With states such as Tennessee and Florida taking aim at drag queens through controversial legislation, Trixie Mattel, Bob the Drag Queen and a troupe of other queens and performers are ready to fight back.
This week, Producer Entertainment Group (PEG) announced “Drag Isn’t Dangerous,” a new campaign in partnership with other LGBTQ media organizations (including GLAAD, Q.Digital, Trixie Cosmetics and more) to combat anti-LGBTQ legislation around the country through awareness and fundraising.
Kicking off as an online information campaign, “Drag Isn’t Dangerous” is set to lead up to a livestreamed, one-night-only telethon featuring dozens of artists in a series of live and pre-taped performances. The initiative has confirmed Trixie Mattel, Bob the Drag Queen, Jinkx Monsoon, Katya, Eureka O’Hara, Ginger Minj, Monét X Change, Peppermint and more as performers, with “many more names to be announced,” according to a press release.
Mattel, who recently completed her world tour with Katya, made her feelings about the state of anti-LGBTQ legislation very clear in a statement released with the news. “The only place where men in dresses sexualize children is church,” she wrote.
Bob the Drag Queen, who’s currently preparing to join Madonna on her world tour, added, “The most traumatizing thing about drag isn’t harming kids, it’s getting sent home first on Drag Race … but I can’t relate.”
Jacob Slane, a partner and talent manager with PEG, said in a statement that the organization was “sick” of the continued attacks on the LGBTQ community from state legislatures. “These bans are not just about trans people or drag performers. It is a systematic subjugation of LGBTQ people,” he wrote. “Through the ‘Drag Isn’t Dangerous’ campaign, we want to show that drag performers are not dangerous groomers, sexual deviants, criminals or whatever is the latest evangelical slur du jour. We want to raise awareness and funds to make a difference in the lives of LGBTQ people who are under attack.”
The “Drag Isn’t Dangerous” telethon will take place on Sunday, May 7. For tickets and more information, click here.