On Friday night, Twitter and then social media lit up after Vice President-Elect Mike Pence was greeted with a mix of boos as well as cheers while attending the Broadway hit show Hamilton at the Richard Rogers Theater in New York City. After the show, cast member Brandon V. Dixon who plays the character “Aaron Burr,” announced there was a special guest in the audience and then called out to Pence who was leaving. Dixon also asked the audience not to boo. Pence was then given a message by Dixon that many were fearful and anxious about the outwardly and blatant divisiveness (racism, misogyny, homophobia...) of the future Trump administration, and asked Pence to please take heed of Hamilton’s patriotic message. He added “ALL people” deserve to feel protected in this country. Mike Pence who is anti-LGBT, apparently forgot or didn’t care that Hamilton embraces the LGBT community. One tweet response pointed out that Javier Munoz, who plays Alexander Hamilton, is an openly gay and openly HIV-positive man.
Here is Dixon’s full announcement to the audience and message to Pence:
“Do you know who was joining us tonight? You know, we had a guest in the audience this evening. And Vice President-Elect Mike Pence, I see you’re walking out. I hope you will hear us just a few more moments.
There’s nothing to boo here, ladies and gentleman. There’s nothing to boo. We’re all here sharing a story of love. We have a real message for you, sir. We hope that you will hear us out. And I encourage everybody to pause your phones and tweet and post, because this message needs to be spread far and wide, okay?
Vice President-Elect Pence, we welcome you and we truly thank you for joining us here at Hamilton American Musical, we really do.
We, sir, we are the diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us, our planet, our children, our parents, or defend us and uphold our inalienable rights, sir. But we truly hope this show has inspired you to uphold ourAmerican values and work on behalf of all of us. All of us. Again, we truly thank you truly for (sharing) this show, this wonderful American story told by a diverse group of men and women of different colors, creeds and orientations.”
Hamilton’s Pulitzer Prize-wining creator Lin-Manuel Miranda tweeted out his affirmation to Brandon V. Dixon for “leading with love.” The popular and talented Miranda, who recently won more hearts jabbing Donald Trump while hosting Saturday Night Live, reiterated that “ALL are welcome at the theater.”
Apparently when Donald Trump woke up and heard the news, he the king was displeased and was upset that the “wonderful future V.P. Mike” was harassed Friday night.with “cameras blazing.” So, like he does, Trump took Twitter to censure and demanded the Hamilton cast “apologize!”
Whether one agrees with what the Hamilton cast members did or not, Trump’s threatening tone in his tweet leaves us to wonder what this newly elected to be president intends to do if the cast does not apologize? Will Trump once again incite his angry mob to take action? Last week’s surreal election leaves us all to wonder what Trump is going to do, and/or is capable of doing, when Americans displease him.
Dixon courageously replied to the president-elect saying, “@realDonaldTrump conversation is not harassment sir. And I appreciate @mike_pence for stopping to listen.”
Kudos! Brandon V. Dixon also told the Washington Post:
“When we first got the call that [Pence] was coming, there was certainly a question of what we would do,” Dixon told the site, which covers Broadway news. “These are the opportunities that you die for.”
“I truly believe we had an effect,” Dixon told the site. “… If you have differences, say something! What better place than on this stage telling this story with these people? I hope he thinks of us every time he has to deal with an issue or talk about a bill or present anything.”
As for Mike Pence, there’s a saying, “You get what you give.”
Though the Broadway cast’s message was directed broadly at what would be an administration under Trump’s presidency, Pence himself has a political track record that has been excoriated by the LGBT community. Last year, as governor of Indiana, Pence signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act after the federal courts ruled that same-sex marriage bans in states were unconstitutional. Under the new state law, Indiana business owners could cite their religious beliefs if they didn’t want to participate in same-sex weddings. Opponents said it amounted to allowing discrimination based on sexual orientation. A week later, after facing boycotts and widespread condemnation from rights groups, Pence signed an amendment clarifying that the law could not be used to discriminate against the LGBT community.
He has a “0%” rating from the Human Rights Campaign, a nonprofit group that calls Pence “notoriously anti-LGBTQ” when he was chosen to be Trump’s running mate.
Cheers to the Hamilton cast for, in a kind and compassionate way, using America’s First Amendment to speak out agains hate and hate speech that exemplified throughout the Trump/Pence entire campaign.
Read more on the story here: Mike Pence booed by Hamilton audience—then compassionately schooled by cast