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Kim Petras, a 27-year old German-born pop and EDM artist who has seen significant success in recent months, is not letting hate from the Westboro Baptist Church get her down or ruin her tour.
The infamous Westboro Baptist Church decided to picket Petras' recent shows because she is trans.
Petras began her transition early in life and has been the subject of media attention for much of her life because of that. She has been making music since 2008, but has only seen major mainstream success in the past couple of years.
Petras and her parents have always been open and honest about her transition and they were proponents of minors being allowed to medically transition in Germany.
As this freedom of personal bodily autonomy is antithetical to WBC's beliefs about what is right and wrong, the group have been very fervent in their protests of her concerts. But rather than letting them get to her, or simply ignoring them, Petras decided to show the hate group how little she cares what they think.
She first uploaded a short clip of snippets from her music videos set to Famous Dex's "Hoes Mad" with the caption:
"this is my official statement on wbc picketing my show in Kansas City tomorrow. this is the energy i'm bringing n it should be yours too 💓"
When the group showed up to picket her Sunday show as well, she decided to take things to the next level.
She took to the street where the religious hate group had set up to pose for photos in a super high-cut bodysuit and fishnet tights.
While posing for photos, Petras frequently flashed peace signs to the photographers while essentially ignoring those gathered in hate on the street behind her.
Petras uploaded a photo and video clip from this excursion to her Instagram with the caption "update. hoes still mad ..."
Her protest posts received praise from fans and fellow celebrities alike.
@katyperry/Instagram
@todrick/Instagram
@thegaybeards/Instagram
@grimes/Instagram
This is far from the first time Petras has spoken up for LGBTQ+ rights. An interview with HuffPost last year she said that she is opposed to using her trans identity "as a tool," but has never been afraid to be honest about who she is.
"I've never written a song specifically about being transgender. It made me the person I am and that's a big part of me, but I think music is about your feelings and your fantasies and it goes deeper than your gender or your sexuality"
She wants people to see her for her whole self, not just as a transgender artist.
"I really fell in love with music and I hope that people can see me for my music and all of the things that I am."
Petras album Turn Off The Light, Vol. 1 is available here.