RuPaul’s DragCon in Los Angeles kicked off this week and several performers present expressed joy that kids could come to see them in action. Drag queen Frisbee Jenkins, who starred in RuPaul’s Drag Race, said that he met “so many kids” at the convention and found their presence uplifting.
“I’ve met so many kids today whose eyes light up when they see drag. They’re trying to criminalize drag. They’re trying to make drag queens out to be monsters,” Jenkins told Reuters. “They’re trying to make anyone who does drag out to be monsters. We’re not monsters. We’re just celebrating our life and celebrating living out loud and kids recognize that and they love it. So I think something like this is great for our community and it’s great politically because why not? Why shouldn’t we be able to come to an event and celebrate who we are.”
Another drag queen, Lolita Page, echoed those sentiments.
“It’s a nice reassurance. I feel like right now. we’re living in a very unsure time based on everything within the laws. I feel like, right now, this is kind of a reassurance that we are here and we are here to stay,” said Page.
WATCH: ‘I’ve met so many kids today whose eyes light up when they see drag’: RuPaul’s DragCon opens in Los Angeles pic.twitter.com/4W7w26YfkA
— Reuters (@Reuters) May 13, 2023
As Breitbart News reported, RuPaul’s Drag Race stars recently denounced laws that ban Drag Queen Story Hour or drag performances for children to be a bigoted attack on LGBTQ rights.
“At this time, it’s so important to hear queer and trans stories from queer and trans people, to meet the artists behind the artistry and see the human beings there, so we can have empathy for one another and halt these blatantly bigoted, anti-queer, anti-trans legislations,” said drag queen Jinkx Monsoon.
Speaking in a video message at the celebrity-attended Drag Isn’t Dangerous event, singer Adam Lambert, current frontman for the rock band Queen, said drag performers bring “joy” and an “amazing way to bring light to the world.”
“These lawmakers are terrified of just how brightly we’re shining,” he said. “They’re using children as an excuse to take one more thing away from us … they’re clearly threatened that we are living our truth.”
Lambert added legislation that bans drag performances for children has been used to “target and punish people in our community.”
🎥|@AdamLambert‘s message for the #DragIsntDangerous telethon! So important
“These laws can be very easily manipulated in order to target and punish people in our community. So let’s come together and protect our drag entertainers…” pic.twitter.com/nwnHPzFHP9
— ADAM LAMBERT DAILY (@AdamL_Daily) May 8, 2023
Actor Kevin Bacon recently released a video in which he advocated drag performances for children, defending it as an art form that can educate and instruct. In a video released on TikTok, Bacon said drag is “an opportunity to educate through entertainment and it’s not dangerous.”
“Drag is an art and drag is a right. Drag is a centuries-old art form of creativity, expression, and self-exploration,” said Bacon. “It’s an opportunity to educate through entertainment and it’s not dangerous. At six-degrees, we believe in amplifying the voices of those that are experiencing injustice.”
As Breitbart News reported, Fenton Bailey, whose company World of Wonder produces RuPaul’s Drag Race, expressed his desire to take the LGBTQ-themed show global.
“Sometimes people say, ‘Isn’t there too much Drag Race?’ I say no, because even though drag has always existed there are still countries where it is oppressed or forbidden. And so to me, what’s worth getting out of bed for, is to figure out how to make Drag Race China, or Drag Race Russia, or Drag Race Iran, because — although not didactically a political show — the message of Drag Race, of individuality and self-invention, of live-and-let-live, is what we need,” he said.
Paul Roland Bois joined Breitbart News in 2021. He also directed the award-winning feature film, EXEMPLUM, which can be viewed on Tubi, Google Play, YouTube Movies, or VIMEO On Demand. Follow him on Twitter @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.