U.K. drag queens plan to protest Donald Trump’s upcoming visit this summer
Event is intended to show "solidarity" with marginalized groups who have been targeted by the Trump administration
When Donald Trump visits the United Kingdom later this summer, he’s going to be welcomed by a throng of protesting drag queens.
Several U.K. drag performers have organized a march in London to protest Trump’s visit to the United Kingdom, citing their opposition to many of his LGBTQ-related policies, from his rescinding of guidance to protect transgender schoolchildren to his proposed ban on transgender military personnel to the censoring of LGBTQ health information on federal websites.
“Due to the appalling way the Trump administration has regarded the rights and welfare of LGBTQI communities of the US, the idea of a Trump visit to the UK is unacceptable,” the Facebook page for the protest reads. “Let’s get visible, stand with our sisters, brothers and others in America, and show that we are a country that celebrates diversity.”
Cheddar Gorgeous, one of the drag queens who’s one of the event’s chief organizers, wrote an op-ed in The Guardian explaining the reason for the protest, which is scheduled for July 13.
More than 1,000 people have indicated that they will be attending, and more than 7,000 are interested in attending.
“People of colour, migrants and women have also been the subject of controversial policies, offensive remarks and ill-thought-out tweets,” Cheddar Gorgeous writes in the editorial. “It feels as if the Trump administration seeks to use diversity as the scapegoat on which America is apparently made great again … and, to top it off, he failed to recognise pride month.
“This is to increase awareness of the way Trump’s administration has systematically attacked the LGBTQI community and to stand in solidarity with the many other groups who feel marginalised along lines of race, class and gender,” she adds. “To not object to the visit would seem like a betrayal of the tolerant society that the UK as a whole strives to be. When diversity is attacked, it is imperative that marginalised people stay visible, stand up to bullies and engage satirically with what is going on.”
It’s still unclear where Trump will go during his visit to the United Kingdom, reports the Huffington Post. So he may not visit London at all. Nonetheless, the drag performers are intending to merge their protest with a “March of Millions,” which will take place in front of the Prime Minister’s office at 10 Downing Street. That event has more than 43,000 confirmed guests, and more than 126,000 people who are “interested” in participating.
“It is important that we stand with others who feel similarly outraged at the way the UK government is failing to stand up to Trump,” Gorgeous writes. “It is about more than just one group’s interests and needs, and it is vital to stand in solidarity with all marginalised groups who are affected by Trump’s administration and the rhetoric of intolerance that fuels it.”
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