Proud Boys protests over drag performers are turning violent -- and now they're targeting kids

[marmar]

Proud Boys protests over drag performers are turning violent — and now they're targeting kids
In the name of "protecting" children, homophobic protesters doxxed and attacked an 11-year-old for playing dress-up

By AMANDA MARCOTTE
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED OCTOBER 26, 2022 6:00AM (EDT)


(Salon) It was just a matter of time before the anti-LGBTQ protests got violent. For months now, egged on by Republican leaders like Gov. Ron "Don't Say Gay" DeSantis of Florida, far-right groups have been mounting increasingly aggressive anti-queer protests under the guise of "protecting" children. By framing any expression of LGBTQ identity that occurs around kids as "sexualizing" children, groups like the Proud Boys have spent months targeting family-friendly Pride events and child-oriented events where drag performers read to kids from storybooks. Even though these events are deliberately sanitized and intended only to amuse children and adults by playing dress-up, lurid claims of "grooming" and pedophilia are being leveraged to send protesters into a frenzy. In some places, protesters are showing up with guns, threatening violence around the children they claim to be "protecting."

Unsurprisingly, then, one protest in Eugene, Oregon got violent this week. Worse, the queerphobic protesters have focused their ire on an 11-year-old child, doxxing her and putting her in danger, all while claiming to do it for her own good.

Sunday morning, a restaurant called Old Nick's Pub hosted a Drag Queen Story Time Brunch. The pub, like many across the country, hosts a mix of events that are sometimes family-friendly and sometimes not. Like the pub's other family-oriented events, such as their Saturday morning pancake party, Drag Queen Story Time is a kiddie event, where drag queens and little kids bask in their shared love of flashy clothes and acting goofy. Indeed, one of the performers is an 11-year-old drag enthusiast-turned-performer who has regularly turned out to entertain the other kids.

Far-right activists seized on the existence of this child as "proof" of their false claims that drag is an elaborate cover for more sinister activities. One woman, going by the name "Honey Badger Mom" on Twitter, posted pictures of the child and made hay out of the fact that, at night on different days, the pub hosts events that are more adult in nature. ..........(more)

https://www.salon.com/2022/10/26/proud-boys-over-drag-performers-are-turning-violent-and-now-theyre-targeting-kids/

[multigraincracker]

1. Go after these guys.

[Timeflyer]

2. So attacking specific children online is ok, but dress-up is evil.

"Honey Badger Mom" is a child abuser and should be prosecuted.

[tanyev]

3. A bunch of thugs looking for opportunities to thug.

The issues are the excuse, not the reason.