Anyone who cares about women’s rights should be extremely concerned about what’s happening in Texas right now. With the support of the US Supreme Court, the southern state has made abortion illegal in all circumstances. And if you think that’s bad, it gets worse.
If you find out about a woman who’s planning on having a now-illegal abortion in the state, or you find someone who is aiding a pregnant woman in a quest to obtain one – you can grass them up to the authorities and get a cash reward of $10,000.
Whenever things like this happen, DJs tend to immediately jump into the “I’m not involved in politics, I’m just a DJ who’s doing a job” camp. It’s how Danny Rampling and wife Ilona apparently managed to persuade themselves to do a gig in the human rights abusing Dubai.
Carl Cox is due to play in Austin and Houston in the state on October 14th and 15th. DJ Sneak is due in Houston on September 11th – just days from now. Paul Oakenfold will be in Texas on October 7th and 8th. Sasha and John Digweed are in Austin on September 17th. MK will be there on October 23rd.
A much longer list of who’s playing and where in Texas over the next few months is at EDM Train. Given this is a scene which was founded on the basis of respect for all, the fact all these shows are still taking place is morally repugnant.
They’re meant to represent a scene with such heavily political roots, yet somehow believe they’re laughably above politics when travelling out to such places to collect fat pay cheques.
Back in May, this blog published an article about over 600 musicians publicly declaring they would not perform in Israel, citing the never-ending conflict with Palestine. Yet so far on this issue, there’s nothing. Not a single peep.
Is there a certain level of suffered that must take place before DJs start thinking more about their morals and less about their bank balances? If so, I’m wondering how much more Texas has to do to cross that threshold…
