Why These Drag Artists Are Organizing for Better Protections

Kelly Estrella has been performing drag in the South for almost four decades. But it wasn’t until her performance was canceled on June 9 due to a bomb threat at Brewtorium, a local brewery in Austin, Texas, that she felt her life was at risk.

“I’m used to being aware of my surroundings and always being vigilant,” says Estrella, 54, who goes by the nickname Kelly Kline. “But this action that happened really makes me nervous about other events.”

Local and federal authorities have determined that the establishment was likely the victim of a hoax they saw in several U.S. cities, especially during Pride, in an effort to force the cancellation of drag events, Brewtorium CEO Whitney Roberts told TIME in a statement on Friday. (The Austin Police Department did not respond to requests for comment.) At least three other drag events in Alaska, Massachusetts and New York received bomb threats during the same weekend, and two more events in Arizona and Minnesota reported attacks similar ones the following weekend. It’s part an alarming increase in protests and threats against drag events since the 2022 Pride season, which artists hope to combat by forming: Committeea growing coalition of drag artists in the US

The D.C.-based group launched in June with the intention of connecting individual drag artists, especially those who live in more isolated parts of the country and who hold marginalized identities, with each other. During its first year, the coalition focused on recruitment, but leaders eventually intend to provide additional support, such as legal assistance, and help ensure artists are compensated for their work.

Blaq Dinamyte, a DC-based drag artist and president of Qommittee, says the group also intends to serve as a kind of liaison between drag artists and law enforcement – a relationship he says is often tense – to better combat and respond to hate crimes and threats in his line of work. “Just because we have this bad relationship doesn’t mean they’re not still here to protect us; their job is to protect us,” says Dinamyte.

For now, the organization’s focus is on uniting the people it advocates for: drag performers who have suffered or are facing threats of harm. Dinamyte points to survivors of the Club Q and Pulse Nightclub shootings – two mass shootings targeting LGBTQ+ people – who are at the helm of the committee. “A lot of smaller drag communities don’t necessarily have the resources that we have here in DC,” says Dinamyte. “We want to become a central hub for people to get the resources they need to fight back.”

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As part of its efforts, the coalition published a petition calling on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to commit to robust threat monitoring at upcoming Pride celebrations and create and maintain a system comprehensive and publicly available. database that tracks all threats to pride and drag events, and issue public statements condemning anti-LGBTQ extremism. The petition currently has more than 14,500 signatures, according to Dinamyte, and the committee has already connected with FBI officials who specialize in the prosecution of hate crimes. The FBI is already tracking some threats.

A 2022 FBI crime report showed that anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes in the US rose steadily from the previous year, with a nearly 33% increase in hate crimes reported based on gender identity. In May, the US State Department also issued a worldwide travel warning due to “the potential for terrorist attacks, demonstrations, or violent actions against U.S. citizens and interests,” particularly citing the rise in violence against LGBTQ+ people and Pride-related events.

Dinamyte, who has been performing drag for 20 years, noticed that threats of violence against the LGBTQ+ community increased after the pandemic. “We’ve always had some things… you know, someone drives by and says something, and people have their opinions online,” he says. “But I think really, after the pandemic, people have been encouraged to be more active in expressing his aversion to drag.” Roberts agrees, saying that aside from the hateful comments on social media, the Brewtorium has never received a threat before. For an upcoming pride event in Austin, Roberts is planning to have police present and is documenting testimonies from drag artists related to it. bomb threats and other threats through an online survey shared with artists.

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After the Brewtorium bomb threat, Qommittee reached out to Estrella, offering to connect her with a counselor and inviting her to have a conversation with other drag artists who have similar values. As an advocate, she says things have gradually improved since she started acting, but the bomb threat showed her how much “hate needs to be faced.”

“I love that they are trying to make sure the drag community is taken care of,” says Estrella. “Most people see us as artists and forget that we are real humans with real feelings.”

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Over the past legislative year, drag has become a major target of Republican efforts in certain states, notably Tennessee, Texas, Arizona, Kentucky and Oklahoma. Several bills entered the legislature, with texts that attempted to prohibit “cabaret performances for adults” in public places where minors could attend. Many of these attempts to ban trawling have met with resistance, and those that have become law have faced significant legal challenges and judicial actions. So far in 2024, 25 drag bills have been considered, according to the ACLU data base, and 20 were defeated. Dinamyte says he is used to these attempts to make his existence political.

“I always say that even outside of drag, my existence tends to be political,” says Dinamyte. “Being a black queer person is always political, so we don’t know any other energy surrounding our own existence.”

Eventually, he hopes Qommittee can use its broad support to lobby its neighbors down the street from Capitol Hill and support drag performers who can do the same at the state level. First, though, they need to rally the troops, so to speak.

“I prefer to be on the ground with people, helping in any way I can,” says Dinamyte.