Babely Shades, an artist collective that frequently hosts shows in Centretown has spoken up about the New Hampshire band “The Queers” who are coming to Ottawa next month.
Babely Shades is currently running a petition on change.org to have the band removed from the bill of their upcoming show at Mavericks Bar and Music Venue on Feb. 21.
The art collective started the online petition because the band allegedly holds and perpetuates “anti-black and trans-misogynist views – something that directly harms many people in our music community.” The petition currently has 115 supporters and they hope to reach at least 200 signatures.
The front man of the band, Joe Queer, has been accused of performing songs with lyrics that are offensive to some. The allegations of his involvement in the “anti-black” community come from his continued support on social media of Officer Darren Wilson, the man who shot and killed an 18-year-old unarmed man named Michael Brown in August 2014. Wilson has been exonerated of criminal wrongdoing twice with respect to the shooting of Brown, which was one of the igniting factors of the Black Lives Matter movement.
“A performer like him has no place in our community,” says Elsa Mirzaei from Babely Shades. “For countless years The Queers have been known as a band that existed and wrote music to piss people off. Unfortunately the people they continue to target happen to be already marginalized peoples.”
In response to these allegations, front man Joe Queer says that he’s not exactly sure where the idea of him being “anti-black” comes from.
“We’ve had African American members in The Queers. I am married to a Japanese woman and the best man at my wedding and best friend is African American. I’ve supported anti-racist action by playing numerous benefit shows over the years,” says Queer. “If supporting Officer Wilson makes me ‘anti-black and trans-misogynist,’ then I guess I’m guilty.”
The Diamond Mine Agency is the production company that is organizing the Mavericks show. The owner, Brandon Bird, says that he doesn’t know if the allegations about the band are true or not, and didn’t know about the petition until a few days ago.
“We will properly address the situation with the bands manager and booking agent and get things resolved and figured out,” said Bird.