Drag panic
Drag panic 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, 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.
Background
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".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 and The Birdcage, and the Australian film The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. 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 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.
By region
North America
United States
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.
A January 2023 report by the Anti-Defamation League, titled "Online Amplifiers of Anti-LGBTQ+ Extremism" noted groups involved in protests against drag shows included Gays Against Groomers, Blaze Media, the Texas Family Project, Defend Our Kids Texas, and the Aryan Freedom Network.
In May 2023, masked neo-Nazi groups in Ohio protested a drag event in Columbus, carrying anti-drag and anti-trans banners, such as one that read, "there will be blood."
In May 2023, Montana became the first state in the United States to specifically ban people dressed in drag from reading books to children at public schools and libraries regardless of the sexual significance of the event. In July 2023, a federal judge blocked the ban from taking effect. In October 2023, another federal judge upheld the block.
In June 2023, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed a law banning public drag performances. In September 2023, a federal judge blocked the ban from taking effect saying it was unconstitutional. Also in June 2023, a U.S. judge blocked a Florida law restricting drag performances from taking effect.
In mid-June 2022, the far-right Twitter account Libs of TikTok condemned the upcoming Coeur d'Alene, Idaho's "Pride in the Park" festival due to a "family-friendly drag performance." On June 11, 2022, during the pride event, law enforcement arrested 31 members of the white nationalist hate group Patriot Front, later charging them with conspiracy to riot.
In July 2023, Kristi Maris, a schoolteacher of nineteen years, was fired from her job at the First Baptist Academy in Baytown, Texas after posting a picture of herself attending a drag show at Hamburger Mary's in Houston on Facebook with the caption, "This was such a blast!!!!". The email that Maris received from the school about the termination of her job claimed that she had breached the school's operating policies manual, which stated that employees "will act in a godly and moral fashion at work, on Facebook and in community".
Tennessee drag ban
On March 2, 2023, Tennessee governor Bill Lee signed the Tennessee Senate Bill 3 to equate drag queen performances with sexual performers. This bill faced widespread opposition throughout the United States, including from politicians and drag queens. Subsequently, a 1977 photo emerged of Lee dressed in a female cheerleading outfit in the company of high school classmates. The ban was later ruled unconstitutional in June 2023 in federal district court. On July 18, 2024, a three-judge panel on the Sixth Circuit reinstated the law by ruling that the plaintiffs had lacked the standing to sue. The ruling did not address whether the law was constitutional.Canada
Anti-drag protests in Canada have been influenced by the American anti-drag and anti-LGBTQ+ movement. This has led to an increase in anti-LGBTQ+ hate. At present, however, this has not yet extended to anti-drag legislation.On November 23, 2022, people protested a drag storytelling event in the Kitsilano neighborhood of Vancouver, accusing the event of "sexualizing children." The next day, Book Keeper independent book shop in Sarnia, was protested by 10–12 men wearing masks and balaclavas as it hosted its fourth Drag Queen Story Time event. Also in November 2022, an event at Kelseys Original Roadhouse in Burlington, featuring Guelph drag queen Crystal Quartz was canceled following threats made towards the restaurant.
On December 19, 2022, fourteen protestors gathered outside Brockville Public Library in Ontario as it held its first Drag Story Time event. The protestors were met by counter-protestors, which included the library's CEO. Police searched the library for explosive devices after a threat was made.
Twice in December 2022, protestors interrupted drag performances at the Britbar venue in Penticton, British Columbia, and at DunnEnzies restaurant in British Columbia's Okanagan.
Events in January, February, March, May, and June 2023 by performer Betty Baker were protested at the Peterborough Public Library in Ontario by Kevin Goudreau, Save Canada, and other individuals. On all occasions protesters were outnumbered by counter-protesters.
Europe
United Kingdom
In July 2022, right-wing groups protested Drag Queen Story Hour at Reading Central Library in Berkshire. The event featured Sab Samuel performing in drag as Aida H Dee. Subsequent protests occurred in Crewe and Bristol, and at Glastonbury Public Library. In August 2022, 50 protestors were met with about 300 counter-protestors outside a drag event at Oxfordshire County Library; police kept the two groups separated. The same month, a drag show featuring Matthew Cavan performing as drag queen Cherri Ontop in Belfast was the target of a protest. Flyers promoting protests to drag performances in the UK were shared in anti-vaccination Telegram groups.A 2023 report from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue noted an increase in extremist groups targeting LGBTQ+ and drag storytime events in the UK, and accused Conservative MPs of contributing to growing hostility towards LGBTQ+ people in the country. The report also noted that many of these messages were being imported from the US and were being used to provoke "culture wars" at home. According to the report, the UK was second only to the US in terms of anti-drag protests. Report author Aoife Gallagher said, "These incidents should not be viewed in isolation; they speak to a wider anti-LGBTQ+ mobilisation in the UK and they raise concerns about a backsliding trend in LGBTQ+ rights. Although counter-protesters at drag events often outnumbered protesters, this is not enough to protect these communities."