Multiple artists—Surgeon, Carsten Jost, Imaginary Softwoods and Timnah Sommerfeldt—have dropped out of Japan's The Labyrinth festival following a series of comments on trans rights and other issues from founder Russ "Monk" Moench.
In recent months, Moench took to Twitter to share his opinions on topics like gender pronouns and trans rights. In a spate of now-deleted tweets, he said "the pronoun people are dumb" and called the term TERF—short for trans-exclusionary radical feminist—"pure misogynistic hate speech." He also followed and interacted with gender-critical accounts like Right Side of History™️, whose location is set to "Terfistan." Following blowback, Moench set his account to private before deleting it entirely.
Then, on August 30th, Moench sent an email to nine artists performing at The Labyrinth 2023. This was after a trans activist had contacted some of them individually about Moench. In his email, which Resident Advisor has seen, he called the trans rights movement "deeply illiberal and totalitarian," saying, "it's profoundly misogynistic and homophobic and at the centre of the biggest medical malpractice scandal of the generation."
He also stated his support for "detransitioners" and referred to youth gender-affirming care as "gay transversion therapy." He added: "They're taking vulnerable kids who would mostly grow up to be happy gay men and lesbian women and turning them into lifelong pharmaceutical patients."
According to LGBTQIA+ non-profit The Trevor Project, research shows that gender-affirming care reduces suicidal ideation and depression and improves overall quality of life in trans individuals. In addition, a 2021 review of 27 studies involving almost 8,000 teens and adults who underwent gender-affirming surgeries found that, on average, less than one percent expressed regret.
In the days after the email was sent, Dial Records cofounder Carsten Jost cancelled his appearance via a now-expired post on Instagram Stories. "For opposing the transphobic views of The Labyrinth's founder Russ Moench, I have been asked to not perform at the festival this year (by Russ)," he wrote.
Speaking to RA, Jost said he was disinvited from performing at The Labyrinth after "responding critically" to Moench's email.
"We owe respect and protection to those who have paved the way for what the underground techno scene is today, which is to a large extent due to a community of queer and trans people of colour," he added. "I believe in trans-inclusive intersectional feminism and that the underground music scene must continue to be a safe space for queer, trans and gender non-conforming people."
On September 3rd, Spectrum Spools boss John Elliott, AKA Imaginary Softwoods, also pulled out of the festival, followed by Surgeon and Timnah Sommerfeldt on September 5th. "I'm very sorry to everyone who was looking forward to it but also I stand behind my values and am strongly against discrimination and anti-trans rights in any form," Sommerfeldt wrote.
When Resident Advisor approached Moench for comment, he sent over a general response that has been shared via The Labyrinth's channels. Here it is in full. First and foremost, the The Labyrinth organisers and staff unequivocally support and work to protect transgender, nonbinary, LGBTQIA+ and any other marginalised persons and condemn any harm or violence against these communities.
Unfortunately, the Carsten Jost performance couldn't be realised due to a misunderstanding surrounding the core values of the event. We tried to work towards an understanding and even offered to pay his full fee, but it was declined and the booking couldn't be secured. It's our hope to reconcile this dispute and move forward with a clear understanding of what we represent.
In that light, the Labyrinth captains have issued a message on our
core values.
In the past, I have used social media platforms to explore social issues by sharing or commenting on content that sometimes was related to the transgender and gender-diverse communities. Some of my commentary there was considered to be insensitive, transphobic and otherwise harmful. Many different communities have come forward to help me understand that my activity was damaging and misguided, and some performing artists who were booked no longer felt comfortable being shrouded in this controversy.
However, it doesn't represent the other 100-plus amazing captains, organisers, workers and staff who make up The Labyrinth. I'd like to reiterate that I completely reject any kind of violence toward any marginalised community, and that I am 100 percent committed to becoming a better ally for the marginalised.