Halsey says ‘F**k you’ to straight Pride in t-shirt bearing faces of lesbian couple attacked on London bus
"Every f**king day on public transport is a straight Pride parade."
By Will Stroude
Words: Will Stroude
Halsey ensured her show in London on Monday (10 June) provided a powerful moment of queer solidarity as she took the opportunity to denounce the concept of ‘straight Pride’ and highlight ongoing violence against LGBTQ people.
The bisexual star, 24, took to the stage at Camden’s Electric Ballroom sporting a t-shirt bearing the horrifying picture of a lesbian couple who were brutally attacked on a London bus last month, before deliver an impassioned speech about the importance of Pride.
“Two people on my shirt are a young couple Melania and Chris, a couple nights ago right here they were assaulted because they are lesbians,” she told fans assembled at the venue, which is just three miles from West Hampstead, where the harrowing attack took place.
“It’s Pride month right now. Which is a really exciting thing… But the sad reality is that after the Pride parade is over and the bars closed, and the glitter is being swept out of the streets a lot of people get on those trains and they get on those buses, and they wash the rainbows off their skin and peel the stickers off their clothes.
“Because when Pride is over, it’s not safe to be gay anymore. There is a worry that someone is going to viciously assault them or attack them.”
Halsey getting a room full of queer kids to scream “I WILL NOT BE AFRAID” after two women were beaten for being gay in the exact same town she’s performing in. She’s wearing a shirt with their faces on the front, and “FUCK YOUR STRAIGHT PRIDE” on the back. pic.twitter.com/VssWprS3gX
— Sucker!! (AKA Becca!!) (@iamsuckeriam) June 10, 2019
Referring to the recent attempt of a right-wing group in the US to hold a ‘Straight Pride’ parade in Boston, Halsey continued: “When people around the world ask, ‘why isn’t there a straight Pride parade?’ The answer is because if there was one, you wouldn’t have to get on a bus and be terrified of being f**king beaten or killed afterwards.
“That’s why there’s not a straight Pride parade.
“Because every f**king day on public transport is a straight Pride parade.”
Four male teenagers aged between 15 and 18 have been arrested and released on bail following the attack on 30 May.