Michelle Shocked

Well, Michelle Shocked, I am actually totally shocked. What the hell?! It’s freaky to me, the whole business of going from a queer icon to someone who would actually say that God hates us. When the shock wore off, I found people were super angry but I just got scared. I think that as a queer person of color, I have been scared my entire life, and I get over it bit by bit, enough to get by and live, but then something like this happens and it’s like that feeling of getting gay bashed all over again.

When people say that God hates fags, there’s this idea that it’s okay to kill us, it doesn’t matter if we die, because if God hates us, the supposedly one loving force in the world, the one who is supposed to love everyone and everything, the one, the only whatever whenever, if he hates us, then how are we to exist? Also, if he hates us, why did he make so many of us?

When someone like Michelle Shocked, formerly a beloved 90s alt queer muse and maker decides that it is ok to hate us and lets us know that God does too, I am truly sickened, as she of all people should know what this means.

I made many mixed tapes with that song “Anchorage” – which was always for me a lesbian anthem. That song played in the big old car with an 8 track cassette converter, this gas guzzling behemoth of a Buick I used to peel out of a dirt parking lot behind a country roadhouse, with tall corn and grass on all sides, to get away from this scary dude who suddenly appeared out of the dark shadows of the cornfield wielding nun-chucks, or it might have been a belt with a heavy buckle, or maybe it was a tire iron.

Fear clouds my memory, because when you are being chased by a crazy man calling you and your girlfriend “you fucking dykes” and you are just a teenager, in the middle of night and nowhere and he is whipping something around, knocking the “ick” off the “Buick” on the back of your car, it’s hard to remember what was in his hands, because you are not looking at him, you are looking to get away. I didn’t turn back, I kept going, maybe to keep this girl safe, as I might be butch after all, but really because I was too scared to turn back.

If you ever are terrorized like this – RUN. Don’t look back. Don’t be a hero. It’s not like the movies. Just get out of there. Hatred and homophobia can never be underestimated. And the effect of someone saying “God hates fags” can never be underestimated either. It’s a license to kill. It’s a death sentence. It’s not funny. It’s not ok. It’s not something I can let go easily because I know what it truly means.

The violence and hopelessness behind the statement keeps me up at night and will haunt me just like the tragic memory of a young gay man who was murdered in front of my family’s bookstore in the 70s. He was beaten to death – because these men who were never caught nor punished believed that God hated him, and in my nightmares I find his teeth all over the ground and I try to save them and they keep falling out of my hands and pockets and then I realize that he is dead and has no use for them anymore and I wake up sweating, my screams waking everyone in the house.

50 thoughts on “Michelle Shocked

  1. Margaret, I’ve been a fan since forever and I must say you continue to amaze and impress me after all these years. There are many of these hate-filled, sanctimony-fueled morons out there but there are many, many more who love and accept everyone for who they are. I’m one of them. You’re amazing and beautiful and talented and clever. Nothing can change that. Nothing.

  2. It is a very small step from “We are the correct religion/doctrine/denomination” to “Therefore, all others are incorrect” to “Therefore all others are less-than” to “Therefore, all others have less right to live than we do.”

    And I’m sorry liberal Christians, but your bible *does* hate teh gayz. Almost as much as it hates women and at least as much as it supports slavery and advocates for the rapist. I’m glad most of y’all defy your god in this way, but do know that you are openly defying your god.

  3. Thanks, Margaret. I was truly shocked and felt betrayed when I read about Michelle’s comments. So many of those songs from the album that “Anchorage” was on had tremendous meaning to me in the late 80’s early 90’s. I feel really sad also for her; obviously she hates herself and is in some major pain. That doesn’t really help the world deal with the fallout from her statement, but sympathy and empathy help us personally. On another note, if we really analyze or contemplate “god” as being someone or something that has some sort of affect on humans, it’s pretty clear that “God” hates everyone. Isn’t it?

  4. Thank you so much for taking the time to write this Margaret. As a teenager I was told by a ‘friend’ that I would be killed if he ever found out I was gay. Another teen in the town where I grew up had been set on fire a few years before. All the rage and fear that I felt then I feel again when someone says “God hates fags”. I still don’t feel like I have a grasp on what Karen (Shocked) was trying to say or get at with her rant. I do know she has made anti-gay remarks before. If the point was to spark cohesive discussion, she failed, and needs to own up and apologize. Reading Karen’s twitter feed I get the impression she is milking the publicity and attention garnered from this, and that makes me all the angrier. I’m not shocked, I’ve heard plenty of homophobic crap in my life, and for someone to exploit it for vague artistic purposes or as a marketing ploy makes my blood boil.

  5. Margaret, so sad. Like you, I used to be a fan of Michelle Shocked. I was kinda’ sorta’ in a place where, at 53 yrs of age, I was starting to see a world where being gay was becoming as shocking as re-runs of Seinfeld. Nice work Michelle. She may want to pray-up Donna Summer and see how that whole “I hate fags” thing worked for her career. Sad on so many levels.

  6. You nail it, Margaret. Your grasp of *why* this is so despicable is dead on. Even if it’s “irony” or “joking” or a “publicity gimmick” it’s still a reprehensible thing to do. Thanks for putting into words why this is so.

  7. It’s horrid that she said it, and horrid that others have to hear it. Were I psychic, I would ascribe her actions to a combination of bad brain chemistry and internalized homophobic horseshit.

    That’s an explanation, but not an excuse. How much must a person hate her (former?) self to say such things?

    The fact that anti-LGBT tirades are given a different sort of media attention is cause for hope, backhanded though it may feel.

    And I loved Greg’s comment that “I was kinda’ sorta’ in a place where, at 53 yrs of age, I was starting to see a world where being gay was becoming as shocking as re-runs of Seinfeld.”

  8. Margaret, thank you so much for being who you are. I lived up the block from your old (Mission) high school for 20 years and used to catch your early stand-ups at Josie’s Joint. Just got the pleasure of taking my new gf and gay boy bff to your show at Cornell last year. Your courage and outrageous humor have saved many of us. I feel truly sorry for Michelle who is very publicly declaring her own suicidal self-hatred. As a Puerto Rican dyke, at this point (55 years) in my life, I refuse to be afraid. But I get it sister…have lost lots of friends to violence. Keep the faith Margaret! You are loved!

  9. Really well said, Margaret.
    The blisteringly-furious comments of friends have been flying around Face Book (+ the real world) for a couple of days, and I totally get it. People are very angry, and some feel personally betrayed. Otherwise sensible people are saying things like, “stupid b###h”. But I think you really cut to the heart of it, by naming the emotion underneath all the others as fear. Thank you for your courage + eloquence.

  10. Margaret,
    I take my hat off to you. I thoroughly enjoy your talent, but even more, I respect your courage. You have consistently pushed the edge with your honesty.

    It pains me deeply that you and other LGBT people have to live in such fear. It is totally up to us straight people to intervene with bullies and thugs whenever they attempt to intimidate or threaten you and any other LGBT person. We are the cowards when we keep silent or walk away.
    michael

  11. While I am disappointed l am not surprised. When the Short Sharp Shocked album was gaining attention, I had a friend go to visit family in Australia. Her visit coincided with the Australian tour for the album and, being a fan (thanks to me, actually), my friend was very excited to hear that Michelle Shocked was to be interviewed on a local LGBT radio show. She tuned in and recorded the interview (on cassette *grin*), such as it was. About 2 minutes in, the host asked her how she felt about her large lesbian following. Shocked said she didn’t want to discuss that and that she was only there to discuss the tour and album. When the host, clearly taken aback, asked why, Shocked walked out of the interview.

    I was sad when my friend played the recording for me, and I have never purchased another recording by her. I still listen to that album though; it is such a beautiful piece of work. I only wish she returned the respect she is given for her talent to ALL of her fan base.

  12. I am saddened, but not surprised. In the early ’90’s I was living in Australia and heard an interview with her. When the DJ asked about how she felt about her lesbian following, she freaked, hemmed and hawed and cut the interview short… just walked out. It was a bummer, as a young lesbian, to hear this from the writer of “Anchorage” and all that I could think of is how much she must hate herself. Of course, I have no idea what the internal makings of Michelle are, but agree, spewing this kind of hate is what is contributing to the physical acts against people.

