Pride festival forced to cancel blackface Beyoncé
Image: Photo: Facebook / Leanne Harper.
A PRIDE festival in the UK has faced community outrage and criticism after booking a white Beyoncé impersonator.
Durham Pride booked and widely promoted Leanne Harper, a white woman who applies dark makeup to perform as Beyoncé, Gay Star News has reported.
Members of the community have taken to social media to criticise the act, which many have described as blackface and racist.
“White gay performers stolen everything else from black women, now they wanna steal their face,” tweeted one person.
“I can’t believe ‘blackface is not ok’ is still a thing we have to say in 2017,” wrote another.
Durham Pride drew further ire by claiming on Twitter that an unspecified “anti-racist charity” declared the performance was not blackface.
https://twitter.com/kelsiedarko/status/868809606826532864
https://twitter.com/_rosiereynolds/status/868425014445568000
As @Durham_Pride are being slow to answer. Who knows the "anti racist" charity that is telling ppl a white woman in blackface is okay? pic.twitter.com/cBtfyxFRAJ
— Chardine Taylor Stone (@ChardineTaylor) May 26, 2017
Amid the controversy, the act was finally dropped from the festival lineup, but not before Durham Pride reportedly blocked social media users who had complained about it.
I've been blocked by Durham Pride for challenging their booking of an act performing in Black face. #racism #rainbowracism pic.twitter.com/yO63iZE72R
— Chardine Taylor Stone (@ChardineTaylor) May 26, 2017
Seems @Durham_Pride booked a blackface Beyoncé act, pretended an anti-racism charity OKed it and are now blocking everyone who questions it
— $hy Charle$ (@shy_charles) May 27, 2017
