By DCist contributor Orrin Konheim

The newly formed WERK for Peace got off to a kinetic start yesterday morning as organizer Firas Nasr gathered a group of abut 15 people to start dancing in front of the Capitol to fight homophobia and stagnant gun legislation.

“We’re using the Capitol as a symbol to tell Congress they need to take action against homophobia and gun politics. However, these problems are not only a product of our government. It’s a top-up approach,” said Nasr, who co-organized the group in response to the Pulse shooting. CODEPINK co-hosted the event.

As the activists prepared to begin their hybrid of dance and protest, a US Capitol Police officer informed the group that they couldn’t protest on the plaza without a permit if they were in a group of more than twenty people and suggested that they move their protest to the adjoining lawn.

Once the group complied, Nasr led the group in a call and response of the newly formed group’s motto: “We are queer, we are here, we will dance.”

After laying down 49 hearts with the faces and names of the Pulse victims around them, Nasr announced: “I’ll cue the music now and feel free to let loose. Use your beautiful bodies to occupy space and tell the world.”

And with that, the group let loose and danced as freely as people can while holding protest signs over their heads.

Big Freedia’s “Y’all Get Back Now” , Pharrell Williams’ “Happy” and Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” were among the tracks that blared from the eastern edge of the Capitol grounds.

A few minutes later, a group of six ventured onto the Capitol Grounds and danced on the steps while the group’s in-house photographer, Nahal Jalali, attempted to placate the officer into letting them dance for an extra couple minutes.

Because it was a Thursday morning when Congress wasn’t in session, the Capitol grounds were relatively sparse, but the tourists took notice—although not all of them were clear as to what it was.

“If it’s for protesting, it’s a good one, because they attracted lots of people here,” said tourist Stephen Lin. Daniel Levy, who was visiting from Tel Aviv, added: “I liked it, but there are so few of them.”

After returning to their original spot, a smaller group remobilized and took their cause to the streets. The group wasted no time spreading their message through dance at intersections during red lights, in front of significant buildings, and whenever the spirit moved them.

“WERK for Peace’s idea is to reclaim their bodies so even if Congress doesn’t see it today, they’re here to assert that queer bodies are here today,” said Rebecca Green, a CODEPINK staffter.

As they settled down in front of the Hart Senate Office Building’s Constitution Avenue entrance, the dancing septet started to get the attention of government workers leaving and entering the building for the lunch hour. The fun was short-lived as a cop approached them once more and instructed the group that the amplifier must be turned away from the building.

“We don’t want to distract them from the work they’re not doing,” quipped Brendan Orsinger, who has become increasingly active in social causes since quitting his job in April and enjoying the freedom that being out of the “military-industrial complex” (his words) allows.

The group headed for the Supreme Court where they were met with another cop while crossing Maryland Avenue.

“Want to join?,” Nasr asked Sergeant Jolania Cobbin in anticipation of being warned of another regulation. To the group’s surprise, Cobbin just wanted to make sure they were safe crossing the street.

“A lot of people fought for the right to do what you’re doing, so I’m gonna let you do it,” said Cobbin who has been working the Capitol Hill beat for 27 years.

In front of the Supreme Court, the septet danced in front of a different protest group—the Abolitionist Action Committee protesting the death penalty—and found an emcee of sorts in 52-year-old Buster Etienne. Etienne was unaffiliated with any protest, but for reasons unknown happened to be carrying around a bullhorn, rallied the crowd to the group that was “dancing for Jesus.”

McCracken politely corrected him that the group was dancing against gun violence.

The group continued to dance until around noon. “We managed to dance in front of the Senate and House offices, where many individuals reached out their windows to dance with us or came out on the balcony to watch,” Nasr said. “Whether one or one million individuals show up, we will continue to do what we do—to WERK.”

Filed Under: LGBTQ, orlando, protest, werk for peace,