop hate from spreading here in Arizona? At least shes making the effort to bring unity an peace to this conservative hateful state. She understands us Arizonans who didnt want this bill. She refuses to boycott an allow our state to suffer more then it already has under brewer and the rest of the republicans.
Bradley
I have a hard time believing there were too many “anti-gay, racist hets” at the Lady GaGa concert…
samthor
boycotts are supposed to hurt… that’s the power behind them.
the change of money changes minds when nothing else will.
RR
Elton John and Lady Gaga.
Mr. Enemabag Jones
@Bradley:
Megan Phelps is a fan.
@Az guy:
She refuses to boycott an allow our state to suffer more then it already has under brewer and the rest of the republicans.
I’ll repost what orinthe wrote in the other GaGa/Arizona thread:
SB1070 goes into effect two days before the concert—should we not care about the Latino “gay boys” who can’t enjoy the concert because they’re worried about racially-motivated police harassment? Or really any of her fans who might look or sound foreign, or whatever else passes for “reasonable suspicion”? I guess they’re not important so long as the other gays can get their dance on.
@samthor:
Bingo.
MaxH
Obviously y’all haven’t been keeping up with the news – the ‘racist’ parts of SB1070 got stopped cold by an injunction by a Federal Court judge.
By the time she went on stage, everyone in the country (that was paying attention), already knew that. There was no ‘racially motivated police harassment’ to worry about.
Az guy
@MaxH: Those parts were not permanently stopped. They were just blocked from taking effect with the rest of the bill. Arizona has decided to appeal the judges decision. So they could very well go into effect still.
Robert
*waaaaaaaaah a boycott will hurt gay yuppies in arizona waaaaaaaaaah protect gay business waaaaaaaaaaaaah*
Jason
The young activists that created a petition asked for Lady Gaga to “speak out against SB 1070,” not to boycott their State. She did and she met with them.
Boycotts don’t work. Name a successful boycott in the last 20 years.
Robert
Boycotts don’t work because they are often the result of liberal lifestylism and people should advocate better alternatives (kind of like how buying “fair trade” coffee does nothing at all to stop worker exploitation).
However to oppose boycotts because it will “hurt gay business” is about the most cry baby bullshit I have ever heard.
Ghouldilocks
@Bradley: Maybe not, but that video is all over youtube and Lady Gaga is a super star now, with people all over the world listening to her. She did exactly what she should have done and that was speaking out against injustice.
Lanjier
She did the right thing.
@ Get Equal 'Why the h8 on Obamz but not the Repubs who ALWAYS vote against you? (John from England)
@Jason:
So I guess MLK was a failure? Oh well.
Dollie
Queerty, Queerty, Queerty! I love this site something fierce, but this post makes the author sound as if he just came out on the losing end of a high school class debate or Facebook fight. Were you so offended that nobody agreed with you on the previous post that you just had to get an “aha!” in? So, Lady Gaga did what you feel is right, and she did not do as the majority of your readers had hoped. Have your callow “I told you so” moment, then get back to reporting.
Electro
Every night when Gaga performs, she donates $20000 to RE*Generation, a shelter for homeless LGBT youth. So think about that when you say/type that she should boycott and cancel her show.
Also that video is now becoming a rising (but slowly) video on YouTube and now people who weren’t even there can hear her message. Overall I think she accomplished more good, performing and spreading her message than boycotting and canceling her show.
Lee
I love you Lady Gaga.
<3
Mr. Neo
Orinthe was utterly correct in the last thread, and this churlish embarrassment of an article just affirms that.
It’s good many fight, it’s too bad childish name calling is fervent on this site, well done guy with site read by people, you really showed up progressive thinkers by shouting louder, I hope you held your hand to your nose and stuck your tongue out when you posted this dirge.
Clint
Politics aside, that monster glove is fabulous.
Freddy Lee
The SB1070 Arizone boycotts were begun by national Latino organizations to highlight the political and economic power of Latinos, Latino immigrants and their allies.
LGBT orgs that have joined on to the boycott are doing so to show their support of other civil rights orgs in hopes that they will continue to do the same.
Lady Gaga’s work is unique in that her presence in Arizona, though creating revenues for the Arizona venues & businesses she used, created a unique platform for mobilizing folk and getting them excited to keep being in political action.
LG is amazing in that she gets her role as an entertainer but on the flip side recognizes that her ability to influence the masses comes with a lot of responsibility.
Jeff
Close our borders immediately….
Kev C
It’s good to see Lady GaGa support the republicans.
Syl
I love Gaga, but I wish she’d not side with the morons who call the law racist. This country can’t take care of it’s own poor, let alone the poor from Mexico and every country in Central and South America. If they just came, worked, sent money home, and left, that’d be fine. If they came here to become Americans, in citizenship, language, and culture, it’d be different. Our schools, our prisons, our ER’s are all full of foreign nationals and their anchor babies, and we can’t afford it.
Unfortunately, if one care about it they have to vote for the GOP, because the Dems would rather keep the borders open, grant amnesty, and get all the voters they can. Two Party system fucks us over again.
Dawson
Take this logic and replace it with Target. Replace 100,000 gay citizens with 1,000,000 gay employees. Replace 45 states you can’t visit with you really can’t buy shit form anywhere. Then you start to realize how incredibly stupid the boycott on Target is. However, since it enters into your pissing match with HRC you will support the boycott on Target. I honestly believe that if the HRC had told Lady Gaga to perform in Arizona you would be telling people to burn her cds.