Gay country singer Adam Mac exits festival over ‘promoting homosexuality’ accusations
Adam Mac forced to pull out of Kentucky festival after fears he would ‘promote homosexuality’. (TikTok/@adamacmusic)
Gay country singer Adam Mac has pulled out as headliner of a Kentucky festival after local people threatened to protest the show due to his sexuality.
On Thursday (21 September), Logan County KY Tobacco & Heritage Festival shared a post on its Facebook page announcing the Grand Finale Concert – due to be held on 14 October – has been “cancelled due to circumstances beyond our control”.
The same day, country musician Adam Mac uploaded a four-minute video to his TikTok account explaining he had exited the festival on bad terms, saying: “This was not the video that I thought that I would be making today.”
Mac went onto say that he received a call from a member of the festival board who shared that other board members and Russellville [town in Logan County] residents “had questions about what kind of performance [he] would be putting on”.
He continued: “[They] wanted to ensure that I would not be promoting homosexuality or sexuality in a family-friendly environment. I don’t really know what they expected I was going to do, other than just come and put on one hell of a show like we do.
He added he’d been made aware that some people in the town were “very upset” that a gay person was due to headline the festival.
“To know that there are people who are angry that they’ve asked me to come and perform in a town that I was raised in for 21 years of my life … and sure, they have the right to not listen to my music. They have the right to not come to my show,” he continued.
“But what’s happening is now they are protesting, they’re showing up at the chamber. They have made comments online and to the chamber that they will be holding a protest at the show which is just so disheartening.”
Mac expressed concerns that if he didn’t go ahead with the show he was “letting down the people who needed to see me most in that space” and was “caving” and letting the bigots “win”.
But after “going back and forth all night” he made the difficult decision to “cancel the show” and “let them book someone else who will not be as controversial”.
“I’m really sad about it,” he concluded.
“I’m working on trying to figure out a way to do something else to make it right”.
The Disco Cowboy singer then encouraged fans to come and watch him perform in Nashville on Friday (22 September) where he promised a show which would showcase “everything [he] wanted the Russellville show to be”.
Kentucky is one of several conservative states rolling out anti-LGBTQ+ legislation over the past year. In March, the Republican-dominated legislature forced through anti-trans Senate Bill 150.
The bill prohibits conversations around sexual orientation or gender identity in schools for students of all grades, forbids trans and non-binary students from using the bathroom that aligns with their gender and allows teachers to misgender their students.
In May, a Republican Kentucky governor hopeful made the chilling vow to purge transgender kids from schools while answering questions at a town hall.
LGBTQ+ country musicians such as Orville Peck and Brooke Eden have previously spoken up about the importance of diversifying the genre.
Meanwhile country artists including Dolly Parton, Maren Morris, Kelsea Ballerini and Morgan Wade have all tried to make a stand in support of the LGBTQ+ community.
Last week, Morris announced she was leaving the country music industry due to the heightened “homophobia and transphobia”.
PinkNews has contacted Logan County KY Tobacco & Heritage Festival for comment.
