The Future Of Anti-Drag Movements Looks Even More Violent Than We Thought

Protesters clash at a Drag Queen Story Hour at an event in Wadsworth, Ohio, on March 11.

Weallknow that conservative politicians have been losing their s**t — or at least pretending to — over the mere existence of drag queens. What we might not have realized until more recently, though, that their violent rhetoric is fueling bigots of every flavor around the country. 

On Saturday, the nature of that violence became even more clear after a drag storytelling event in Wadsworth, Ohio, ended in a clash between attendees of the Story Hour and hundreds of white supremacist demonstrators, some of whom were armed, per USA Today. The story hour was being hosted, in part, to raise money for the survivors of the Club Q shooting that happened last year, Them reported. Some of the white supremacist protesters were seen carrying flags with swastikas on them, reportedly saluting in Nazi fashion, accusing drag supporters of being pedophiles, shouting “Heil Hitler” and pointing a pepper spray gun at the crowd. 

Confrontations like this have become more common in America and although, according to local papers, no one was seriously hurt at this particular event, we all know that it’s likely a matter of time before things escalate. And that’s because these are not isolated events: They’re symptoms of a much deeper and more sinister pattern in the conservative American movement that uses false messaging to paint marginalized communities as existential threats to the country. 

Protesters clash with Drag Queen Story Hour members at an event in Wadsworth, Ohio on March 11.

We saw it when former President Donald Trump spewed anti-immigrant rhetoric throughout his tenure, which culminated in events like Charlottesville in 2017 where an alt-right extremist who reportedly believed in the ”great replacement” theory drove through a crowd of peaceful protesters, killing one person and injuring several others.

We also saw it during the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, when Kyle Rittenhouse, who believed that he was part of a group of conservatives meant to protect businesses from civil unrest, shot and killed two BLM protesters. Although animosity toward immigrants and supporters of BLM persists, it seems that this familiar conservative rage is also focused on the LGBTQ community, specifically drag queens and trans people.

I don’t make these comparisons lightly — conservative politicians have tirelessly spread false narratives about drag queens and trans people being groomers and pedophiles and they have promoted so-called “gender ideology” for months. Even if they don’t actually believe any of this is true, major conservative politicians are making it part of their platforms, from Gov. Ron DeSantis saying he might consider bringing children to a drag show “child endangerment” to bills throughout the country that aim to classify drag performances as being unfit for minors. 

All in all, the pushback by conservatives against drag queens being around minors and trans people in general is starting to get less hypothetical and much more real. We only need to look at the past seven years to understand that things are bound to get more violent, unless there is a sudden and significant push to change the right’s rhetoric. Until that happens, it’s smart to stay vigilant while fighting for our rights.