"Each of its appearances, in highly visible public arenas such as Times Square in New York City and Discovery Green in Houston, was something between a political rally, a Christian tent revival, and a college-football tailgate party. Music pulsated from the sound system, hands were held aloft in praise, and speakers assured the crowd that they were a righteous silent majority, fed up and ready to roar."
"The choreography was amped-up and melodramatic, following a conventional arc: collective prayers, tearful testimonies, calls to protect children from unseen cultural forces. The point wasn't just to feel good, but to feel chosen-a persecuted vanguard with divine backing. By the end of each event, the crowd was buzzing, swapping Instagram handles and embraces, convinced that they weren't simply attending a rally but standing on the front lines of a holy war."
"That is, until the fourth of the five rallies brought Mayday USA to Seattle's Cal Anderson Park. The choice of venue was not accidental: The park, named for Washington's first openly gay legislator, sits in the heart of the city's historic LGBTQ+ district. By nightfall, the streets of Seattle were a battlefield, with fists flying and police dragging away 23 protesters."
Parents'-rights activists organized the Mayday USA road tour to five American cities to campaign against gender and sexual expression in children. Events in high-profile public arenas combined political rallying, Christian revival theatrics, and communal entertainment, using music, prayers, tearful testimonies, and charismatic speakers to frame attendees as a righteous, persecuted vanguard with divine backing. The events aimed to channel parental anxiety into a broader Christian-supremacist political project. In Seattle's Cal Anderson Park, located in a historic LGBTQ+ district, confrontations erupted, with fists flying and police removing 23 protesters, drawing nationwide attention and official condemnation.
Read at The Nation
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