Sunday, April 02, 2023

Far right activists don't know the difference between a circus act and a drag show

In their zeal to attack drag shows and falsely accuse drag queens of  'grooming' kids, the far right and their allies have on occasion misrepresented public events to further their claims.

Here is the latest:


Comments about the video are of course filled with venom against drag shows and false accusations against the LGBTQ community at large. I've seen pictures from the video used in montages (with other misrepresented events) in order to push the hysterical idea that drag shows are filled with sexually explicit content while kids are present.

But . . . wait for it . . . here is punchline.

The event is question is not even a drag show.  It was an event by a circus troupe (you visit the Facebook page) which took place in London.  And while some folks may rightfully question it as an event where parents should talk babies, no one can honestly say that it was a drag show.  Unfortunately, an article about the event may have contributed to the false accusation that it was a drag event. The headline read Fury at 'Drag act for BABIES': Semi-naked man in thigh high boots performs bondage routine in front of tots and parents at 'sensory event'  

However, nothing in the article identified the event as a drag show.  Even the phrase "drag act for babies" doesn't appear anywhere in the article. The publication in which the article was published, The Daily Mail, has been called out on more than one occasion for its questionable sources and lack of accuracy

According to Media Bias Fact Check:
The Daily Mail tends to publish stories utilizing sensationalized headlines with emotionally loaded wordings such as “Woman, 63, ‘becomes PREGNANT in the mouth’ with baby squid after eating calamari”, which is a misleading headline. In 2017, Wikipedia banned the Daily Mail as an ‘unreliable’ source. When it comes to sourcing information, they use minimal hyperlinked sourcing and sourcing to themselves. Further, a Reuters institute survey found that 26% of respondents trust their news coverage and 47% do not, ranking them #11 in trust of the major UK news providers. In general, most stories favor the right; however, the Daily Mail will report either side of the story is sensational enough.

Below are several other examples of how the far right have misrepresented incidents to demonize drag queens. These outbreaks of wanton hysteria would be funny except for the fact that they have contributed to the violent climate against drag shows and oppressive laws against the LGBTQ community at large.

Related posts, articles:

Taken out-of-context video fuels ugly lie about drag queens 'grooming' children