Vishal P. Singh
When the jackboot of eradication politics breaches your community and mandates mass death: what will you do?
This question is the crux of VILENCE, the latest single and music video by artist and activist Precious Child. The track releases in the midst of a Republican-led moral panic and culture war campaign openly calling for genocide against transgender and non-binary people. And who has heeded these calls?
Right-wing media canonizing anti-LGBTQ+ narratives globally.
State legislators writing hundreds of bills and laws to criminalize LGBTQ+ existence.
Fascist and neo-Nazi gangs targeting public spaces for queer life with hate crimes and terrorist attacks.
According to The New York Times, in just the last 11 months there have been over 350 anti-LGBTQ+ hate incidents across the country: including violent hate crimes, fascist armed rallies at drag shows, and even bomb threats against children’s hospitals that offer lifesaving gender affirming care. Not to be outdone by their radicalized base: Republican lawmakers have introduced over 650 bills directly targeting the existence of LGBTQ+ people— more than double last year’s shocking 315 anti-LGBTQ+ bills.
A recent report from an independent think tank researching LGBTQ+ issues and laws characterized this situation as “a war against LGBTQ people in America and their very right and ability to openly exist.” Pride Month this year has been marred by this spike in fascistic hostilities— and the Human Rights Campaign made history three weeks ago by officially declaring a National State of Emergency for LGBTQ+ people in the United States for the first time in the group’s 43 year history.
For many LGBTQ+ activists: the writing on the wall is crystal clear. Despite nearly 80% of Americans supporting LGBTQ+ rights— that support appears lukewarm and unenthusiastic when it comes to militant defense of the LGBTQ+ community. Precious Child wants to change that. In a statement, she wrote:
“VILENCE is about the current queer genocide in the USA. Our nation’s nosedive into fascism is propelled by the hatred and othering of LGBTQ people such as myself. Because 2023’s Pride Month has been crushed with endless hate crimes and bigoted laws, I release this furious plea for queer people to defend themselves. We are suffering skyrocketing persecution and my lyrics ask the question: ‘What will you do, what will you do when your friends are in the ground?’”
Precious is no stranger to this fight. She has found herself a direct target of far-right hate in the United States. She was personally condemned for her art and activism by Tucker Carlson on Fox News as well as Gavin McInnes, the founder of the white supremacist and fascist extremist group the Proud Boys. She has received death threats from anonymous online fascists brandishing assault rifles. Wielding her music like a machete— she slashes back against conservative pundits and alt-right media provocateurs with unfiltered truth. Her art has inspired queer people who feel stifled and trapped by this current era of discriminatory politics.
Precious represents a contingent of the LGBTQ+ community that is not complacent with half-ass performative solidarity from alleged liberal allies or the distasteful trappings of Rainbow Capitalism. The right to transgender and queer joy is not debatable— and many activists believe that now is the time for a specifically militant anti-fascist revolt against hate-filled dogma. For Precious Child and so many others: queer militancy is not merely a choice. It’s a grave responsibility. Without it: we would not have a queer community today and we may not have one tomorrow.
VILENCE is the first single off of Precious Child’s upcoming full length album: Tranarchist Antistar. Watch the music video here: