Violence directed at us is world wide.
Pink News UKBy Amelia HansfordApril 21, 2023Drag Queen Story Hour host Aida H Dee has shamed those who “refuse to accept and understand us” after receiving a violent death threat.The drag artist posted a chilling screenshot of a message they received to their Instagram on Friday (21 April), writing that they wished to show it as a sign of the “painful” abuse they and so many other drag performers experience.The message, from an individual using the name ‘Jenny’, read: “How are you still breathing? I seriously hope someone puts a mallet through your skull, you ugly pervert. Leave the kids alone.”Aida H Dee said in their post that the message was just one of the reasons why Pride is still a vital part of the fight towards LGBTQ+ equality.[…]Far-right protestors have tried to disrupt Aida’s events on several occasions, from a chaotic clash between pro and anti-LGBTQ+ activists in Oxfordshire to homophobic rhetoric spewed by right-wing activists in Colchester.“The hateful message I received is just one example of the challenges faced by our community,” Aida continued. “It is a distressing reminder that there are still people who refuse to accept and understand us.
BBC reported that,
“For the first time ever, I do feel worried about doing some gigs,” says former Drag Race UK contestant Crystal. “I worry about protests and who's going to be filming me, and who's going to be trying to twist what I'm doing for an agenda.”
That is just what the conservatives want, to drive us back in the closet.
In another Pink News article…
An anti-drag campaigner who was part of a protest outside North Walsham Library against a Drag Queen Story Time has been convicted of hate crimes.By Chantelle BillsonApril 18, 2023Christopher Mitchell, a welder who lives in Caister-on-Sea, has been sentenced to a 12-month community order.He is required to carry out 20 rehabilitation days and 150 hours of unpaid work, and has been ordered to pay a fine of £1,500, Eastern Daily Press reported.The conviction follows the 33-year-old taking part in a protest in August 2022 alongside other anti-drag activists, which saw North Walsham Library’s story time event by drag queen ‘Auntie’ Titania Trust cancelled.Appearing at Great Yarmouth Magistrates Court on 12 April, Mitchell, who represented himself, denied sending threats, but had earlier pleaded guilty to two charges of sending malicious communications.
The animosity is spreading via social media and conservative organizations around the world.
So how did we get here, that Drag Queens are the new villains?
The first thing you have to remember is that the right-wing conservatives believe we chose to be trans, or gay or lesbian.
CBS NewsBy Roman FeeserApril 11, 2023Last month in Nashville, widely regarded as the entertainment capital of the South, Tennessee lawmakers passed a law that bans one class of entertainer: "male and female impersonators," otherwise known as drag performers. However, a day before the nation's first anti-drag law was set to take effect, a federal judge temporarily blocked it for violating the First Amendment.But where did this all start? How did drag queens get dragged into politics? For that, we turn to the city of Jackson, Tennessee.Knoxille Rep. Gloria Johnson, a Democrat (who was almost expelled for breaking House rules on conduct and decorum after joining a protest following a school shooting), has been vocal about her opposition to the drag performer bill."I'm curious how many drag shows you've been to, and I'm curious, why targeting this?" she asked the Tennessee state Senate back in February. "Because I'm thinking about a place where men wear tights: in WWE wrestling, and one third of the audience, at least, is children. But somehow someone dressing up and dancing is the problem?"
Once again they think that it is a choice.
On the issue of banning drag performances, she said, "If the rationale is to protect children from being sexually abused, that is not going to be helpful in this instance. Making laws specific to drag performances is not necessary. The majority of drag performances can be done in ways that are not obscene." Jeglic added, "We have no research evidence to suggest that children being exposed to people dressed in different clothing increases their risk for long-term psychological consequences or childhood sexual abuse."
Therefore in their minds anything drag or LGBTQ+ is child abuse. So even me standing in a checkout would be questioned.
Rep. Johnson said, "Clearly what we're talking about is people's freedom of expression. And the reality is, our freedom of expression is stronger than their power to criminalize people."
These laws will be challenged all the way up to the Supreme Court for violating their First Amendment rights and with this Supreme Court it is a crap shoot.
