As the Hi-Lex Gnomes, the Pooper Scooper Crew and other local favorites made their way down Grand Avenue on Saturday for the St. Paul Winter Carnival’s Grande Day parade, some anti-LGBTQ+ protesters also were making their presence known on the avenue.
“The harsh words they said were awful,” said Tyler Berry, co-founder of music school Music on Grand at the corner of Grand Avenue and South Grotto Street, where the protesters had set up with signs condemning homosexuality and likening abortion to murder.
“It was very, very loud and very disheartening. You could hear it inside the school,” he said.
While he doesn’t think his business was specifically targeted, the incident spurred Berry and the staff at Music on Grand to offer free music lessons for transgender and nonbinary students for the next four years.
“This past week has been really hard and alarming and scary for so many members of our community at Music on Grand and in the Twin Cities,” said Owen McGreevy, community coordinator and instructor at Music on Grand.
Since returning to office, President Donald Trump has signed executive orders targeting transgender rights and, as he said in his inauguration speech, end efforts to “socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life.” One such order required the federal government to recognize only male and female sexes. Other executive orders rolled back protections for transgender people and terminated diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the federal government.
“Now is a more important time than ever to be supportive, be visible and be proud of who we are,” McGreevy said.
Before offering the free program, Berry said he checked in with the school’s 10 instructors. “All of our teachers are extremely excited for this and getting involved,” he said.
As of Thursday, Berry said the school had raised more than $1,000 and nearly 30 new students had reached out.
“It makes me so happy to see students come alive while teaching music,” McGreevy said. “I want to do that with any students, and especially trans youth and trans people who are being bashed by the media and our country.”
McGreevy, who grew up in Idaho and is currently studying guitar performance, said they significantly opened up their schedule to accommodate the incoming students.
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“It would have been an amazing thing for me to have been exposed to and involved in a program like this (as a child), because it would have shown me that these things are OK and beautiful and should be encouraged,” McGreevy said.
“Music is such a safe, beautiful way to help people grow,” they said.
Music on Grand, which opened in September, offers lessons for more than 20 different instruments including ukulele, clarinet, piano, fiddle and voice lessons for students of all ages.
While the music school didn’t have any pride flags hung up at the time of the protest, they have since been gifted one from nearby neighbor Mischief Toy Store, Berry said.
For those who want to support Music on Grand, a donation link has been set up at musicongrand.com/donate that will go toward scholarships for transgender and nonbinary students.
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