Sorry Haters, This Country Belongs to Everybody

My first millennial memory of the public canceling of a celebrity was back in March of 2003. During a concert in London, Natalie Maines of The Dixie Chicks (now just, The Chicks), spoke out against then President W. Bush’s decision to invade Iraq following the attacks on 9/11. “Just so you know, we’re on the good side with y’all. We do not want this war, this violence. And we’re ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas.”

Even though mainstream country has a long history of protecting right-wing-inspired culture (the good, bad, and the ugly), the extent of the backlash against The Chicks was somewhat surprising. Fans flipped. CDs burned. Death threats circulated. Country radio pulled their chart-topping hits. No amount of damage control could curb the economic and public destruction of the Americana group’s careers and personal lives; so much so that the biggest artists in the genre have avoided taking public “political” positions since their demise.

That is, until Grammy-winning Maren Morris came along.

Morris’ first foray into lyrical activism came a few years ago in response to police brutality just after the murder of George Floyd. To my knowledge, she’s the only major country singer/songwriter to memorialize criticism of police violence in a song:

Over and under and above the law
My neighbor’s in danger, who does he call?
When thе wolf’s at the door all covered in bluе
Shouldn’t we try somethin’ new?
We’re over a barrel, and at the end of one too

But her latest move comes in response to a specific faction of the culture…the part that rides for right-wing extremism. Last year, singer Jason Aldean’s wife shared Instagram photos of her hair and makeup with the caption, “I’d really like to thank my parents for not changing my gender when I went through my tomboy phase.”

Country artist Casadee Pope responded, “You’d think celebs with beauty brands would see the positives in including LGBTQ+ people in their messaging. But instead, here we are, hearing someone compare their ‘tomboy phase’ to someone wanting to transition.”

Maren followed with, “It’s so easy to, like, not be a scumbag human? Sell your clip-ins and zip it.”

Their rejection of Aldean’s anti-trans bullshit was loud enough to trigger Tucker Carlson (pre-Fox firing), who labeled Maren a “Lunatic Country Music Person” on air. But instead of abandoning the Lunatic like fans did to The Chicks twenty years ago, allies rallied behind her and the LGBTQ+ community. She sold over $150,000 in “Lunatic Country Music Person” t-shirts in days and donated all of the proceeds to Trans Lifeline and Glaad’s Transgender Media Program.

Fast forward to this summer when the Aldeans were back in the spotlight of shame after Jason released a music video for his song, “Try That in a Small Town.” The singer used the site of a lynching and race riots as the background of the video to complement his pro-violence lyrics. And after Country Music Television banned it, the song shot up to number one on the Billboard charts.

See, the Aldeans recognized what so many MAGA evangelists figured out after the 2016 election: propaganda makes rage, rage makes ratings, and ratings make money. Country music is splitting into two familiar sides and like so many of us, Maren Morris is done amplifying their poor pitch by default. She said goodbye to the Aldean’s country in a new single dropped last month called, “The Tree.” And it left me thinking that LGBTQ+ allies in Arizona like you and me should do the same.

I’m done fillin’ a cup with a hole in the bottom
I’m takin’ an axe to the tree
The rot at the roots is the root of the problem
But you wanna blame it on me

Haters disrupt Cottonwood Town Council meetings every month to complain about allowing drag shows within city limits. Prescott city leadership is exploring ways to expand restrictions on drag shows in “Everybody’s Hometown” under the guise of protecting minors. An angry mini-mob in Camp Verde tried to get a librarian fired over the distance between adult Pride books and children’s Pride books in their local library. State Senator Anthony Kern drafted a bill to withhold state funding from public agencies hosting drag events, allegedly “after watching television reports of drag shows in which sex acts were simulated.”

I hung around longer than anyone should
You’ve broken my heart more than anyone could
Tryin’ to stop me won’t do you no good
I’ve already planted the seeds

We can’t force extremists to accept anyone. But Arizona Democrats have been planting anti-hate seeds for decades. Now it’s time to harvest what’s grown, register them to vote, and win the 2024 electoral battle for our LGBTQ+ neighbors once and for all.

Ooh, do you hear that?
It’s the sound of a new wind blowin’
Ooh, do you feel that?
Heart lettin’ go of the weight it’s been holdin’

Forget fighting frivolous fights that feed MAGA’s money tree— there is no more time to scream truth to the liars. We have only ~400 precious days until the next election and we must use them to unite every ally in Arizona (whether they realize that supporting human rights makes them an ally or not). Through our free elections, Democrats, Independents, and real Republicans will dismiss the grifters who are profiting from propaganda at the people’s expense…it’s just a matter of when.

I’ve made miracles in the shadows
But now that I’m out in the sun
I’ll never stop growin’, wherever I’m goin’
Hope I’m not the only one