Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir: Believers in Homophobia and ISIS Share ‘The Same Hatred’

The massacre in Orlando was on the mind of Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir when he accepted the Les Paul Spirit award on June 12.

Speaking at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts festival in Manchester, Tenn., the 68-year-old accepted the honor with what he said was a “heavy heart,” and went on to draw a parallel between the radical belief of ISIS and those of homophobes.

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“It’s the same hatred,” said Weir. “They pull those hatreds out of different books but it’s the same.”

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Later in the night, Weir joined Dead & Company for a two-set Bonnaroo bow. According to an insider, the band, which consists of fellow original Dead members Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann along with John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge and Jeff Chimenti, made sure there were no songs that referenced guns in their set-list.

Read and listen to Weir’s comments below:

“As we know, there was a massacre in Florida, not far from here. I’d like to point out that last week, a distinguished representative from the State of Georgia went on the floor of the House of Representatives of our country and started quoting bible verses in which he basically promoted, or at least rationalized, death to gay people as a reward for the way they were born. 

This morning, the Lieutenant Governor of Texas said that, ‘Well, they’re reaping what they’ve sown.’ Now, I wanna ask a question: how different are these peoples’ world views from the world views of the people with ISIS? It’s the same hatred. They pull those hatreds out of different books, but it’s the same hatred and I’d just like to point that out.”

Later, Weir made similar remarks from the Bonnaroo main stage, urging the tens of thousands gathered to “register and vote” to “get those assholes out” of office. Watch that clip below.

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