Moogfest is expected to take place in Durham, North Carolina this year during the weekend of May 19 through 22. This, of course, is following the North Carolina’s new bill that forbids transgender people from using bathrooms and locker rooms that do not match the gender inscribed on their birth certificates.
Moog Music Inc., the creator of the event, is like much of the dance community where it is accepting of all individuals and invites for equality and respect. Since finding out about this law, Moogfest has been outraged. The Moogfest social media platforms reminds fans that they consider the event, “a platform for conversation and experimentation. Not discrimination.” Therefore, Moogfest is asking its fans, patrons, and followers to take a stand against this ourtrageous law.
They are asking that the hashtags #WeAreNotThis #HB2 #NC are used on social media in order to follow and spread awareness of the issue. They also ask fans to support the work of the ACLU of North Carolina and to sign the petition to repeal HB2 in North Carolina.
The social media posts that Moog Music Inc. and Moogfest initiated this response with are below the full response from Moogfest, which is here:
We are stunned by the news this week, and we invite you to join us in opposing regressive, unjust discrimination of all kinds.
House Bill 2, the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act, passed on Wednesday by North Carolina’s legislature and signed into law by the governor, eliminates anti-discrimination protections for all lesbians, gays and bisexuals and bars transgender people from using bathrooms that do not match the gender they were born with.
Moogfest is proud of its home in Durham, its heritage in Asheville, and our friends throughout the state of North Carolina. But we adamantly oppose this law, and any laws that enable or encourage exclusion and bigotry.
Moogfest is dedicated to the legacy of Bob Moog, an engineer who partnered with artists to create new technological tools for creative expression. It was Bob’s lifelong belief that true innovation comes through collaboration, not exclusion. Moogfest offers an inclusive environment where all people come together to explore big ideas for the future. We value diversity, self-expression and experimentation above all else. This discriminatory law not only runs counter to the basic principles of equality, fairness, and justice – it is a direct affront to our principled mission.
We will have spaces dedicated to education and dialogue around these issues and we will take every step possible to ensure that Moogfest remains a safe and welcoming space for all festival-goers, especially the many LGBTQ artists and speakers joining us this year.
We invite all fans of Moogfest to join us. We are standing our ground in North Carolina, and will use every opportunity to protest this law – on the stage, in the streets, and on social media.
- Follow and share the story on social media #WeAreNotThis #HB2 #NC
- Support the work of our allies at the ACLU of North Carolina
- Sign Equality NC’s petition
Synthesize love,
Your friends at Moogfest
#Moogfest is a platform for conversation and experimentation. Not discrimination. #ThisIsNotUs #HB2 Please read: https://t.co/oEvPedbnSH
— Moogfest (@Moogfest) March 25, 2016
Synthesize Love: https://t.co/1GqopDZpWt #SynthesizeLove #HB2 #NC #ThisIsNotUs #WeAreNotThis pic.twitter.com/dfCyOv9xjy
— Moog Synthesizers (@moogmusicinc) March 25, 2016
https://www.facebook.com/Moogfest/posts/1056239067777075