HOUSTON – A new report released from Equality Texas and GLAAD shows there is an increase on attacks against drag events.
The report says Texas leads the nation with at least 20 incidents including threats against performers, venues, and attendees.
Equality Texas, the largest nonprofit in Texas focused on securing full equality for LGBTQ+ people, and GLAAD, the world’s largest LGBTQ+ media advocacy organization, says there were at least 141 incidents this year of anti-LGBTQ+ protest and threats targeting specific drag events.
Last month, a gunman opened fire in a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs, killing five people and leaving more than two dozen injured.
Texas had the highest number of drag events targeted by protests and threats.
“It’s so many, it’s so many. And I feel like it’s also based on all this misinformation. These ideas that people think they know what’s happening or know what makes a drag queen,” Rev. Heather Tolleson said.
Tolleson knows firsthand how it feels to be targeted. Back in September, demonstrators clashed outside the First Christian Church in Katy after she held a drag bingo event aimed to raise money for trans-youth.
“I’m super glad, first off, that it was peaceful. We didn’t have any significant violence or harm to anyone on either side. It was overwhelming,” she said.
The report also says, in Texas, different legislators have proposed the “Drag Tax,” which would reclassify any business that hosts a drag performance as a “sexually oriented business.”
“I hope that people who are making these decisions who are voting for and against realize they are not going to stop this life from happening. They are not going to stop the joy and celebration that comes from these events,” olleson said.
The report also included incidents in Texas:
- Neo-Nazis with swastikas and transphobic signs at a Pflugerville restaurant hosting a drag brunch.
- Armed protestors, raising hands in Nazi salutes, disrupt drag bingo fundraiser in Katy.
- Alleged Proud Boys disrupt multiple LGBTQ-inclusive events in Arlington, blocking the sidewalk, falsely claiming attendees were “pedophiles.”
- Extremist protesters with a history of recording and photographing children without consent protest drag performances at a restaurant in Houston.
- San Antonio concert venue cancels upcoming drag shows for the year, citing threats against performers and staff.
To read more on GLAAD and Equality Texas’ updated research, click here.