There’s always turmoil and drama in the music industry, but one thing remains constant: we’ll worship like a dog at the shrine of Hozier.
During a concert in Washington, D.C. this week, the Irish alt-rock heartthrob unfurled a Trans Pride Flag emblazoned with the slogan “Protect Trans Kids” on stage while singing his mega-hit “Take Me to Church,” as documented by TikTok user @acidic.ventress. The flag appeared to have been thrown by an audience member onto the foot of the stage. As Hozier sang, he retrieved the flag, spread it wide to a chorus of cheers, then draped it over his microphone stand and jumped back down to deliver the song’s signature “amen” bridge while leaning into the front rows.
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Hozier, who was passing through D.C. on his “Unreal Unearth” tour, has made no secret of his support for LGBTQ+ rights over the years. His 2014 music video for “Take Me to Church” tells the dramatized story of an anti-gay hate crime to underscore the violence faced by queer and trans communities.
The singer-songwriter has been particularly outspoken about trans rights, telling Rolling Stone in May that anti-trans sentiment is “horrifying” and warning of a “threat of an impending pogrom” from right-wing extremists. In fact, this is at least the second time Hozier has specifically taken a Trans Pride flag from the audience and made it part of his show, having done the same while singing his song “Nina Cried Power” — dedicated to iconic recording artist and activist Nina Simone — at a 2019 concert in London.
“In a time of political repression and suppression and artificially generated fear-mongering and scapegoating, I feel that just telling the truth of who you are and being who you are and standing up for that and expressing that is a very revolutionary act and a necessary act,” Hozier told the audience while performing at the “Love Rising” fundraising concert in Nashville earlier this year. (When an Irishman like Hozier says “revolutionary,” you know he means it, too; at the same concert, he also name-dropped James Connolly, a militant Irish socialist who helped found the Irish Labour Party and was eventually executed by the British government for his role in the 1916 Easter Rising rebellion.)
If you wish to take yourself to queer church, Hozier’s “Unreal Unearth” tour heads to Philadelphia, New York City, and Bridgeport, Connecticut this weekend. Be sure to bring your most radical selves, and maybe a cool flag, too.
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