Photos by West Smith

I walked into Climate Pledge Arena on Monday night with extremely low expectations. I’ve never been a Katy Perry fan—songs like “I Kissed a Girl” and “Ur So Gay” rubbed me the wrong way even as a 12-year-old girl. Between her Christian fundamentalist beginnings, out-of-touch depictions of queerness, online jabs at other pop stars (which appear to be scrubbed from the internet), and public support of conservative mayoral candidate Rick Caruso, she seemed inauthentic. In Archie Comics terms, I always considered myself to be a Betty, and Katy Perry, with her black baby bangs and I’m-better-than-you attitude, is most certainly a Veronica.

Despite all of