Drag queen hit with disgusting wave of abuse over story time event says she ‘won’t let them win’
Miss Peaches was forced to cancel her Drag storytime event after overwhelming anti-drag protests made her feel ‘unsafe’. (Twitter/@MissPeachesDQ)
A UK drag queen has shared a “heartbreaking” statement after her storytime event was cancelled because of threats of violence.
Drag artist Miss Peaches was set to attend a family-friendly storytime event on Saturday (3 December) at the Dundee Contemporary Arts (DCA) centre in Scotland.
It becomes one of several UK-based drag events that have been called off in 2022 due to threats.
According to a statement made by DCA, the event was unable to go ahead “because of the hateful and intimidatory behaviour of a small number of people online.”
The storytime event was subsequently cancelled after Miss Peaches felt “unsafe” to attend, following a flood of abuse from anti-trans activists.
“We are appalled that she and members of our team have received abusive and threatening messages this week,” the DCA statement continued, adding that representatives had reported the behaviour to the police.
“We refuse to be intimidated by hate speech and abusive behaviour and hope very much to reschedule this event soon.”
A spokesperson for Scotland police said officers had received a report of the threatening messages, but no criminality was established following enquiries.
Miss Peaches addressed the situation in a statement posted on her various social media channels on Saturday (3 December).
The self-professed “dancing queen of Scotland” said she chose to cancel the event because she didn’t want children attending to be “faced with a mob of people holding signs.”
“I chose to cancel because the event became about something more than a story time,” she said.
“It was overshadowed by a transphobic, queerphobic, bigoted hate campaign.
“I didn’t want children being faced with a mob of people holding signs. Kids being faced with a drag queen on one hand and an angry mob on the other.”
She went on to state that, between the anti-trans groups and the drag storytime organisers, she knew “which one would traumatise me… and believe me it wouldn’t be the wig-wearer.”
A tweet from earlier in the day by DCA saw overwhelming amounts of anti-trans rhetoric and dogwhistles about drag artists “pushing mockery of women by men.”
Miss Peaches and DCA were accused by a number of anti-trans individuals that drag queens are attempting to indoctrinate children – which is not true.
Many others took the chance, however, to express their “solidarity and love” for those affected, with one writing: “Don’t let the bigots get to you.”
“Sorry to hear you’ve had to do this,” another wrote.
“The absolute fun vacuums responsible need to have a word with themselves.”
Over the past few years, anti-drag protests and hate crimes have risen significantly according to research by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD).
A 21 November report for 2022 found that 124 anti-drag attacks had taken place in the US alone.
Furthermore, the attacks had taken place across 47 states, excluding only four – South Dakota, Rhode Island, West Virginia, and Washington DC.
“The analysis shows increasingly violent rhetoric and incidents as the year progressed, including the firebombing of a Tulsa doughnut shop that had hosted a drag event in October,” the report read.
GLAAD clarified that the report did not factor in the Colorado Springs shooting, which took place during a drag show in Club Q as the motive “had not yet been formally declared.”
Not only that, but anti-drag legislation in the US has risen sharply too, which nine states proposing blanket bans on public drag performances.
