In spite of deeming themselves the party of family values, conservatives really love to mess with already vulnerable LGBTQ+ children and allies. Truly, as we lead up to the midterm elections, figuring out ways to churn up terror and isolation among LGBTQ+ youth and adults seems to be the major pastime for Republicans, including those already in in office and conservative hopefuls. We’ve seen anti-trans initiatives spread across the country in terms of books, bathroom access, sports, and even health care. ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bills have caught on, as well. It’s scary, dangerous, and very sad.
Drag shows are another space conservatives are eager to stir up outrage over. Using the infamous “grooming” and “inappropriate” rhetoric that we see come up in defense of book bans and even talking about queer identity, conservatives are now trying to paint drag culture as innately dangerous and not family-friendly. And sure, some drag shows are for adults only. Makes sense. But drag queens reading to kids at the local library or performing a specifically family-friendly show is not bad. It’s not inappropriate. It’s essentially an inclusive dress-up party, and what kid doesn’t love that? But Republicans just want an excuse to hate.
One recent example comes to us out of the Roanoke, Texas, area, where anti-LGBTQ+ demonstrators protested an “all ages welcome” drag brunch held at a local restaurant, as reported by the Dallas Morning News. What those protesters were met with might surprise you—or not, given that we are talking about Texas, after all.
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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.
“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.
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.
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