Maren Morris and Sheryl Crow are among several artists set to perform at Love Rising, an upcoming benefit concert in Nashville to support Tennessee-based LGBTQ organizations amid anti-LGBTQ bills being passed in the state.
“Art and community are, and always have been, the medicine of oppression,” Morris wrote on Instagram Tuesday, holding the concert banner. “Let’s show these politicians that they don’t speak for all of Tennessee. Love will prevail.”
Jason Isbell, Hayley Williams, Brittany Howard, Julien Baker, Allison Russell, Brothers Osborne, Amanda Shires, Joy Oladokun, Yola, Jake Wesley Rogers, Mya Byrne and the Rainbow Coalition Band will also perform at the show, which will take place at Bridgestone Arena on March 20.
“Love is always more powerful than hate and fear,” Crow said on social media.
Organizations the concert will support include the Tennessee Equality Project, inclusion tennessee, OUTMemphis and The Tennessee Pride Chamber.
Since Tennessee recently passed two controversial anti-LGBTQ laws, one banning gender-affirming care for minors and another restricting drag queens from performing in public, Hollywood figures have protested on social media.
On Wednesday, RuPaul, the face of the drag race franchise, he shared his thoughts in an Instagram video, saying, “Hey look over there! A classic distraction technique, distracting us from the real issues they were elected to office on: jobs, health care, keeping our kids safe from harm at their own school. But we know that bullies are incompetent at solving real problems. They look for easy targets to give the impression of being effective. They think that our love, our light, our laughter and our joy are signs of weakness. But they are wrong because that is our strength”.
RuPaul continued: “Drag queens are the marines of the queer movement. Don’t get confused and don’t get distracted. Please register to vote so we can get these queens out of stunts and put some smart people with real solutions in government. And by the way, a social media post has never been as powerful as a registered vote.”
Cyndi Lauper, a longtime LGBTQ alley, also spoke out against the new laws, comparing the anti-LGBTQ bills to Nazi Germany. “Equality for all, or no one is really the same,” the singer told ITK according to The Hill. “That’s how Hitler started… just taking everyone out… I don’t think it’s a good idea what they’re doing, but, you know, you just have to keep fighting for civil rights.”
Melissa McCarthy shared a graphic on her Instagram, which read: “You’ve been entertaining yourself by dragging your whole life. Don’t pretend it’s a problem now”, with photos of various iconic characters in cross-dressing. She added a caption to the post that read, “This.”
Tickets for Love Rising went on sale Wednesday.
