On February 7th, President Trump announced plans to restructure The Kennedy Center and move it away from “woke” performances and drag. The next day, he removed all of President Biden’s appointees and positioned loyalist Ric Grennel as executive director.
Content from The Kennedy Center’s website has also been removed, including the fact that the center is standing on the traditional land of local Native American tribes. This has caused significant backlash in the artistic community, as The Kennedy Center has long been celebrated as a nonpartisan venue for Americans to experience performance art in all of its forms.
Several upcoming performers and events have cancelled, including writer Louise Penny who was due to launch her book ‘The Grey Wolf’ at the center. Actress, comedian, and television producer Issa Rae also canceled her sold-out show ‘An Evening With Issa Rae’ posting on Instagram “Unfortunately, due to what I believe to be an infringement on the values of an institution that has faithfully celebrated artists of all backgrounds through all mediums, I’ve decided to cancel my appearance at this venue.” The highly anticipated National Symphony Orchestra event “A Peacock Among Pigeons Celebrating 50 Years of Pride” was scheduled for May 21st and 22nd to celebrate World Pride, but has also been quietly removed from the schedule.
It was meant to be part of the center’s social impact partnership program known as The Kennedy Center’s Conflux initiative, and was designed to celebrate the LGBTQ community through music. A spokesperson from GLAAD told The Advocate “LGBTQ people have always been and always will be part of every community. In fact, we know that the more LGBTQ people are included, the more we all succeed – at work, in school, in business, in the media, and in the arts. Despite the efforts of this administration, we will keep telling our stories louder and prouder than ever. Attempts to exclude us will not erase us.”
