Advocate for the drag community KelownaBritish Columbia officials said public hatred toward the performers has subsided, but much of the hatred has shifted online.
Recently, performers have noticed that the comment sections of their social media posts have been flooded with hate speech, with some even issuing death threats.
“There is always drag in any of our campaigns, and when we promote posts we may get some level of hate,” Rebellious UnicornDustin Balkum.
Ella Lamoureux, a well-known drag performer, said hate speech on social media has become more serious since the outbreak.
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“I feel like COVID has allowed them to find community, which is interesting because what we’ve been trying to find for years and decades is to find a community and acceptance,” Lamoureux said.
“They've built their own online communities; they've become 'keyboard warriors' for their own cause, and they just spread all this negativity on these platforms.”
While most of the comments seemed harmless, Lamoleux received some death threats.
“Some of these threats were pretty insidious, like death threats, saying the best thing that could happen to you is someone put a gun to your head or hang you from a tree,” Lamoureux said.
“Some of the cases are so serious that we have reported them to the police.”
According to advocates, the drag community has experienced more public hate in the last year, with people protesting at in-person events. However, they say that seems to have eased recently, as most of the hate is now being spread online.
“I don’t know which is worse, obviously both are bad, but I feel like social media is such a big part of people’s lives that people see it all the time, whereas news events only happen once or twice a month, so they’re concentrated in one day,” Balkum said. “Obviously both have an impact on people.”
According to Balkum, much of the hate stems from misinformation about the drag community and its events.
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