PWR BTTM are the self-identifying queer punk duo of Liv Bruce and Ben Hopkins. Last year, they released their debut Ugly Cherries, and are currently finishing a North American tour before heading to Europe. Last night, anti-gay protestors picketed outside their show at Big Sleepy’s in Jackson, Mississippi, the band revealed on Twitter. In a statement to Spin, they said that they “saw four men with giant signs walking up to [their] show. They posted up outside and proceeded to yell homophobic stuff at the crowd the entire night.” As a result, PWR BTTM “moved the entrance to the show to the back of the venue and blocked off the windows at the front. It was a freaky ass night, but the local police helped us keep things safe.”
They added that the protestors wore portable cameras: “They were like baiting us to hit them, they wanted to be able to sue us,” they wrote. “We haven’t ever received threats, but I have a feeling this isn’t the last time this will happen. It won’t deter us, nothing will.”
Big Sleepy’s has since apologized to “anyone who felt threatened or unsafe... during the show or at any point by the Christian hate group outside.”
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