News & Politics

Another Free Britney Rally Is Coming–This Time to the Capitol

Photograph by Flickr user Mike Maguire.

Things are looking up for Britney Spears: her father has filed to end the 13-year-long conservatorship that prevented the pop star from making decisions about her finances, her career, even her medical care. She got engaged. Like Monica Lewinsky, she’s occasioned a reexamination of how US culture treated her in the early part of this century. And she’s united politicians on both sides of the aisle who oppose the way she was manhandled by the American legal system.

Still, this is no time to let off the gas, says Cassandra Dumas, whose DC-area group Free Britney America plans a second rally for Spears this coming Saturday at the US Capitol—by coincidence, in the same space a small group of conservatives rallied this past weekend to show support for people charged with crimes on January 6. The rally will take place from 3 to 6 PM in Union Square, between the 3rd Street, Northwest, and the Capitol Reflecting Pool.

So why hold a pro-Spears rally now that things appear to be going her way, finally? For one thing, Spears isn’t out of her conservatorship, Dumas says. But she’s also not the only person caught in this dark corner of the US court system: “Unfortunately, one of the things that’s gotten lost in this conversation is it’s not just Britney; she’s not the only one suffering,” Dumas says. “While Britney is getting out, we have an amazing opportunity as fans to shine and continue to make movement on this.” Indeed, as BuzzFeed News reported recently, lots of Americans have been caught in Kafka-esque guardianships that have reduced their agency. 

US Representatives Charlie Crist and Nancy Mace will take part in an Instagram Live chat on the group’s page Wednesday at 5:15 PM,  and speakers for the rally include Rick Black, an advocate for guardianship reform, and Claudette Lali Anaya, a former stylist for the singer. Another speaker may be announced soon, Dumas says. The group’s last rally in July drew lots of media attention as well as people interested in guardianship reform—and, of course, many fans.

Senior editor

Andrew Beaujon joined Washingtonian in late 2014. He was previously with the Poynter Institute, TBD.com, and Washington City Paper. He lives in Del Ray.