  13. I love you, Margaret Cho. I also thought Michelle was the one of the best and brightest. She apologized today and made an excuse that her comments were ironic and she was misunderstood. They rang hollow because I read that in 2011 she told a reporter that she was the biggest homophobe of them all and if a comment on gays was wanted the reporter should ask God for his opinion. She was brought up in a Mormon household and now belongs to a fundy church. Jeez, Michelle – Jesus excluded no one and hate is not Christian.

  14. I thought you were brilliant well before I knew who I was. I knew you were funny, and I knew I got you, but I did not know you write so well. Well put on the Michelle Shocked shocker, and you are right, about just how damaging and dangerous it is for anyone to connect hate/gays/god together – especially a celebrity with whatever power to connect with a lot of people. I am an atheist so God is fiction to me, BUT whatfact is that some religious people believing in God DO take things seriously when they believe “God” said so. People really need to know that speaking hate in the name of “God” is well, a good time to use the word EVIL!

  15. Thank you doesn’t say enough. Your words are powerful. You are one of the few people who make me feel better in the face of people like Michelle Shocked. Love to you.

  16. So if God hates fags suddenly, He probably doesn’t want us to sully her sales numbers. Let’s not disappoint the poor woman by buying her music since it would apparently upset her that we would mix ourselves with her chosen fans. Why cause her more distress? She sounds like she thinks she can get along without us.

  17. Once again Margaret your wisdom and courage to voice what other dare not share makes me proud you are around to stear our boat. You are smart, beautiful, brave, and yes funny.

    My wife of 10+ years is always so proud you are one of her kind, Asian & Queer.

  18. In my late teens/early twenties, you were the first to make me laugh. I, literally, fought my way through school (Summa Cum Laude). Without women/people like you, I would not be here today.

    Thank you for and keep on expressing your views,

    J

  19. Margaret, this is one straight, white, monogamous woman who is crying her eyes out after reading your article.

    I’ve never, EVER, understood the ‘god hates fags’ attitude, people, or propaganda. I’ve also never faced just how horrible the reality of it is. Thank you for furthering my education.

    Stay safe, beautiful.

  20. My thought when someone is this angry over someone else’s life it is because they fear they are more alike that person than not. They see what they fear. Ms. Shocked has probably been raised to believe homosexuality is a sin and abhorent, and therefore, she is so angry because she believes herself to be one and the only way to escape that is to separate herself as far away as she can. Me? I think people, and their stories and histories, are beautiful and I want to know more. I find learning about people interesting – and I could care less who you love, why you love, what you do with your love – – that is none of my business unless I’m in that relationship. I’m sorry for the LGBT community that in 2013 people continue to advocate hate.

  21. Go fuck yourself, Cho, you talentless waste.

    Where was your concern about people’s feelings when you made fun of “retard babies”?

    Again, fuck you.

  22. yes, thanks for sharing and for speaking out. This dangerous hate speak is damaging to kids( and everyone!). Kids take it to heart, sometimes not wanting to live in a homophobic world and taking their lives instead, and it encourages hate in others. Painful. Naive. Cruel really. I advise people to listen to her whole talk ,find it on soundcloud, she reads a part of scripture in Spanish to express how she feels and does not have the courage to read it in English to an already upset audience. She apologizes now, sorta, and dishonestly, cloaking it is something her publicist probably told her to say, days later. She found the light in god and Christianity and yet we all know that “pray the gay away” crap does only harm…………now she has done the harm. S.M. Director/Trans Youth Equality Foundation

  23. Thank you. All I can say is thank you, for speaking out and sharing your story and putting to words why it is so damn scary to leave in a homophobic and hateful world. And why it is not okay to say hateful things in the name of God and it being an opinion so just get over it already attitude that seems to permeate our society.

    Thank you.

