On an overcast Saturday in central Florida, the nation’s youngest Congressperson wanted to create common ground for “cool and consciousness” to fight voter apathy in Governor Ron DeSantis’ Florida – and in the country writ-large. Some 3,500 people gathered on March 2 in Orlando for Rep. Maxwell Frost’s (D-FL) MadSoul Fest, an immersive music and arts experience headlined by local and national lawmakers, activists, and musicians. But the same things engendering voter dissatisfaction and doubt of the electoral system briefly brought the festival to a halt during headliner MUNA’s performance.
There’s a convergence of crises leading already-distrustful Gen Zers to despair at the moment. The recent death of Oklahoma high school sophomore Nex Benedict; an onslaught of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation being introduced – and in some cases, advancing – in statehouses across the country; taken with President Biden’s refusal to listen to protesters’ calls on the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza, have all contributed to a young voters’ measurable cynicism about the 2024 presidential primary.
Founded in 2015 by the 27-year-old freshman congressman from Orlando – the first member of Gen Z and first Afro-Cuban to be elected – and his friends Niyah Lowell and Chris Muriel, MadSoul convenes central Florida residents with public officials and artists. It’s an effort not just to demystify the disconnect between the system and those disenfranchised by it, but to establish a space where the latter may feel more energized about participating in electoral politics.
“This is the first time we've played a show in Florida, which is crazy because we've been touring for a long time now,” MUNA’s Katie Gavin said. The alt-pop band beloved by fans for their sonic summations of the LGBTQ+ experience (most notably on the Phoebe Bridgers-assisted smash “Silk Chiffon”) told Teen Vogue that before arriving to the festival that day, they visited the Pulse Memorial alongside Brandon Wolf, a survivor of the 2015 shooting in a queer nightclub and a gun violence and LGBTQ+ rights activist.
“We were talking a lot with [Wolf] about how meaningful it can be to come to the places where there’s a lot of legislation and hate towards marginalized groups,” Gavin explained.
“It’s important for us to play in places like this,” band member Josette Maskin observed. “Maybe doing this show is actually going to be ten times more meaningful than playing in f*cking New York or L.A.”
A portion of the proceeds of this year’s iteration of MadSoul went towards Florida Access Network, Zebra Youth, Equal Ground, and SWAN of Orlando, which support access to reproductive care, LGBTQ+ youth, voting rights, and abortion clinic escorts, respectively. (Some also went to Frost’s congressional campaign and PAC). There were voter registration tables and volunteers with organizations like Moms Demand Action and Sunrise Movement spanning the length of Loch Haven Stadium. Crowds held their ground for nearly the length of the lineup to see acts and speakers ranging from MUNA to New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D) and acclaimed playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda. Frost invited young electeds from other states facing persecution in office, like Tennessee State Rep. Justin Jones and Montana State Rep. Zooey Zephyr (both D).
In some ways, MadSoul looked the part of any other music festival. Sprawled out along the lawn, posing for photos and excitedly plotting out where to stand for the next artist’s set, were clusters of young attendees wearing MUNA merch and t-shirts emblazoned with statements in support of abortion and Black liberation.
But the day’s festivities were also shot through with a tense undercurrent. From just beyond the park’s perimeter, chants of “ceasefire now” could be heard loud and clear throughout the day, at times overpowering whomever was on stage. “Genocide is not self defense!” read one sign. “Let Gaza Live!” was written on another.
After the fact, Frost told Teen Vogue he anticipated this. “As someone who was out in the streets, got arrested, tear gassed, and maced during the Black Lives Matter uprising—I got elected to Congress as an organizer and protester at heart,” Frost said. “Making your voice heard in any way possible is at the core of our democracy, and I respect everyone’s right to fight for what they believe in.”
When asked earlier in the day about the cynicism of young voters, Frost told Teen Vogue that he understood, but remained encouraged by the number of Gen Z voters aligned with Democrats in the 2020 presidential election – 65%, according to NBC exit polls.
“What we have to do is not take it for granted, which has [caused] some of the problems we've seen,” said Frost. “I think a lot of people in the Democratic Party take the youth vote for granted, and forget [that] as easily – or, not as easily – as we got it, we can also lose it.”
“One of the things that art has always provided is a way to show us that we’re connected,” Rep. Zooey Zephyr told Teen Vogue, in a conversation before her talk with State Rep. Justin Jones. “It’s incredibly important in the state of Florida that we are helping raise money for orgs fighting for LGBTQ+ rights and for abortion access, but we’re also showing the ways in which those fights don't happen in silos.”
The day reminded Zephyr, the first openly trans representative in her state, who was censured by Montana House Republicans last year, of debates she had with her father on their porch when she was a teenager. One of those recurring debates was about what moves people to action.
“People want to think that they’re motivated by hope,” she recalled him telling her, “but really, deep down, everyone is motivated by fear.”
How fear manifests in our choices was on the minds of MUNA’s Katie Gavin, Josette Maskin, and Naomi McPherson before they took the stage. Since Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7, several artists and public figures have experienced backlash — both for expressing opinions about the conflict or for staying silent. MUNA told Teen Vogue they were disappointed to miss the global day of action protests in their native Los Angeles in support of a ceasefire, but that they extended their support to the protesters outside the event before the interview.
“We're so lucky we can say what we want and no one's going to penalize us,” McPherson told Teen Vogue.
The band was especially empathetic to those grappling with that faith – or lack thereof– in the run-up to the 2024 presidential election.
“This is one of the first times that we've done something with people in Congress, and our politics, to be candid, are generally more leftist,” Gavin added. “We, ourselves, are not very aligned with having faith in the system.”
Unknowingly returning to Zephyr’s earlier point, Gavin told Teen Vogue, “Organizing for, like, land back and reparations in L.A. excites me. Voting, I do, because I’m just really scared.”
At one point, MUNA’s set came to a halt as the band responded to protesters from Central Florida Queers for Palestine. Out of concern for the protesters' safety, they briefly stepped offstage to regroup and decide if they should continue the show. It wasn’t entirely clear what the activists were yelling, but there was no mistaking their fury with Reps. Frost and Ocasio-Cortez. Both Frost and Ocasio-Cortez have backed calls for a ceasefire, but the protesters seemingly felt that their support for one was “performative,” based on their earlier votes. (Two days after the festival, this same frustration culminated in a different public confrontation in the congresswoman’s native New York.)
In a statement following the event, Frost told Teen Vogue that he extended thanks to “the ceasefire demonstrators that were outside the festival from the stage” and was “currently the only member of Congress in the state of Florida calling for a ceasefire.”
“I’m proud to have hosted an impactful event that centered the arts and advocacy as we fight right-wing neo-fascism in the South,” Frost said.
No arrests were made, and a source said the protesters ultimately left the festival. As the day came to an end, Phoebe Bridgers made a surprise appearance during MUNA’s closer “Silk Chiffon,” and Brandon Wolf joined the band on stage to dedicate “I Know A Place” to those who were killed in the Pulse shooting, including his friends Drew Leinonen and Juan Guerrero.
“We want a different world, and we might not agree with the different paths that people are taking to get to it,” Gavin tearfully told the crowd. “MUNA as a band, I think we are farther left than a lot of electoral politicians, but we also believe that, kind of similar with religion…you don't necessarily know the right way to get to spirit or God, but I believe there's something good in trying to get there whatever way you think is best.”
Leaving the venue, it was impossible not to recall Rep. Zephyr’s father’s theory — that people are more moved to action by fear rather than hope. Right now, it seems quite likely that for many, righteous rage has both beat.
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