Racism and homophobia are not camp

Racism and homophobia are not camp

This week most of the drag community was in a storm of glitter, when a not-well-thought-out PR stunt went dreadfully wrong and backfired.

This was to promote an upcoming annual drag event. Last week two young showgirls were transported to Manly to present Celebrity Apprentice entrant Pauline Hanson with $200 for a breast cancer charity her team was raising money for.

The money would go to her charity if she would attend the awards and present Bitch of the Year.

The showgirls had only experienced Pauline Hanson on Dancing with the Stars so when all this hit Facebook and YouTube, they were astonished to find out how much of a glitter storm they had caused. The drag event soon took a step back and claimed they had nothing to do with it, pushing all blame onto the showgirls.

Why is it so bad to have Pauline Hanson at a drag awards ceremony? Surely it’s just drawing mainstream publicity to an event, or isn’t it?

Pauline Hanson’s views on racism and homosexuals are very negative. She claimed she wouldn’t sell her house to an Asian family and she was scared that Australia was being overrun by Muslims. She said same-sex couples should not marry or have access to IVF and that HIV positive people should not have the right to immigrate to Australia.

She has not apologised or taken back any of these crazy views. It’s her opinion, but when her opinion plants a negative seed in many heads, when should you say, “No you’re wrong”?

With a community where many think it’s OK to say, “No GAMs, Asians, Indians, Fats or Fems”, should we stand up and say “No” to internal homophobia and racism? These views are neither camp nor funny and should not be tolerated.

Aren’t we fighting to be equal? Not to be judged on religion, race, sexuality — isn’t that what we hope to ultimately head towards?

The upcoming drag event does not represent or speak for the drag community as a whole. It is an opportunity to get glammed up and hit the town, and that’s how it should stay.

This PR stunt ended in a dreadful mess, and I hope the drag community isn’t left with egg on their faces because of misjudged publicity. By all means donate to a cancer charity, but let’s not hand it to someone who doesn’t consider me to have the same rights as she does.

If I have learnt one thing from working on stage for many years it’s that anything you say in a public arena is yours forever. The only way you can rectify it is by getting back on your soapbox and saying, “Sorry. I was wrong”.

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