Moogfest Condemns New Anti-LGBTQ Law In North Carolina

Moogfest is an annual festival of music, technology, and art held in North Carolina. Beginning in 2004, it started as a one-day conference held at B.B. King Blues Club & Grill in Times Square. Since then, the festival has gained exponential size, ballooning into a three-day festival serving as the destination for artists and technologists alike. It's line-up this year includes Skepta, Sun O))), Grimes, Blood Orange, Grouper, and more.

On Wednesday, March 23, state legislature in North Carolina passed the the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act, effectively prohibiting transgender people from using public restrooms and change rooms that do not match the sex identification listed on their birth certificate. An editorial in The New York Times said the signing of this bill by North Carolina's Governor Pat McCrory "made the state a pioneer in bigotry."

In a statement released today, Moogfest reprimanded the bill saying, "This discriminatory law not only runs counter to the basic principles of equality, fairness, and justice – it is a direct affront to our principled mission."

Read Moogfest's full statement below.

To our global community of artists, technologists, and future-thinkers.

We are stunned by the news this week, and we invite you to join us in opposing regressive, unjust discrimination of all kinds.

House Bill 2, the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act, passed on Wednesday by North Carolina’s legislature and signed into law by the governor, eliminates anti-discrimination protections for all lesbians, gays and bisexuals and bars transgender people from using bathrooms that do not match the gender they were born with.

Moogfest is proud of its home in Durham, its heritage in Asheville, and our friends throughout the state of North Carolina. But we adamantly oppose this law, and any laws that enable or encourage exclusion and bigotry.

Moogfest is dedicated to the legacy of Bob Moog, an engineer who partnered with artists to create new technological tools for creative expression. It was Bob’s lifelong belief that true innovation comes through collaboration, not exclusion. Moogfest offers an inclusive environment where all people come together to explore big ideas for the future. We value diversity, self-expression and experimentation above all else. This discriminatory law not only runs counter to the basic principles of equality, fairness, and justice – it is a direct affront to our principled mission.

We will have spaces dedicated to education and dialogue around these issues and we will take every step possible to ensure that Moogfest remains a safe and welcoming space for all festival-goers, especially the many LGBTQ artists and speakers joining us this year.

We invite all fans of Moogfest to join us. We are standing our ground in North Carolina, and will use every opportunity to protest this law – on the stage, in the streets, and on social media.

Follow and share the story on social media #WeAreNotThis #HB2 #NC
Support the work of our allies at the ACLU of North Carolina
Sign Equality NC's petition

Synthesize love,

Your friends at Moogfest