Drag queen Tova Ura Vitch read during at the Reading With Pride event put on by the Drag Queen Story Time Kentucky in the Portland neighborhood Sunday afternoon. March 26, 2023 Photo: Matt Stone/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK
Drag performers from across the country just announced the formation of a support network for freelance performers who are often put at risk when performing at public events.
“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 the group’s president B Williams, also known as Washington-based drag king Blaq Dinamyte, to the Associated Press
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“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.”
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The newly founded “Qommittee” is named as such for the queer roots of drag performing – and, as said by community organizer Scott Simpson, “It’s Qute.” It is currently seeking “Qo-founders” to join the organization for a projected 2025 launch.
The Qommittee currently consists of 10 drag performers, each victim of violence and hate due to their performances. One artist, Hysteria Brooks, is a survivor of the infamous Club Q shooting, which resulted in the deaths of five people in 2022.
“The trauma that my community has faced since the shooting is really hard to put into words. The work of healing since then has largely been left up to us to handle on our own,” Brooks said in a statement to CNN. “We’re trying to put the pieces back together and build something stronger. The lessons we’ve learned are something I want to pay forward and I’m hopeful building this organization can help do that.”
The group’s goal is to recruit over 1000 performers, and over the next year they’re going to be fundraising to provide for their needs.
A big motivator for the group’s formation is anti-LGBTQ+ violence against drag performers.
“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.”
Drag performers are routinely accused of being groomers and pedophiles by anti-LGBTQ+ activists, especially those who perform family-friendly events.
There is no evidence that drag performers are disproportionately sexual predators.
This sentiment has led to numerous drag ban bills being implemented into law. States like Tennessee, Montana, Florida, and Texas have bills that restrict drag performances in some way. Others are debated in the state legislature.
The idea that LGBTQ+ individuals and drag specifically are tied to child sex abuse contributed to disproportionate violence against queer people. A 2021 study from the Williams Institute finds a four times greater risk of violent crime among trans people than cisgender people.
“We’ve always had to fight tooth and nail for our place in this world,” said the Qommittee in a news release. “But now, we’re also battling a tidal wave of hate — doxxing, harassment, death threats, armed protests, bombings, and even shootings.”
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