Light and D’ARC: The Afterparty That the Left Couldn’t Shut Down

London — Attendees were exhausted after the three-day-long Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC) conference, but they weren’t tired enough to forgo the afterparties. Some festivities were informally organized and advertised as open to all by word of mouth, but one — presented by two right-wing groups and dubbed “D’ARC” — was an exclusive event with a formal approval process. D’ARC clearly wasn’t going to be some juvenile house party with beer pong. Instead, it would “showcase and celebrate the new sounds and styles of an unstoppable subculture,” complete with “special guest DJs,” a “heated cigar terrace,” aged whisky, and two complimentary drinks. The hypnotic registration website alone makes you think it is only for the cool kids. Naturally, progressives tried to shut it down.

At first, the exact location for D’ARC was a secret. Just a little over 24 hours before the event, the registered attendees received an email announcing that the party would be held at the Omeara club in London. Not long after, Fossil Free London (along with some other left-wing groups) posted a series of infographics on social media that urged everyone to “SHUTDOWN THE FAR RIGHT’S PARTY,” an event that supposedly would welcome “the world’s worst climate deniers & far right goons.” Apparently, the ARC conference was a “hateful event” that featured “climate deniers,” “key Zionist thinkers,” “anti-abortion activists,” and “think-tanks criticized by LGBTQ+ groups.” Fossil Free London directed its followers to bombard Omeara with emails and leave nasty reviews online, stating, “LETS STOP THIS TOGETHER.”

And it worked. Sort of. Not really.

“WE SHUT IT DOWN,” wrote Fossil Free London in a second social media post, adding that “the pressure that we all put this venue under has led to them pulling out.” The post included an image of a message from Omeara that said “the planned event tonight has now been cancelled,” but such a statement didn’t clarify whether the organizers or the venue withdrew. Regardless, Fossil Free London applauded its campaigners, particularly the “amazing queer community in London,” and celebrated that the cancellation led to “attendees scrambling to find out where the new venue is going to be.” The group gloated: “Fossil fuel corporations, Trump insiders, and extremists, including Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch, and members of the Trump administration, are gathering at ARC in East London today, plotting attacks on our rights, but guess they’re going to have to look elsewhere to find a venue that’s willing to host their celebrations tonight.” Predictably, the progressives touted their exemplary kindness by proclaiming that “people power built on love and hope wins.”

Here’s the thing: Nothing was “shut down.” The afterparty was relocated from Omeara to the seductive and trippy Cuckoo club. It wasn’t a downgrade. In fact, Cuckoo might have been the better venue, since the attendees got an open bar rather than two drink tickets. I know this because I was there drinking rum and cokes from about 9:30 p.m. to roughly 2:30 in the morning, when the staff members started gently nudging us out the door. It was a lot of fun — that is, what I can remember was a lot of fun. Although Fossil Free London predicted that we would spend the night “plotting attacks on [their] rights,” I was actually learning about Australian politics from a few expats and listening to one girl’s romantic preferences so that I could assist with some matchmaking.

Of course, I think it is perfectly fine for a business to hold certain values and refuse transactions with parties that don’t hold such values. But that isn’t exactly the pronounced issue in this debacle. Instead, the problem is the hypocrisy of the Left: Activists condemn anyone who holds a single right-wing view as an evil intolerant bigot, then campaign to prevent those people from even renting out a space to enjoy some drinks. Progressives encourage a culture that socially ostracizes conservatives, then further coordinate to stop us from even gathering together. “You can’t be in the public, and you also can’t meet in private” is the message. All the while, those activists will praise themselves for being so compassionate and instruct any Republican to just be a good person.