SAN FRANCISCO — Folk singer Michelle Shocked stunned a San Francisco audience on Sunday night after breaking into an anti-gay rant in which she said, “God hates faggots.”
“If someone would be so gracious as to please tweet out, ‘Michelle Shocked just said from stage, God hates faggots.’ Would you do it now?”
Shocked said she lives in fear that gays would be allowed to marry, and said that preachers would be “held at gunpoint and forced to marry the homosexuals.”
The singer’s remarks prompted a walkout by two-thirds of her audience, but even more horrified than the audience were Yoshi’s staffers, reported the San Francisco Chronicle.
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The manager, assistant club manager, and sound production engineer who were on duty shut down the show immediately, turning off the lights and cutting off the microphone, said Yoshi’s representative Lisa Bautista. An apology was made to the audience and refunds were offered.
Shocked, a self-proclaimed born again Christian, told the Dallas Voice in 2008 that she believes that homosexuality is a sin, and disputed claims that she was lesbian.
Shocked followed up her performance on Sunday with a tweet that read, “Truth is leading to painful confrontation.”
Yoshi’s had promoted Shocked as “the most sophisticated hillbilly you ever met.”
Update: As of Tuesday evening, all 11 venues remaining on Shocked’s U.S. tour had cancelled her upcoming performances:
HopMonk’s Tavern in Novato, Calif., SPACE in Evanston, Ill., eTown in Boulder, Colo., the Alberta Rose Theatre in Portland, Ore., Meander’s Kitchen in Seattle, Cozmic in Eugene, Ore., the Palms Playhouse in Winter, Calif., Moe’s Alley in Santa Cruz, Calif., and McCabe’s in Santa Monica, Calif., have all announced or tweeted cancellations.
Update: A tenth venue, Harmony Bar in Madison, Wisc., said Tuesday that Shocked’s May 5 appearance has been canceled “by the artist.”
Update: On Tuesday afternoon, the Telluride Bluegrass Festival announced it had cancelled Shocked’s participation in the event.
A Change.org petition is now targeting international venues to cancel Shocked’s concerts overseas.
Shocked has also said she will give a lengthy radio interview within the next few days to talk about the Sunday show in San Francisco.
Editor’s note: Some quotes in this story have been expanded to reflect actual remarks based on an audio recording of the event.
