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Drag panic
Drag panic (also called drag queen panic or anti-drag hysteria) is a moral panic that stems from the belief that exposure to drag, especially for minors, can be harmful, due to its perceived sexual nature. Drag panic has motivated protests and attacks against the LGBTQ+ community by extremist groups, and often includes the belief that all-ages drag performances are attempts by the LGBTQ+ community to sexualize or recruit children.
Anti-drag sentiment (and broader anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment), which had been building for a number of years, became more prominent in 2019. Since then, a series of rallies and counter-rallies have been held in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and in other countries, largely against drag queens reading children's books at family events. Throughout 2022, there were at least 141 incidents of protests and harassment towards drag events in the United States alone. Drag panic has been suggested as a motivator for the fire bombing of an Oklahoma doughnut shop and the Club Q mass shooting, among other violent incidents.
Throughout much of the early-twentieth century, drag performances in the United States were criminalized under cross dressing laws. The 1969 Stonewall Riots began after the New York City Police Department sought to arrest people for violating New York's informal "three-item rule" (which required individuals to wear at least three articles of clothing of their assigned sex).
As such laws were relaxed in the second half of the 20th century, drag appeared in works of wide popular relevance, such as Some Like It Hot (1959) and The Birdcage (1996), and the Australian film The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994). In the early 21st century, the art of drag continued to gain popularity and went mainstream in American culture, such as via RuPaul's Drag Race, Queen of the Universe, and Drag Den.
By 2019, as a reaction to the mainstream profile of drag, right-wing figures such as Chaya Raichik, Matt Walsh, Tucker Carlson, Michael Knowles, Dennis Prager, Candace Owens, and Ben Shapiro, began to link drag queens to the LGBT grooming conspiracy theory, calling to limit their visibility. Subsequently, a number of American states (with a Republican majority) proposed and approved laws intended to limit drag queen performances in public. Some protestors at LGBTQ+ and drag events have been armed with guns and explosives, and/or engaged in acts of violence or property damage. Similar anti-drag protests, sometimes amounting to threats or violence, have since been made in Australia, Canada, the UK and elsewhere, often influenced by these American right-wing figures.
Protests against drag performances, especially Drag Queen Story Hour, increased after the 2021 attacks at the United States Capitol. The most vocal opponents are mostly affiliated with alt-right groups. Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson suggested that drag events could "indoctrinate or sexualize" children. Protestors also have expressed homophobic conspiracy theories that performers are grooming children. The Anti-Defamation League reported that the child abuse conspiracy theory has been fueled by the Libs of TikTok, a far-right Twitter account.
LGBTQ media advocacy group GLAAD reported over 140 threats against drag shows in the US, throughout 2022. According to a 2022 GLAAD analysis of United States media, social media, and news coverage, as of December 14, 2022, there had been at least "141 incidents in 2022 of anti-LGBTQ protests and threats targeting specific drag events, including during Pride festivities and false rhetoric against performers deployed in campaign ads for the midterm elections." The report also stated incidents included "armed white supremacists demonstrating in Texas and the firebombing of a Tulsa donut shop that had hosted a drag event in October." USA Today reported that harassment including threats of lynching and castration had been made to drag performers.
In June 2022, "Drag Your Kids to Pride", an event at Mr Misster, a gay bar in Dallas, Texas, resulted in protests after videos from the event showed drag queens dancing while children and their parents watched and tipped them. Attendees said the event was a celebration; the children played musical chairs and some of them walked on the catwalk with performers. Protesters accused the organizers and performers of "grooming" children and objected to a sign in the background of the club that read, "It's Not Gonna Lick Itself". In response, protesters made transphobic and homophobic remarks, as well as sending several hundred threatening emails, making threatening phones calls, and leaving negative reviews online. Republican Representative Bryan Slaton from northeast Texas said he would file a bill to ban children from viewing such events.
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Drag panic
Drag panic (also called drag queen panic or anti-drag hysteria) is a moral panic that stems from the belief that exposure to drag, especially for minors, can be harmful, due to its perceived sexual nature. Drag panic has motivated protests and attacks against the LGBTQ+ community by extremist groups, and often includes the belief that all-ages drag performances are attempts by the LGBTQ+ community to sexualize or recruit children.
Anti-drag sentiment (and broader anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment), which had been building for a number of years, became more prominent in 2019. Since then, a series of rallies and counter-rallies have been held in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and in other countries, largely against drag queens reading children's books at family events. Throughout 2022, there were at least 141 incidents of protests and harassment towards drag events in the United States alone. Drag panic has been suggested as a motivator for the fire bombing of an Oklahoma doughnut shop and the Club Q mass shooting, among other violent incidents.
Throughout much of the early-twentieth century, drag performances in the United States were criminalized under cross dressing laws. The 1969 Stonewall Riots began after the New York City Police Department sought to arrest people for violating New York's informal "three-item rule" (which required individuals to wear at least three articles of clothing of their assigned sex).
As such laws were relaxed in the second half of the 20th century, drag appeared in works of wide popular relevance, such as Some Like It Hot (1959) and The Birdcage (1996), and the Australian film The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994). In the early 21st century, the art of drag continued to gain popularity and went mainstream in American culture, such as via RuPaul's Drag Race, Queen of the Universe, and Drag Den.
By 2019, as a reaction to the mainstream profile of drag, right-wing figures such as Chaya Raichik, Matt Walsh, Tucker Carlson, Michael Knowles, Dennis Prager, Candace Owens, and Ben Shapiro, began to link drag queens to the LGBT grooming conspiracy theory, calling to limit their visibility. Subsequently, a number of American states (with a Republican majority) proposed and approved laws intended to limit drag queen performances in public. Some protestors at LGBTQ+ and drag events have been armed with guns and explosives, and/or engaged in acts of violence or property damage. Similar anti-drag protests, sometimes amounting to threats or violence, have since been made in Australia, Canada, the UK and elsewhere, often influenced by these American right-wing figures.
Protests against drag performances, especially Drag Queen Story Hour, increased after the 2021 attacks at the United States Capitol. The most vocal opponents are mostly affiliated with alt-right groups. Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson suggested that drag events could "indoctrinate or sexualize" children. Protestors also have expressed homophobic conspiracy theories that performers are grooming children. The Anti-Defamation League reported that the child abuse conspiracy theory has been fueled by the Libs of TikTok, a far-right Twitter account.
LGBTQ media advocacy group GLAAD reported over 140 threats against drag shows in the US, throughout 2022. According to a 2022 GLAAD analysis of United States media, social media, and news coverage, as of December 14, 2022, there had been at least "141 incidents in 2022 of anti-LGBTQ protests and threats targeting specific drag events, including during Pride festivities and false rhetoric against performers deployed in campaign ads for the midterm elections." The report also stated incidents included "armed white supremacists demonstrating in Texas and the firebombing of a Tulsa donut shop that had hosted a drag event in October." USA Today reported that harassment including threats of lynching and castration had been made to drag performers.
In June 2022, "Drag Your Kids to Pride", an event at Mr Misster, a gay bar in Dallas, Texas, resulted in protests after videos from the event showed drag queens dancing while children and their parents watched and tipped them. Attendees said the event was a celebration; the children played musical chairs and some of them walked on the catwalk with performers. Protesters accused the organizers and performers of "grooming" children and objected to a sign in the background of the club that read, "It's Not Gonna Lick Itself". In response, protesters made transphobic and homophobic remarks, as well as sending several hundred threatening emails, making threatening phones calls, and leaving negative reviews online. Republican Representative Bryan Slaton from northeast Texas said he would file a bill to ban children from viewing such events.