Redefining extortion

Denial. That's the word that best describes the root cause behind Michelle Shocked's continued online antics. As long as she denies her responsibility for the hateful words that spewed from her face at Yoshi's, and as long as she refuses responsibility for the hateful words on Twitter that I've helped to archive in this blog, her career as a performance artist cannot be allowed to exist. She is a bully, both on stage and in the cyber world. She insults people based on how they look and who they love. Those sorts of verbal attacks cannot go unanswered.

Michelle has had to go farther and farther away from her Los Angeles home to try to book gigs, because venue owners nearby are aware of her hate speech and want no part of it. She's recently tried to secure bookings in the UK. When she does, I and several others reach out to the club owners, as well as any nearby LGBT organizations who might not be aware of exactly how monstrous she is. Once informed, every manager and owner has canceled her bookings. Michelle Shocked calls those of us who tell the venue owners about her hate speech "extortionists." As far as I know, all any of us have to do is make venue owners aware of her bigotry and gaybashing, at which point they elect to refuse to allow her on their stage. No threats beyond boycotting any venue that might be foolish enough to hand Michelle a microphone, but so far nobody's wanted to chance another on-stage outburst by "the world's greatest homophobe" (yes, that is a direct quote of hers... she takes pride in the title).

Meanwhile, good people who support LGBT causes are getting defamed and accused of participating in some sort of extortion conspiracy. It is insane. Only someone in deep denial would even make such claims. I again urge anyone who reads this to report Michelle's Twitter account for repeated harassment of people who only seek to hold her accountable for her own words. She claims there are ringleaders and "sockpuppets" but there is no organization... no "conspiracy." There are good individuals who believe a stage and an audience are gifts for musicians, and bigots do not deserve such gifts. If you agree, write to The Cluny and ask them to refuse to allow Michelle Shocked to take their stage. It isn't extortion to allow the venue owners to make an informed decision before agreeing to hand an artist a microphone.