Equal parts defiant and celebratory, activists chose to protest incoming Vice President Mike Pence by throwing a queer dance party outside his rented D.C. house. The protest was organized by Werk For Peace, a grassroots organization created in response to the Pulse Nightclub shooting. Founder Firas Nasr told Mic: "The work that we do is about taking our bodies out of the private into the public, using the street as our dance floor to claim space, occupy space to assert we are here and we will dance." Pence is infamous for his anti-LGBTQ agenda but rather than merely attack him for his bigotry, the protest joyfully celebrated the queer community instead.
These are the streets outside Mike Pence's house in D.C., shut down by activists throwing a Queer Dance Party tonight. Pure jubilance. pic.twitter.com/GrJAgvSZBh
— Jack Smith IV (@JackSmithIV) January 19, 2017
If this video of @werkforpeace organizer Firas Nasr leading the protest doesn't make you want to become a political organizer, nothing will. pic.twitter.com/tBHiRMOsa4
— Jack Smith IV (@JackSmithIV) January 19, 2017
"This is our dance party!" @werkforpeace @DisruptJ20 @postlocal #wewilldance pic.twitter.com/w813pW6A9x
— Victoria St. Martin (@VStMartin) January 19, 2017
Dance protest has arrived – now dancing a half a block from Mike Pence's rental house. Were chanting "Daddy Pence, come dance" pic.twitter.com/kaUEbUXxAC
— Betsy Klein (@betsy_klein) January 19, 2017
Dance party at Mike's house! Party in the USA @Mike_Pence pic.twitter.com/Zny6gUYnMx
— RiotWomenn (@riotwomennn) January 19, 2017
Police blockaded the way about a block from Pence's, but stood by calmly. "Just as the police would do in any democratic country." —Nasr pic.twitter.com/YPzLhsmAZz
— Jack Smith IV (@JackSmithIV) January 19, 2017
When Pence first rented a home in D.C., his neighbors protested his arrival by hanging up rainbow flags. Pence will now move into the Vice President's Residence.
[via Mic]