Send in the clowns: the new guard of activists combating the right
A growing cohort of performers ‘clown’ as a means to innovate traditional protest and create social change On a humid morning on 15 July, Tillie the Clown, a Brooklyn-based drag performer whose real name is Taylor Horne, was waiting to be let inside a New York City council meeting. Horne had started getting into character at 5am, for a makeup and clown-costuming process that would take two hours.…
A burgeoning group of performers are taking to the stage as clowns in order to revolutionize traditional protest and spark social change. On a sweltering morning of July 15th, Tillie the Clown, whose real name is Taylor Horne, arrived at a New York City council meeting. Horne began their transformation process at 5am, spending two hours applying makeup and donning their distinctive clown costume.
It would be another 10 hours until they were permitted to address the council regarding the passage of Romanch’s Law, which aimed to phase out and eventually ban New York’s horse carriage industry.
Upon entering the meeting room, Horne faced immediate ridicule from carriage horse proponents, who pointed and laughed at their display. Wearing a black top hat and gloves with their face painted white and red, Horne commenced their three-minute speech. "We pride ourselves on being a world-class destination... yet we are clinging to the exploitation of horse-drawn carriages. A giant prey animal is not built to thrive in New York's overstimulating concrete environment," Horne declared.
It was later revealed that those advocating for carriage horses took to social media to mock Horne's performance. Horne noted that the supporters "fell right into my trap" by critiquing their messenger rather than the message itself.
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