  24. thanks for this. as the person who, for better or worse, introduced the wider world to MS via the campfire recording I made with her all those years back, I feel a big conflict of emotions right now. above all, i’m very sad to witness such distress and confusion for so many.

  25. I too, was shocked when I had heard the news, but more than ever I realize that something like this needs to be taken with a grain of salt. So I listened to the audio, and checked out the “interview” with Nicole Sandler, before I formed an opinion.

    First, I believe that what she said WAS offensive. And dangerous, as you point out.

    On the other hand, I don’t believe that what I heard qualified as a rant against gay people. It was the ramblings of a confused and mentally unstable person, for whom religion is doing no favors.

    I first saw Michelle back in 1988, opening up for Billy Bragg, and while I followed her career, I never considered myself a huge fan – so I must admit I’m somewhat surprised at how sad I feel.

  26. I lost my best (lesbian) friend to a church and the church goers. If you are weak, you will succum to them and she did. She’s now married and talking kids, BUT SHE’S STILL GAY. This is what happens when, as I said, you’re weak and let some church’s smooth talking anti-gayers into your life and head. God gave us a brain and a sexual orientation. Honor him by believing in yourself. Don’t change who you are for others, especially just to fit in. Be strong. Be who God made you.

  27. cho blow, your are wrong about my talent. i am if anything, i am full throttle talent. all i am is talent and compassion and love. fuck you and your cowardly anonymous remarks. it is you who has become the bully. my remarks there were directed at my own hatred and distrust of my body due to my addiction and depression, often caused by those like yourself. watch this, and heal http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdPdiQNWDeY
    and i have more talent than you or anyone like you could ever comprehend. if you live in hate, i feel sorry for you and i forgive you all my love, my talentless friend. go in peace and have a blessed life.

  28. Margaret, I’ve been a fan of yours forever since “All-American Girl”. Thanks for your thought-provoking essay. Now about Michelle Shocked’s anti-gay rant: After what happened the past two weeks with her US Tour now cancelled, THE CHICK NEEDS SERIOUS THERAPY!! There is too much hate in the world, in particular towards the LGBT Community. I have no idea what happened in her past, but what Michelle done is nothing short of horrendous. As much is she is entitled to her beliefs, people have the right to not pay to see a performer spouting hate speech. I applaud the venues that have cancelled her gigs!! Again, thanks so much!! MC YOU ROCK!!

  29. As certain of my remarks have, I believe, been taken out of context, I am providing, to anyone still interested, as complete a transcript as I can of what actually happened during my encore at Yoshi’s, based on the bootleg first posted by the San Francisco Bay Guardian on March 18. Nothing has been edited out, and any further corrections are welcome. The only liberty I’ve taken is to highlight those words, in bold, pointing to intentions which were misinterpreted at the time, and have since remained obscure.

    Of course the fault for that is completely my own, and I can not and do not blame anyone for defending the gay community.

    *****
    Stage Set
    Three portraits: Georgia, Michelle, Frida (appx 6’ x 4’ each)
    Stage Left – Georgia’s image is framed backwards, her portrait is visible behind the frame. Invisible to the audience, the word TRUTH is on the front of the frame

    Center Stage – Michelle’s portrait; the image is visible and the frame is invisible. Above her face is a word balloon ‘@mshocked’ and below her face is a word balloon ‘join the discussion.’ Invisible to the audience, the word VS. on the back of her image. To the right of her portrait, a stool is placed.

    Stage Right – Frida’s image is framed backwards, her portrait is visible behind the frame. Invisible to the audience, the word REALITY is on the front of the frame.

    Foreshadow
    Onstage, Michelle confesses she is terrified. Audience is encouraging. Michelle inquires if she is the only one there who believes an Invisible Man is in the room. A timid woman in the back raises her hand and Michelle invites her onstage. After a few gentle urgings to her and further solicitation to the audience, @TheGuapo volunteers. He steps onstage to operate her Twitter handle, @mshocked from her iPhone as her ‘avatar.’ After revealing the words “TRUTH” “VS.” “REALITY” by turning the portraits opposite, Michelle offers the choice to her audience. Per @TheGuapo, the audience chooses TRUTH. Thus, Michelle plays 10 songs sequentially from Short Sharp Shocked with little comment. She bows and leaves the stage. Audience applauds.

