Band Director Wants Teens to Perform Transgender Anthem as Form of Activism
A small Wisconsin community is now at the center of a heated culture-war clash after a high school band director programmed an instrumental concert piece honoring transgender activist Marsha P. Johnson, prompting school board members to question whether the music belongs in a public school performance.
Watertown High School’s Wind Symphony has been preparing “A Mother of A Revolution” for its May 18 spring concert, but the Watertown School Board is expected to decide at a May 12 special meeting whether the piece will be pulled from the program, according to Wisconsin Public Radio.
The work was composed in 2019 by Omar Thomas, has no lyrics, and was dedicated to Johnson, a figure associated with the 1969 Stonewall uprising.
Band director Reid LaDew notified parents in October that students would study and prepare the piece, following the district’s controversial-issues policy, WPR reported. The policy requires advance notice to parents before controversial issues are taught, and families were given an opt-out option; WPR reported that three families initially opted out, but only one student ultimately chose not to perform it.
In a letter to parents LaDew admitted that the purpose of the performance was to teach students about:
● Music as activism – understanding the role of art in social change.
● Historical context – connecting the Stonewall uprising and LGBTQ+ history to modern perspectives.
“There’s no doubt the intentions of this band director. He was wanting to force a specific political agenda on the community and he’s using a bunch of high school musicians as his pawns,” Newsmax host Todd Starnes said. “Director LaDew has turned what was supposed to be a celebration of student musical talent into a platform to promote transgender activism. Shame on the band director.”
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Members of the board’s Educational Services Committee signaled this week that they favored removing the piece, with some arguing that a song tied to LGBTQ+ history is better suited for a history classroom than a school concert stage. Committee member Christina DeGrave said music should be “uplifting and celebratory,” WPR reported.
“My concern as I was reading about it is that it’s described specifically as a celebration of Marsha Johnson, who was a cross-dressing prostitute who threw a brick at a police officer,” Board Vice President Sam Ouweneel said.
LaDew pushed back on the criticism. In a written statement reported by TMJ4, he said his programming decision had “nothing to do with my personal beliefs,” describing the composition instead as a serious American work inspired by history.
CBS 58 reported that LaDew also rejected Ouweneel’s characterization of Johnson, saying it was “not the whole story.”
Supporters of the piece accused the board, not the band director, of creating the controversy at the last minute. Ian Pilak, a parent of a Watertown Unified student, told CBS 58 the dispute amounted to “overstepping” and questioned why the issue surfaced so close to the concert when parents had already been notified.
Some students said the threatened removal would erase weeks of work. CBS 58 reported that Watertown senior Charlie Pliska, who plays in the band and is transgender, said the piece carried personal meaning and called its possible removal “disrespectful.”
Former Watertown band director DeWayne Roberson also defended the selection, telling WPR the piece appears on festival lists and arguing critics were relying on political rhetoric rather than musical context. Parent David Byrne told WPR he was “appalled,” accusing the board of trying to block material linked to the LGBTQ community.
Starnes said he hopes the school board does the right thing and yanks the performance.
“A Spring concert for the high school band should not be used to advance a band director’s personal political or ideological agenda,” Starnes said. “To the band director I say, blow it out your pan flute, sir.”
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