Democrats Stage ‘Guerrilla Theater’ Pride Show Inside Kennedy Center in Protest of Trump

Five Senate Democrats staged a Pride-themed night of “guerrilla theater” Monday at the Kennedy Center to protest changes to the institution under President Donald Trump.

Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., booked a space at the venue earlier this month under the pretense of a “talent show,” failing to disclose the event’s true nature. Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., and Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii were also part of the event.

The 90-minute show was a gay pride concert, featuring performances of songs from Broadway shows and LGBTQ monologues.

Notably, the show was produced by Jeffrey Seller—the Tony Award-winning producer of Hamilton—who previously canceled the hit musical’s engagement at the Kennedy Center earlier this year, citing “the partisan policies of the Kennedy Center as a result of [Trump’s] recent takeover.”

“This is our way of reoccupying the Kennedy Center,” Seller said in an interview with the New York Times before Monday night’s event, titled Love is Love. “This is a form of saying, ‘We are here, we exist and you can’t ignore us.’ This is a protest, and a political act.”

In response, Richard Grenell, the Trump-appointed president of the Kennedy Center—and an openly gay man—issued a statement criticizing the event, especially as it relates to the hypocritical nature of Hamilton’s involvement.

“I cannot begin to understand what business it is of Mr. Seller or [Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda] how audience members vote or how it could possibly be relevant to the sacred relationship between performers and ticket holders, but they’ve made it clear that they won’t perform for audiences that might contain Americans who disagree with them on matters irrelevant to the arts.”

The Kennedy Center was slated to host a weeklong “Tapestry of Pride” event earlier this month to coincide with the World Pride festival in Washington, D.C. but scrapped the entire event at the last minute.

In February, Trump announced his plan to gut the President Joe Biden-appointed Kennedy Center board of trustees, appoint himself as chairman of the board, and purge woke performances from the institution’s lineup. “Just last year, the Kennedy Center featured Drag Shows specifically targeting our youth — THIS WILL STOP,” Trump said in a February Truth Social post. “The Kennedy Center is an American Jewel, and must reflect the brightest STARS on its stage from all across our Nation. For the Kennedy Center, THE BEST IS YET TO COME!”

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