    Encore – (content is from the bootleg recording)
    Yoshi: Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Michelle Shocked.

    Michelle: Hey, y’all wanna hear what some of y’all just said? Alright. Let’s see, where do I start? (reading tweets) Umm..
    Tweet: “Awesome” (laughter).
    Michelle: I don’t know where it’s starting, so I’m just gonna start here.
    Tweet: “Oh, my other big favorite, along with Jump Jim Crow”…
    Michelle: Where are you, Elise?
    Tweet: “That’s OK. I’m Anchored Down in Anchorage, even with commercial breaks.” (laughter)
    Tweet: “Thanks for the shout-out for ‘Strike Debt’ #lifeordebt.”
    Michelle: That’s from Lisa, and Lisa was the only person who joined the conversation before the show. Remember where it said….(indicating the word balloons, no longer visible, on the portrait)
    Audience: (laughter) Yeahhh. Now we remember. Right there right there right there right there….
    Audience: (in a German accent) Hello. It’s so good to see you again.
    Michelle: (responding to the tweet sent to Lisa prior to the show) I said ‘the Calvary has finally arrived,’ and I think I meant ‘cavalry,’ but I’m not sure I did. (laughter)
    Tweet: “Every time you sing Anchorage, I think of my six-year-old skateboard punk rocker Stella.” (audience members hoot)
    Tweet: “Hey ‘Chelle, how’s that jack rabbit running?”
    Michelle: I think that’s a request for a song that I have called “Jump Little Rabbit” ‘cause Easter’s comin’, y’know?
    Tweet: “Some things only get better with age. That song was clearly one of them.”
    Michelle: Thank you, Christine!
    Tweet: “Reality” could include some Gospel.” (audience laughter)
    Michelle: Any other lovers of Invisible Man in here? This is sincere – the two things that I’m passionate about, y’all…I love me some Jesus, and I love liberation. And I did not know how I was gonna come to San Francisco, and…authentically represent the….(leaves thought hanging, reads further)
    Tweet: “We came to see you. Don’t need no other guitar-player no how. Great first set.”
    Tweet: “Rocked my baby to sleep to ‘Anchorage’ 13 years ago,”

    Michelle: (acknowledging the tweet is from the wife of the avatar, @TheGuapo, who is now seated in the audience) ..and thank you for the loan thereof, of your husband. Truth be damned, let’s go with reality, just for a while. And I know I talk a lot, and apparently at some point it’s gonna either put me in a coma, or cause me to have cancer and a premature death, but I really can’t help it now. I’ve dedicated 25 years to becoming more and more authentic, and I’m told that has value in the current culture but I’m not 100% convinced (laughter). But there’s no turning back. I’ve been practicing for quite a while.

    But I’ve got some pretty wonderful role models to draw on. Georgia O’Keefe (applause). For those of you who don’t believe there’s an Invisible Guy here in the room with us now, you may be inspired by her example. There was this one mountain she painted over and over and over again. It was very near her house in Santa Fe, the mountain was called Pedernal. And finally someone asked her, “Why, Georgia?” – I don’t think she had Twitter, but somebody got to her – “Why do you paint this mountain so many times?” And her answer was quite confounding for someone who confessed to NOT believe in God. She said, “Because God told me, if I painted it enough, He would give it to me.” I’m just telling you the facts (laughter). And so, sure enough, when Georgia died – anybody want to hazard a guess as to where they scattered her ashes? Unh-hunh. So, it’s not too late. You can jump into this Jesus game anytime you want.

    But I was in a prayer meeting yesterday, and you gotta appreciate how scared, how scared, folks on that side of the equation are. I mean, from their vantage point – and I really shouldn’t say ‘their,’ because it’s mine, too – we are nearly at the end of time, and from our vantage point, we’re gonna be, uh – I think maybe Chinese water torture is gonna be the means, the method – once Prop 8 gets instated, and once preachers are held at gunpoint, and forced to marry the homosexuals. I’m pretty sure that will be the signal for Jesus to come on back.

