Mike Pence is going to a drag show on Friday. It’s not listed on his official itinerary for the trip, but when he arrives in Columbus, Ohio, he’ll be greeted by drag queens, soundsystems and hundreds of LGBT revellers.

The delightfully festive crossover comes as the US vice-president is set to speak at an event being held by at the controversial pro-Trump non-profit America First Policies, just as Pride weekend in Columbus kicks off. To commemorate the visit, the LGBT community has decided to throw him a party outside the downtown hotel where he’s speaking. In tow will be a dozen drag performers, two DJs, and speeches from politicians like Rick Neal, the gay Democratic candidate for Ohio’s 15th US congressional district.

The Welcome Mike Pence: Big LGBTQ Dance Party was launched on a whim on Facebook on Monday of this week, Jay Smith, one of the organizers of the event explained, and in a few days it has snowballed beyond anything he imagined. Nearly 2,000 have expressed interest on the Facebook page. Apparently a lot of people want to see Mike Pence dance to Robyn.

Smith says he’s anticipating five to six hundred people, although that number could grow. “We want to jam the street with as many people as we can celebrating. I would love to see a sea of rainbow and dancing,” he said.

“The energy that has developed stems from his record on LGBT issues. It’s been amplified because he’s coming on Friday, the first day of Columbus Pride. The fact that he’s anti-LGBT and he’s coming on Pride weekend? We couldn’t do nothing.”

Pence’s record on LGBT issues has indeed been terrible. Some of his greatest bigoted hits came as governor of Indiana, when he signed a so-called religious freedom bill into law that would have effectively served as a license to discriminate against gay people. It was later toned down after an uproar.

In Congress, he supported an amendment that would define marriage as only between a man and a woman, and voted against the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell repeal. During his run for Congress he appears to have advocated for the horrific practice known as conversion therapy – something he later denied. America First Policies’ record on the issues isn’t all that great either. Recently Carl Higbie, a top staffer at the group, resigned after numerous racist and homophobic comments he had made in the past were reported.

That kind of record would justify a more serious demonstration but partying as protest has a longstanding tradition in the gay community, with pride events traditionally coupling political activism with a celebration of queer culture.

I always tell my friends in other cities: you can’t believe how gay Columbus, Ohio, is until you’ve been there to experience it! Sable Coate, drag queen

It’s a tactic used by other groups, too. After being caught on video delivering a racist rant in a New York cafe last month, lawyer Aaron Schlossberg was met with revelers outside his apartment partying in the streets and singing along to a mariachi band. A number of high-profile electronic artists and DJs are planning a marathon dance party in the UK to protest against Donald Trump’s first visit.

In that spirit, parties like this are an ironic torment. Don’t like Mexicans? Good luck sleeping through this mariachi band, pal. Don’t like gay people? Watch us werk.

“We decided to go with the dance party because it’s fun, it’s a loving event. When people dance they’re happy,” Smith said. “We want to demonstrate for the LGBT community, especially those struggling with their gender identity or sexual orientation, that while this administration doesn’t have their back, we have their back and that we’re going to be fighting for them every day.”

“The LGBTQ scene here is very strong, and very much supported by the city, from the mayor down,” Sable Coate, one of the drag queens co-hosting the event added. “It’s funny because, I always tell my friends in other cities: you can’t believe how gay Columbus, Ohio, is until you’ve been there to experience it!”

That’s something Coate hopes Pence finds out for himself. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence that he chose to come to Columbus during Pride Weekend. We have to show them we’re here in peace, we’re here in happiness, we’re here to celebrate, but we don’t agree with your choices regarding our community and all we want as Americans is equality.”

In other words, if you can’t get Mike Pence to go to the drag show, you have to bring the drag show to him.