GLASGOW FREE PRIDE PARADE BANS OFFENSIVE DRAG QUEENS, MEANING ALL DRAG QUEENS
Ok, I’m straight. So maybe this isn’t supposed to make any sense to me. I already knew I was confused about gender neutral identities. And let’s not forget the kids that switch gender pronouns repeatedly. I sort of get that. But what about a pride event that bans drag queens from its annual parade? Plus, it’s all in the name of inclusion? Huh. I don’t get it. But that’s what happened with the Free Pride Glasgow parade in Scotland. The parade identifies itself as “non-commercial.” Ok, that’s straightforward. It also thinks of itself as a more open-minded option to other LGBT pride events in Glasgow. But the event’s committee voted to ban drag queens so as not to offend transgender and non-binary people. Confusing, right?
TRANS AND NON-BINARY FOLKS OFFENDED BY DRAG QUEENS IN PARADE
Men dressed as women who excel at amazing performances in parades and pretty much anywhere are not allowed. But again, why? Because, according to the committee, transgender and non-binary folks might be “uncomfortable with having drag performances.” This does not sound like a fabulous decision. No one wearing boas. Or glittery everything. But the committee spoke, and they said their choice was “the needs of the most marginalized groups within our community come first.” So what’s the parade going to feature? Gender nonspecific and gender somewhere in the middle? How does that work? What are those identities, anyway? A style does not come to mind.
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DRAG QUEENS MAKE A JOKE OF GENDER IDENTITY, OR SOMETHING
But evidently, it’s no joking matter to the committee. But they think drag queens make a joke out of gender. No, that’s not a joke. According to their statement, Free Pride Glasgow said, “It was felt that it [drag performance] would make some of those who were transgender or questioning their gender uncomfortable. It was felt by the group within the Trans/Non Binary Caucus that some drag performance, particularly cis drag, hinges on the social view of gender and making it into a joke, however, transgender individuals do not feel as though their gender identity is a joke.”
INCLUSION NOW MEANS EXCLUSION IF YOU’RE A MAN IN A DRESS
But the bitching was sure to come on social media. Many of the banned drag queens did not take it lying down. They think that the committee was going a bit far on its own creating some offensive distinctions that are not at all necessary. But who knows? Other pride organizations have made the same consideration to ban drag queens as being both offensive and marginalizing to and of gender fluidity. But they didn’t ballyhoo the drag queens to still be inclusive. It’s all pretty confusing, no matter how you dress it up.