    Audience: (laughter) Whaaat?

    Michelle: You just said you wanted reaiity (laughs). If someone would be so gracious as to please tweet out, “Michelle Shocked just said, from stage, ‘God hates faggots’” (laughter). Would you do it now? (laughter)

    Audience: You can have your [muffled], Michelle! I think some people got it [undetermined]

    Michelle: (adjusting strap) Just adjusting my bra strap. Nothing worth getting in a froth about.

    Audience: What?

    Michelle: You’re confounded! Matt, you might need to get back up here.

    Matt (@TheGuapo): There’s gonna be aloooot of talkin’ about that.

    Michelle: I ain’t scared. I ain’t scared. This is not a tribunal. This is one woman’s opinion. And…it’s fun. It’s a lotta fun. I am so committed to loving each and every soul in this room tonight, that I could not come here and ignore you. I could not come here and pretend that I was above the conversation, and I couldn’t pretend that I was beneath it either. I had to join it. Thank you for that one handclap – I do that all the time. Matter of fact, I was in church a couple of…you know it’s come to a bad point when the white girl is sitting in a Black church, I’m clappin’ (claps) and the man in front of me turns around and goes, ‘That’s irritatin’.’ (audience laughter) Hallelujah. I’d like to play you some songs, but –

    Woman: I hope you get wise, Michelle, and realize that there’s nothing to fear. There’s nothing to fear. Everybody is deserving of your, whoever your God is, His love.

    Michelle: Can I respond to that, off the microphone?

    Woman: You can respond to that ON the microphone.

    Michelle: (angry, shouting) I AM SICK OF CHRISTIANS, FILLED WITH HYPOCRISY, HIDING BEHIND THE SYMBOL OF A CROSS!

    Woman: C’mon, show it. Show your true self. C’mon!

    Audience: Could you clarify? C’mon Michelle! Say what you mean! What are you so afraid of?

    Michelle: I believe that the word of God is just what it says it is: the truth.

    Audience: (getting restive) Oh dear God. The who? Let’s not forget, in the Bible….Frightening, frightening, etc.

    Michelle: I’m just saying one thing. Just one thing. Just one thing. Porque de tal manera amo Dios al mundo, que ha dado a su Hijo unigenito, para que todo aquel que en El cree, no se pierda, mas tenga vida eterna.

    Audience: We don’t speak Spanish!

    Michelle: You don’t speak Spanish?

    Audience: Oh no, we do! I don’t! Say it in English!

    Michelle: (starts to play guitar, then singing)
    Leaving town while I still can
    Going down to the Yucatan
    To become a wanted man
    It happens that fast
    Saying my goodbyes,
    Now, mama, don’t you go and cry
    I gotta try to live without a past

    Shined my shoes, dressed the soles, only cost me five pesos
    At this rate the money goes twice as far
    Atencion, Señor, mas cerveza por favor
    A rolling stone gathers his thoughts in a Mexican bar.

    (spoken, with guitar accompaniment)
    I was heading down to Guatemala, during a very brief ceasefire in the hostilities. But I’d made the mistake of booking my flight on AeroMexico.

    Audience: Are you being homophobic, or….[muffled] That’s the most homophobic thing I ever heard…[muffled]…Yeah, but she’s in my town [muffled]….

    Michelle: AeroMexico is owned by the Mexican government, so they arrange things so you can’t fly through Mexico without stopping for a night in Cancun – which, I don’t know

    Man near microphone, to waitress: Excuse me.

    Waitress: Are you ready for the check?

    Man: Just one second. Where is the management of this place, to get this moron out of this place?

    Michelle: Cancun is some people’s idea of paradise, a lot of fat, happy gringos saying, ‘Pépé, bring me another cerveza.’ So when the plane landed at the airport in Cancun, I told the taxi-driver, ‘Just take me into town, I’m gonna stay at a pension, avoid those fancy resorts.’ And to my surprise, another gringo asked, could he get a ride. I said sure. We got to the hotel, checked into our separate rooms – this story’s not going where you think it is – but about five minutes later, he comes knockin’ on my door, wanting to know, do I got change for a hundred dollar bill? I said “Man, this here is Mexico, they don’t use dollars here, they use pesos. But this was back when I was still drinking, so I said, “You wanna come around the corner with me to a bar for a beer? Maybe they’ll have change for your $100 there.” So we did. And they did.