Update 3:30 PM
The Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionBy DeAsia PaigeApril 23, 2023In the parking lot of Holmes Plaza in southwest Atlanta on Saturday night, mourners holding candles and pink and gold balloons filled the corner. Some people immediately burst into tears as they approached the crowd. Some yelled in anger. And others stoically looked at the scene as if they were still processing why they were there in the first place.But the hurricane of emotions became more congruent as everyone danced and rapped along to “Bulletproof” by Rasheeda Williams aka Scooter aka Hollywood Koko aka Koko Da Doll, the 35-year-old Black trans woman who died at that exact location last week.Family and friends held a vigil for Williams on Saturday night to not only demand justice for Williams’ death but to remind everyone of why she was an undeniable star.[…]Williams is the second Black trans woman who was shot and killed this month in Atlanta. Ashley Burton, a 37-year-old hairstylist, died on April 11 at the City Park Atlanta apartments.
When I was sixteen, my pals and I tried to sneak into a strip show in San Francisco. We were turned away when we couldn't present an ID evidencing we were of lawful age. Like it or not, the laws then deemed that the underaged shouldn't be exposed to certain performances of a sexual nature.
ReplyDeleteAge limitations apply in numerous contexts throughout our culture today. They're premised on the well-founded base that brains don't become completely formed until one reaches their early twenties. That's a fact.
We can choose the battle of freedom of expression, a fairly simple proposition and winning argument. Or we can cross swords and make things infinitely more problematic and combative by also taking on society's long-standing protections of children. Whether or not one believes those protections are correct, the place to challenge them is in the legislatures, not force-feeding change through drag shows for children. We simply don't need this angst.
I agree with your argument except for one thing, a drag show is not a “strip show.” Someone lip syncing to Judy Garland “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” is not even close to “strip show,” there is no nudity and no simulated sex. Also even an “R” rated movie a minor can watch the movie with a parent or guardian but the Republicans want to ban all drag shows completely.
Delete“R — Restricted. Children Under 17 Require Accompanying Parent or Adult Guardian.”
So the whole argument of “saving the children” doesn’t hold water. Saving a child from what? A gay man in a dress is not obscene, what the Republicans are really doing is trying to force us back into the closet and criminalizing us.
A drag show is by definition impersonating the other sex in front of an audience. By definition, the subject is sex, just as when one removes their clothing in front of an audience. And no, legislatures won't be able to ban all drag shows entirely just as they won't be able to ban any other form of free expression. But, that's not what they really want to do, is it? They will be able to cite more and more studies from Europe suggesting children shouldn't be exposed to drag shows and gender alteration any more than strip shows until they reach maturity, and that will support restricting access to drag shows by age. Age restrictions are not unconstitutional. What's at issue is not, repeat NOT, putting people back in the "closet."
ReplyDeletePerhaps it might be good to take a step back and acknowledge that politicians have no economic incentive to solve society's problems. Instead, they maintain controversy and fund-raise from fear that the other position will "win" unless we donate money. And so it goes, nothing really gets solved. Similarly, the media lack any economic incentive to report objectively. As long as they fan controversy and garner clicks their advertising revenue increases and they make money. Objective reporting doesn't pay the bills. And so it goes as we descend into screaming at each other. And we play right into their hands with every hair-on-fire reaction to someone who doesn't share our opinion. The rhetoric and overstatement is way, way over the moon.
I totally disagree!
ReplyDeleteIf you look at the history drag in media we have have current shows like RuPaul's Drag Race, then going back to the 1950s, 60s, and 70s we have Milton Berle on the The Texaco Star Theater, Flip Wilson’s Geraldine, “Bosom Buddies,” and the movie “Some Like It Hot.”
“By definition, the subject is sex, just as when one removes their clothing in front of an audience.” whose definition? The Supreme Court ruled, the case of Miller v. California on the definition of obscenity and drag does not fit the definition.
“They will be able to cite more and more studies from Europe suggesting children shouldn't be exposed to drag shows and gender alteration…” Citation please? Google said “There are no specific laws in Europe that target drag performances.” Unless you are talking about the authoritarian government of Hungary?
“Perhaps it might be good to take a step back and acknowledge that politicians have no economic incentive to solve society's problems.” That is laughable, tell me what party has introduced over 350 anti-LGBTQ bill since the first of the year?
Even an R-rated movie allows children to see the movie with adult content when accompany by a parent or guardian but these new laws do not even allow for a parent to accompany their child.