Singer Adam Lambert, currently the frontman for Queen, said Republicans have used children as an excuse to ban drag performances.
Speaking in a video message at the celebrity-attended Drag Isn’t Dangerous event, Lambert 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.”
Also in attendance at the event were celebrities like Charlize Theron, Melissa McCarthy, and Billy Eichner, and Drag Race alum Jinkx Monsoon.
“I will f**k anyone who messes with you,” Theron reportedly told the drag performers at the event.
Pink News reports that “the live fundraiser reached over $523,000 (around £413,000) in donations to LGBTQ+ charities, with Monsoon reportedly donating $10,000.”
Jacob Slane, co-founder of drag management firm Producer Entertainment Group (PEG), likewise said that bans on drag performances for children is the “systematic subjugation of LGBTQ+ people.”
“We are sick of it … These bans are not just about trans people or drag performers. It is a systematic subjugation of LGBTQ+ people,” said Slane.
U.S. singer/songwriter Adam Lambert arrives for the Los Angeles LGBT Center Gala at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles, California, on April 22, 2023. (MICHAEL TRAN/AFP via Getty Images)
“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,” he added.
Actor Jesse Eisenberg said that the recent “demonization of drag culture has been greatly upsetting and completely shocking to me.”
“I have had the pleasure of getting to know many drag performers, including one of my idols, the incomparable Trixie Mattel, over the past several years,” he said.
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.