Country And Americana’s Big Homophobic Weekend

Something was in the water in the Southeast last weekend because, I tell ya, the Devil was hard at work.

Last Thursday, gay country singer Adam Mac was disinvited from his hometown Tobacco Festival who had “questions about what kind of performance [he] would be putting on,” making sure he would not be “promoting homosexuality or sexuality in a family environment,” as if country singers don’t sing about fucking in pickup trucks all the time. Chely Wright has invited Adam to play out with her, possibly at the Opry.

“Well,” you might think, “how awful and saddening. But that’s mainstream country music for you.”

Not to be outdone, though, the Americana Music Association said “hold my beer.” Last week was Americanafest, the flagship event of the roots music organization that purports to be a safe haven for those who reject, or are rejected by, mainstream country music.

I waited to write about this whole clusterfuck until things had settled down and to avoid re-traumatizing everyone who was involved. So, you’ve probably heard about it but in case you haven’t, here’s what’s been stated publicly. As of 11 AM Eastern time, Americanafest has not put out a statement.

  • As Adeem the Artist outlined in their recent statement, an artist accosted them backstage at the Americana Music Awards, haranguing them about their makeup and gender presentation. According to their statement, Adeem ultimately left the Ryman and received no follow-up from Americanafest — until they asked Adeem what they would have the organizers do. Adeem posted now-deleted Tweets about what went down after the awards festival. Americanafest made no public announcement or apology.
  • The next day, at Transgender Artists Arriving and Breaking Through in Americana, moderator Marcus Dowling (who is neither trans nor queer) deadnamed classic country songwriter Deena Kaye Rose. Panelists reportedly took Dowling to task, though Americanafest’s official Twitter account did not acknowledge this misstep in their livetweet of the panel. The panel was organized by Kill Rock Stars Records. No public statement has been made by Dowling, KRS, or Americanafest as of this writing.
  • The very next day, Jessye DeSilva reports that a “high up figure” in the festival met Jessye backstage after their official showcase to browbeat them about their critiques of the festival onstage. Again, it has been 6 days and no public acknowledgment of this attempt at artist intimidation. Americanafest can’t control what people say on panels or backstage, but they are certainly responsible for the behaviors of their own officials.

It’s particularly preposterous for Americanafest to sell t-shirts stating “Y’All Means All” when it seems obvious there is no plan for guaranteeing, much less taking responsibility for, artist safety. I interviewed Americana Music Association Executive Director Jed Hilly back in 2021 for The Boot, and while Jed described the organization’s DEI initiatives, the t-shirts, which they sell, are the only visible and concrete commitment to DEI. This year’s festival illustrates that artist safety and basic crisis control is simply not the Association’s priority.

Yet Americana positions itself as the liberal answer to country music. Once again, Karen Pittelman of Karen and the Sorrows has a prescient Twitter thread for that:

But why is it so difficult to walk the walk when you’re already talking the talk? That’s the question I can’t stop asking.

When your identity is wrapped up in standing for inclusion, but you are just as trapped by ancient patterns of white supremacy, it’s a difficult moment to reconcile. Let’s ask Germans who are grappling with the legacy of the Third Reich.

This past summer, Jewish Currents explored how Germany’s commitment to anti-antisemitism has created the curious phenomenon of a majority Christian government that determines what is antisemitic, to the point of scolding Jewish and Palestinian activists for not fitting into their definition of the term. In their eagerness to take responsibility for the crimes of the past, Germany’s official body is, in fact, doubling down on antisemitism and centering themselves in the conversation, refusing to give up any of the visibility, power, and prestige that comes from being a progressive arbiter of protecting a minority (protection the minority never asked for. There are no Jews in this state agency.) In doing so, they cannot concede that, perhaps, they are still capable of making mistakes and, more importantly, they are not the appropriate body to be speaking on the behalf of the community. Instead, they should center the community itself and, if they cannot, they should step aside.

Makes you think.

Two weeks ago, I wrote about Yom Kippur and forgiveness, but that forgiveness can only come when the injuring party takes responsibility. This is not the first action the AMA has taken to show its disregard for the queer community — trust me — but it’s the most public. When all three incidents are taken together, one has to ask what has been allowed to happen behind the scenes.

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