LOS ANGELES — Protests against the United States Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade are not just in the streets, but also on stage.
What You Need To Know
- Writer and comic Taylor Streitz is mounting “The Pro Roe Tour”
- Streitz is sending money from ticket sales to the Texas Equal Access Fund, which is an organization that claims to “oppose all efforts to restrict abortion”
- There are many examples of performers using their talents to advocate for a cause
- The first show was Saturday and the last show is scheduled for Aug. 6
Writer and comic Taylor Streitz took her savings and turned an old bus into a mobile performance venue. She calls it the “No Fuss Comedy Bus.” From there she’s mounting the “Pro Roe Tour.”
“I felt like I didn’t know what to do to help. I don’t know anything about law or how to get involved in public policy, but it was very important to me to get involved and kind of join the fight,” Streitz said.
Streitz is from Texas and she’s sending the money from ticket sales back home to the Texas Equal Access Fund, which is an organization that claims to “oppose all efforts to restrict abortion.”
“It just really affects a lot of a woman’s self-worth to feel like the government can decide what you can and can’t do with your body,” she said.
Entertainers often use their skills to push for change. For example, Ukrainian-Russian comic Anya Zova recently put together a series of shows to show opposition to the war in Ukraine.
Comic Tehran Von Ghasri said the best jokes have some truth behind them.
“We don’t get up here and just say ‘Knock knock, who’s there?’ Sometimes we say ‘Who’s there? The Vietnam war. What is it good for? Absolutely nothing.’ Comedians have been passing and preaching messages since the 60s, since the George Carlins and the Richard Pryors. That is what goes on. Advocacy and comedy goes hand in hand,” Von Ghasri said.
On stage, very little is off limits.
“My friends and my boyfriend get annoyed with me, but I always err on the side of comedy. If things get too serious, I’m like ‘Somebody tell a joke real quick, cause we’ll get through it so long as we can kind of find the light in the dark,” Streitz said.
The first show was Saturday and the last show is scheduled for Aug. 6.
