Texas church uses unauthorized production of ‘Hamilton’ to slur the queer community
The Door Christian Fellowship Ministries in McAllen Texas put on a performance of Hamilton without obtaining a license to do so, and then altered the content to slur the queer community. The Texas church production included changes to the story that likened being gay to being addicted to alcohol or drugs, as well as religious references not in the original screenplay.
Lin-Manuel Miranda – Hamilton’s creator – is a long standing ally of the queer community. Miranda spoke out against the church’s actions and expressed his utmost gratitude towards everyone that alerted him of the illegal and improper production of his work. He indicated that lawyers have been contacted and they will now “do their work.”
The Texas church acknowledged that they did not seek permission to alter Lin-Manuel Miranda’s work, nor did they seek the proper licenses required to even put the show on. The church changed dialogue, deleted songs, and added content that was not in the original screenplay.
The Door Christian Fellowship Ministries released a statement on their Instagram account.
“On behalf of The Door Christian Fellowship McAllen Church, I would like to personally apologize to the creator of Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda, the producers of Hamilton, and the numerous others who contributed their intellectual property to Hamilton, for staging an unauthorized production of Hamilton that infringed on the rights and copyrights of many.”
The Texas church has agreed to never put on a performance of Hamilton again, as well as destroy all recordings and evidence that the performance ever took place. A spokesperson for the church also said that they would, without contest, pay any damages necessary to rectify their wrong. It is unclear at this time as to how much that might actually be.
In further demonstration of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s allyship to the queer community, the Tony Award winner announced that any damages that are awarded in this case will be donated to the South Texas Equality Project. This is an organization that supports and advocates for the LGBTQ community in the Rio Grande Valley region.