    (audience restive)

    And after a beer, maybe two, OK three, he started explaining to me that he was supposed to be in Memphis the next morning, for a court hearing. This man was on the lam. But that’s alright, that’s alright, because he had bought a book. And that book was called “How to be a Fugitive.” Of course you realize, he’d just broken the first rule of the book: if you’re gonna be a fugitive, don’t tell nobody. After another beer, he told me how he was gonna get by in Mexico. He was gonna continue doin’ what he’d been doin’, which was makin’ guitars. Right there in his bag, he had a sample of his wares – did I wanna see ‘em? “Sure,” I told him. “Show me what you got.” And he pulled out the neck, the headstock of the guitar that he’d been working on. And right there on the end, like they all do, was the name of the luthier: Newman. New…Man.

    I ain’t gonna pass that up. So I wished him well – especially as he’d just broken the second rule of the book: if you’re gonna be a fugitive, don’t tell anybody your real name. I admit all I really know, is the little that he’d told me, but between you and me

    (singing)
    It’s best between the lines
    Although I swear I’d heard him say there’d been a fiancée
    Convicted of his love, but not his crime
    Listen, y’all –
    We are condemned by our own hand
    A fugitive will understand
    So forget everything you can
    What’s in a name?

    But sure as the word made flesh the soul will confess
    And this cup passes before us all the same

    Oh, don’t bother to applaud – it’s not needed (faint applause continues). No, no, seriously. I don’t think I can handle all the adulation right now.

    Woman: You don’t deserve it. Everyone should get up and leave! That was rotten! That was a horrible thing to say, if that’s what you believe.

    Audience: Somebody over there believes she means something different. Maybe you’ve been confusing –

    Michelle: I got a question for y’all. It’s a sincere question. How are you enjoying reality so far?

    Audience: Not your reality

    Michelle: Sucks pretty much, doesn’t it?

    Audience: Oh yeah – (other woman continues yelling)

    Michelle: You can’t have both.

    Audience: Don’t come to San Francisco saying that shit.

    Michelle: Don’t come to San Francisco saying that shit? Let’s take that note. I just got a tweet, they said, “Don’t come to San Francisco saying that shit.” Where do I go to say that shit?

    Audience: Wow! Arkansas! That’s so weird, you’re so weird…

    Michelle: It IS weird. (laughs) Yeah, it is weird…

    Audience member: Your reality is tweets? Your reality is tweets?

    Michelle: This is not my choice –

    Audience: According to this show, we spent like 20% of this show on tweets. 80% was a show, and 40% was homophobia

    Audience: Get her out of here –

    Yoshi: Yeah, we’re…I’m sorry, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you very much for joining us tonight at Yoshi’s.

    Michelle: You’re pulling the plug? They’re giving me the hook, y’all.

    Audience: Hell no! No! Hell no!

    Michelle: I still got game. I still got game.

    Audience: You don’t need no amplifier –

    Michelle: Shall we lose the mic?

    Yoshi: Yeah…

    Audience: Continue!

    Michelle: Alright. I will (scattered applause, stage sounds) Let’s move closer When they take away the microphone, you wanna stay close….

    (sound of audience leaving)

    (singing)
    Although I know my love for you is true
    I seem to bring out the very worst in you
    Perhaps you though my love could be bought
    Perhaps you think we’re happy, but we’re not –

    (under Yoshi announcement:)
    I tried to talk it out
    But you just take it out on me

    Yoshi: Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of Yoshi’s, we appreciate your patronage, and your servers will be with you shortly with your tabs. Thank you so much for joining us, and we do hope to see you again back here very soon. Thank you.

