The hill: Drag artists launch nationwide support network to fight targeted hate

Drag performers from across the country on Wednesday announced their intent to build a national organization dedicated to protecting and promoting drag as entertainers face increased threats of violence, protests and legislation targeting the centuries-old art form.

The announcement, made on the cusp of LGBTQ Pride Month, comes amid warnings from federal agencies that such events are likely to be targeted by extremist groups next month. 

The newly formed “Qommittee” will act as a national support network for drag performers, filling a critical gap in an industry that relies on freelance work but lacks strong worker protections. The use of the letter “Q” is a nod to the organization’s queer roots. “And it’s Qute,” said Scott Simpson, a community organizer for the Qommittee. 

The group plans to officially launch in June 2025 and will spend the next year recruiting an ambitious 1,000 drag artists to sign on as “Qo-Founders.” A fundraising campaign over the next 12 months hopes to raise enough money to fund the volunteer-run operation and its lofty goals. 

“Our intention is to build a site in which people can come in and find resources that they need to organize and protect themselves,” said Blaq Dinamyte, a Washington-based drag king who will serve as the organization’s president. That includes safety and legal resources for performers and venues, which may not be equipped to handle anti-drag demonstrations. 

“What we’re seeing now maybe in the past five or 10 years is that a lot of these spaces where the shows are happening are not necessarily queer spaces — we’re doing brunches at restaurants and bars that do not have a majority queer clientele, so they don’t really understand the perils,” said Blaq Dinamyte. “Sometimes they don’t understand that they’re putting themselves at risk for any types of backlashes or protesting from right-wing or alt-right groups.” 

The last year saw a spike in hate speech and violence targeting the LGBTQ community, and anti-drag mobilization efforts — including protests, threats and violence — are increasingly prevalent. 

The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security this month warned that Pride celebrations beginning next month are likely targets for foreign terrorist organizations, and the State Department in a separate warning said U.S. citizens traveling abroad in June should “stay alert” in locations frequented by tourists, including “venues frequented by LGBTQI+ persons.” 

Anti-drag hate

More than 200 instances of anti-drag hate were recorded by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a nonprofit that researches extremism and disinformation, between June 1, 2022, and May 30, 2023, led by “growing numbers” of individuals affiliated with white supremacist, parents’ rights and Christian nationalist organizations. 

An Ohio man and member of the extremist White Lives Matter group in January was sentenced to 18 years in prison for attempting to burn down a church that planned to hold a drag event, and members of the far-right Proud Boys, which the Southern Poverty Law Center has designated a hate group, are frequently involved in attacks on drag and LGBTQ-focused events. More than two dozen members of the white supremacist group Patriot Front were arrested near a Pride celebration in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, in 2022 for conspiring to riot. 

A jury this month awarded $1.1 million to an Idaho drag artist who performed at the 2022 Pride in the Park event in Coeur d’Alene in an unrelated case. Eric Posey, who uses the stage name Mona Liza Million, sued Summer Bushnell, a right-wing blogger, for defamation after Bushnell falsely claimed that Posey exposed his genitals to a crowd that included children. 

Simpson, the Qommittee’s community organizer, sees verdicts like the one in Posey’s case as glimmers of hope. A key function of the Qommittee, they said, will be to bridge the gap between performers with such success stories and those who are still unsure of how to protect themselves. 

“They know how to correctly work with law enforcement; they know how to build relationships with communities ahead of time to prevent harm from happening,” Simpson said. “One of the things we want to do is sort of take that knowledge and that wisdom and make it more publicly available and accessible to drag artists.” 

An unexpected flashpoint

Drag in recent years has emerged as an unexpected political flashpoint, with opponents arguing that performances are offensive and inappropriate for young viewers.

Lawmakers in at least a dozen states this year filed legislation meant to curtail drag events that take place in public or where they may be seen by minors, though nearly all of them failed to become law. 

Six Republican-led states last year passed legislation restricting drag, though four of them — in Florida, Montana, Texas and Tennessee — are blocked by federal court orders. GOP leaders in Congress have also sought to crack down on drag shows, and top defense officials in June banned drag performances on military bases after pressure from House Republicans. 

Drag performers and LGBTQ advocates have defended drag as a form of expression that challenges gender and societal norms and promotes inclusivity. They reject claims that drag is inherently sexual. 

“I believe drag is a self-expression,” said Tiara Latrice Kelley, a Colorado-based drag entertainer and producer. “There’s nothing that’s more American than self-expression.” 

Kelley is no stranger to anti-drag and anti-LGBTQ violence: She narrowly avoided deadly shootings at Club Q in Colorado Springs, Colo., in 2022 and at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla., in 2016, and lost loved ones in both tragedies. 

“My hope with the Qommittee is that we are able to create safe spaces that are true safe spaces and spread the word that these spaces are available,” she said. “In our community right now … there’s a lot of fear, there’s a lot of anger.” 

“We should have already come together a long time ago, and maybe we did and maybe we got lost somewhere along the way,” said Maxine LaQueene, a drag artist and transgender rights activist in Austin, Texas. “But right now, I can confidently say that this is something that I absolutely want to be a part of because it’s going to bring so many parts of our community together and we’re stronger in numbers — we’re stronger together.”