Drag queens and LGBTQ activists marched through a Manhattan park on Friday as part of a weekend of Pride celebrations, chanting, “We’re here, we’re queer, and we’re here for your kids.”
A topless woman was seen dancing and making the chant, while others laughed and joined in.
Video of the incident sparked widespread revulsion online.
“This movement is preparing minors for mastectomy and castration and fueling a multibillion-dollar medical child abuse industry,” Marjorie Taylor Greene, Georgia Congresswoman for Georgia, tweeted.
Pass the Protect Children’s Innocence Act. Let children be children.’
Drag queens are seen in Manhattan’s Tompkins Square Park on Friday ahead of their Pride march
Jenna Ellis, a lawyer who briefly served on Donald Trump’s legal team, said, “Remember what they said they wouldn’t do at all?”
Collin Rugg, the co-owner of the conservative news site Trending Politics, said the chant showed the right was always right about the threat posed by the LGBTQ community.
Right: “The LGBTQ crowd is coming for your kids.”
Left: You’re making it all up. That’s a conspiracy theory.’
“LGBTQ parade: ‘We’re here, we’re queer, we’re here for your kids.'”
Some commented that the chant was a joke, designed to infuriate their conservative critics.
But, they said, it would probably backfire.
This is why opinion polls suggest that support for equality is waning. These child-obsessed radical activists will bring us all down with their depravity,” one said.
“It’s meant to anger people on the internet, but it will most likely backfire,” said another.
Another commented, “It’s like they’re trying to get people to hate them.” I do not get it.’
Oli London, spokesperson for Fairness First PAC – set up to combat “radical gender ideology infiltrating our children at school – especially in sports and in the classroom” – said it confirmed what had been suspected.
“They’re not even hiding their intentions now that they’re saying it out loud,” he said.
And podcast host Graham Allen tweeted, “This is what EVIL looks like….”
This year’s Pride celebrations come as bills have been introduced in more than a dozen states to limit or ban drag shows.
Florida is one of the states that wants to ban drag shows, as noted on this sign seen at Friday’s rally in New York City’s East Village
Drag performers speak to a child in Tompkins Square Park on Friday before the parade
Usually held in June, Pride events began as a way to commemorate the 1969 uprising of New York’s LGBTQ+ communities, known as the Stonewall Rebellion, and as a way to celebrate the LGBTQ+ rights movement.
In New York City, a Sunday Pride parade has a national theme: “Strength in Solidarity.”
NYC Pride co-chair Sue Doster said they are spotlighting the transgender community and drag queens, targets of recent legislation in conservative states.
“They attack these people because they are less likely to stand up and fight back. That’s why it’s important that we all show solidarity and speak up when we see these injustices,” Doster said.
The backlash against transgender people, drag performances, and Pride events is not new.
Last year there were 31 members of a white supremacist group arrested near an Idaho Pride event after they were found in the back of a U-Haul truck carrying riot gear.
This year, the Treasure Coast Pride Alliance in Port St. Lucie, Florida has responded to potential legislation, canceling a planned gay pride parade and restrict other events to people 21 and older.
The Pride festival in Hutchinson, Kansas, has also adjusted its schedule and secured a new location after losing its original location when a local entrepreneur posted a video on social media denouncing the event, which featured a drag queen story hour. disapproved as depraved.
“Our event is completely family-friendly,” said Hutchinson Salt City Pride President Julia Johnson.
Drag performers and supporters pose for selfies in Tompkins Square Park on Friday
A drag performer poses for a photo in Tompkins Square Park before participating in the New York City Drag March on Friday
Meanwhile, organizers in the Nashville, Tennessee suburb of Franklin have opted not to include drag performances in their Pride celebrations so they can work with local officials to get other events allowed.
In Naples, Florida, Pride organizers agreed that they would not allow drag performers to be tipped on stage, and later announced that the drag show portion of the festival will be held in an indoor venue due to safety concerns .
In Memphis, drag entertainers plan not to change costumes during the performance or accept tips from the audience if limits are reinstated.
Even in progressive Massachusetts it has been debate about whether a drag show could be part of a Pride party in the small town of North Brookfield, about 50 miles west of Boston.
The three-member jury had reversed an earlier vote and determined that a drag show violated restrictions on “adult entertainment.”
Last week, the city attorney said the event could take place in the town square as planned after the ACLU got involved.
Community support also makes a difference.
In Iowa, Cedar Falls Mayor Rob Green this week reversed his controversial decision not to sign a proclamation declaring June Pride Month.
He wrote on Facebook that he signed the proclamation out of concern for the safety and health of LGBTQIA+ residents after hearing stories and receiving letters from voters.
“I learn a lot from letters like this and really appreciate the opportunity to reexamine my assumptions and thought processes,” he wrote.