(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
Conservatives try to ruin family-friendly drag show, but armed allies get in their way [1]
['Daily Kos Staff', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags']
Date: 2022-08-29
Here’s what we know. The family-inclusive drag brunch was held at Anderson Distillery and Grill on Sunday. Per a post on the restaurant’s Facebook page, the owner’s son hosted the event. The post also notes the show would have zero sexual or erotic content. Instead, it's exactly what you would imagine a family-friendly drag would be, which is lip-syncing and comedy.
Even still, protesters showed up with signs reading things like “Caution: Monkeypox hotspot,” “Children cannot consent,” and “Christ is KING.” Apparently, anti-LGBTQ+ folks only knew about this event because far-right media shared information on groups like the Texas Family Project, which typically posts anti-LGBTQ+ content to its followers.
One group, the misleadingly titled Protect Texas Kids, posted to Facebook encouraging people to “show up in full force” and prove that the “majority of us are against children being involved in these disturbing, sexually explicit shows.” Mind you, there is nothing inherently sexual about drag. Again, some shows are of course for adults. But there’s nothing innately sexual or inappropriate about drag culture.
But protesters were met at the event by counterprotesters. And those counterprotesters were armed. And, per journalist Steven Monacelli who was present at the protest, things got heated fast.
x NOW: anti-trans activists are protesting a drag brunch in Roanoke, Texas, but are outnumbered by supporters of the event. I've only been here for about five minutes and I've already seen quite a few heated exchanges. pic.twitter.com/l4RcwWFlSZ — steven monacelli (@stevanzetti) August 28, 2022
“I’m here to support people who don’t indoctrinate little 8-year-old kids,” one man says to Monacelli per a video shared on Twitter. The man, who claimed someone had spit on him, insisted he was being “peaceful” and just trying to “talk to someone" after he admitted he called a counterprotester a “fucking pussy.”
You can watch this little meltdown of mental gymnastics below.
x NOW: Two counter protesters at the drag brunch in Roanoke, Texas get in the faces of people outside. One had called the antifascists outside "a bunch of pussies." I ask them what they're here to do today. See for yourself what they say. pic.twitter.com/skAfxAzysk — steven monacelli (@stevanzetti) August 28, 2022
It seems no one was arrested at the restaurant. The event sold out, which is great, but this is obviously a scary trend meant to intimidate folks who simply want to safely gather in an inclusive space and have fun. No one deserves to feel afraid to attend an explicitly queer-friendly event, especially not children, but that seems to be exactly what conservatives want to do—we’ve covered instances of protests outside of family library events, even. Kids can’t even be read to in peace.
And kids can’t get out and vote on behalf of their own interests, which is just another of the many reasons we all need to be loud and consistent in our opposition to this horrifying trend toward anti-queer aggression.
Sign and send the petition to the U.S. Senate: Stop the discrimination – pass the Equality Act now!
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/8/29/2119556/-Conservatives-try-to-ruin-family-friendly-drag-show-but-armed-allies-get-in-their-way
Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/
