Michelle Shocked performed at Yoshi’s in San Francisco Sunday night only to have the performance cut short after the singer expressed homophobic views to audience members.
The 51-year-old born-again Christian made it through her first set with crowd pleasers including "Anchorage," "Memories of East Texas" and "Graffiti Limbo" off the 1988 release Short, Sharp Shocked.
Between sets Shocked posted the tweet, "Truth is leading to painful confrontation."
The singer’s second set became confrontational, according to The Bay Area Reporter, as Shocked began an anti-gay rant.
"When they stop Prop 8 and force priests at gunpoint to marry gays, it will be the downfall of civilization and Jesus will come back."
Shocked continued, "I believe the Bible is the word of God.”
An audience member shouted, "Don't say that sh*t in San Francisco," to which Shocked replied, "Where do I go to say it?"
Shocked then delivered a Spanish prayer that "God loves you. God loves us. God loves us all everywhere." In English, she said, "God bless us everyone."
A stunned crowd did not know what to make of the spectacle.
Shocked said, "You are going to leave here and tell people 'Michelle Shocked said God hates f*ggots.'"
Two-thirds of the audience had walked out by this point, BAR reports.
Yoshi's announced, "Thank you for coming ladies and gentlemen. This show is over.”
"It's not over," Shocked said, but Yoshi’s cut off her mic and turned on the lights.
In an official statement Yoshi's Artistic Director Derek Hunter said, "This was Michelle Shocked's third visit to Yoshi's San Francisco; her first was March 2009. She has never given any indication that she is anti-gay or racist in her previous plays. She obviously has some serious issues and unfortunately chose our venue to vent them," SFBG reported.
Michelle has not only soured her relationship with Yoshi’s, but venues nationwide. An upcoming performance at Novato's Hopmonk Tavern was cancelled “due to comments made by Michelle Shocked at Yoshi’s in San Francisco.”
According to the venue, “We have decided to cancel our show with Michelle on March 29. Refunds can be made at place of purchase.”
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