    (Michelle, still singing)
    Shout at me to shut up
    Turn the volume up on the TV
    And when the neighbors all began to complain
    You yell at me, and tell me it’s my treachery’s to blame
    I gave you my trust

    Audience: Michelle, we love you –

    (still singing)
    But I’m taking back the same
    For the things you are doing in our name
    listen, y’all –
    All I ever needed you to show me was your soul
    But I see that all you ever really wanted was control
    And now I know this wasn’t part of your plan
    But I’m singing this – citizen to country – not woman to man
    I’m sayin’ that we should see other people
    We should see other people
    Oh I believe with all my heart
    That we should start to see other people

    (glasses being collected, crowd noise)

    All I ever needed you to show me was your soul
    But I see that all you ever really wanted was control
    And now I know this wasn’t part of your plan
    But I’m singing this – citizen to country – not woman to man
    I’m sayin’ that we should see other people
    We should see other people
    Oh I believe with all my heart
    That we should start to see other people

    I just want y’all to know that I didn’t ask for a deposit for this performance, and I have pretty good reason to believe that when I leave here tonight, I’m gonna be told that I did not give anyone their money’s worth. And so now I’d like to pass the hat, and ask if you wouldn’t mind putting a dollar in for the folksinger, for the busker, for the street performer. And if that’s too kind, maybe you’ll support my initiative – a songbook with sheet music in it. You can read the words, you can see for yourself, between the lines. All I’m trying to say is, God bless us, every one. Thank you for coming.

    (applause)

  30. Wow this is classic:

    “all i am is talent and compassion and love. fuck you and your cowardly anonymous remarks.”

    That perfectly captures what an utter mess you are.

    Don’t ever forget that All American Girl was canceled because it sucked and nobody was watching. Congrats on failing.

  31. Looks like the “European” leg of her (now cancelled) US Tour is beginning to crumble.

    This statement is posted on the website for the Burg-Herzberg Festival in Germany:
    “We had to cancel Michelle Shocked. During a concert the last days in San Francisco she said things like: “When they stop Prop 8 and force priests at gunpoint to marry gays, it will be the downfall of civilisation” and “You are going to leave here and tell people, ‘Michelle Shocked said God hates faggots.'” Personally as well as the managers of a festival with the motto “Art of Peace” we can not deal with such crap.”

    I think it is interesting that MS’s official website still has all these dates still posted, even though literally all of them are now cancelled.

    I suppose since her professional team of handlers are now gone (her publicist and booking agent), there’s noone to clean up the mess that continues.

    Sad.

  32. I don’t know which passage in the bible says “god hates fags”, I’ve read the thing cover to cover and I’m not sure where you or your haters are pulling this from. What I know it does say is god hates the sin, not the sinner. Also that as Christians we are supposed to show love to everybody, even our enemies (which we should really have as christians in the first place!) Live your life, do as you please, it is not for any human to judge anyone. Do I think homosexuality is a sin? Yes. Do I get alone with my gay co-workers? Yes I do! I treat them like I would anybody. Do I believe I have the right to hurt you because I think what you do is a sin? NO! And I think a lot of others would agree with me. I used to be a fan of yours, not any more, but you don’t have to worry about me coming out of the cornfield with nunchucks lmao (that was hilarious by the way) Do your thing, whatever you do is going to be you and god’s problem, not mine. Good luck to you, and if anyone who wishes you physical harm calls themselves a Christian, you should challenge them to look into their own hearts as the bible commands us not to hate anyone. Best of luck to you!

  33. As an orthodox Catholic, I am well aware that you and your fans think of me as a hypocrite. The fact is that I am a hypocrite and so are each and every other person on this Earth including you. St. Paul said all of us fall short of the glory of God. I feel Michelle Shocked’s pain. I do not believe for one second that she hates gays and actually was considered gay for much of her. I believe that she, like many of us, are searching for truth. Michelle is concerned, as I am (and everyone else should be), with how God will judge her when she dies. We all will be judged whether we choose to believe it or not. I think God knows what is in Michelle’s heart and he will be kind to her. I also believe that God will not be kind to those who have deliberately misinterpreted her remarks to push their own agenda.

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