Street performers drown out homophobe’s hate speech in public square
New York City is not the best place to voice homophobic hate in public. You’re likely to be met with many people who disagree with you.
That’s what one man discovered when he tried it in the city’s Union Square Park last Friday. The park is known for attracting all manner of public speakers.
The man starts to preach about the perils of being a member of LGBTQ community (it looks like he could be carrying a Bible under his arm), highlighting “the homosexual community has the highest suicide rate of any group.”
His comments did not go down well with a couple of student musicians nearby, who decided to play their instruments a little nearer and louder to drown out his words.
Related: Homophobe chases gay man out of subway and through the streets of New York in shocking video
The moment was caught on camera by New York-based filmmaker Nicolas Heller, who is known for his short films and mini-documentaries.
“I was running late to a meeting when I was passing through, so I only had two minutes to see what was up,” he told Queerty.
He shared the encounter to Instagram, saying “This strapping young gent (who clearly gets laid regularly) is preaching that the LGBTQ community is going to burn in hell, so street musicians @augie_bello and @roel.julian offer some foreground instrumentals.”
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Nicolas Heller (@newyorknico) on
One of the saxophonists featured also re-shared the post to his own Instagram.
Augie Bello, the man on the Swagcycle, wrote: “Today @roel.julian and I were hanging and we stumbled upon some homophobic guy with a mic so we played over him. Shoutout to @newyorknico for capturing this moment.”
Bello told Queerty, “Me and my friend Julian had just had lunch and were heading back to school (The New School For Jazz) when we heard this guy saying some really hateful homophobic things.
“What the video doesn’t show is what he said before we took out our saxophones. He was saying all gays will burn in hell and that they will be in a ring of fire. So I looked at Julian and he looked at me and we instantly had the exact same thought, to drown out the hate with our saxophones.
“Julian and I were shocked that the video went viral, but it also makes us extremely happy to see how much support there is for the LGBTQ+ community.”
