Galaei presents “Drag is NOT a crime” MAY THE FORCE BE TRANS – Philadelphia rally and march where drag and performance artist communities show up and show that we are here, we are everywhere, and we are not going anywhere.

For the past few years, there has been an increase of public shaming against family-oriented drag shows, all age drag events, and public drag events in general citing blatant queer and transphobia, furthering the targeting of our most vulnerable and marginalized communities. This has caused an increase of hate messaging, public doxing by alt-right bloggers, bullying by online communities, and a rapid increase of violence against queer people from 2021-2022 (LGBT people nine times more likely than non-LGBT people to be victims of violent hate crimes – Williams Institute (ucla.edu).

All of this has led to the recent legislation against drag performers including the bill that passed in Tennessee in 2023 “restricts adult cabaret performances” in public or in the presence of children and bans them from occurring within 1,000 feet of schools, public parks, or places of worship.

This was passed alongside separate legislation that bans transgender minors in Tennessee from receiving gender-affirming care like puberty blockers, hormones, and surgery.” (The anti-drag bill passed in Tennessee is straight from history’s playbooks: NPR)

We are all aware that these attacks and harmful legislation being proposed and enacted across the country is an attack on the work and progress queer and trans people (especially qtpoc) have been doing for the past decade for increased visibility, education, actions, and beyond.

They seek to set us back and are having a catastrophic impact on an already marginalized community.

Hate crimes have increased, suicide among youth has increased, as a result of the oppressive environment that is being cultivated by these pieces of legislation and these bad actors.

There has also been an increase of anti-trans messaging among the LGB communities, causing our own community members to turn their backs against the many powerful leaders that have been in the front of lgbtq liberation movements, actions and work to protect ALL of us historically.

We are being forced out and pushed back into the closet, and we cannot let this happen. It is time to stand up and stand out against the injustices happening across the country.

We need to show the world that we have the backs of our many drag siblings being affected by these pieces of legislation being proposed and passed.

We need to demand protection and for our voices to be heard so that our beloved youth can be protected against the blatant violence we’ve experienced in our lifetimes.

We need to once again, show up for the trans community, especially black and brown trans women that continue to experience the most violence to this day.

Everyone of all gender expressions, are welcome to come in your finest regalia to prove that we are not perverts. We are not demons. We are not predators.

We are pioneers of entertainment, the face of LGBTQ movements and also simply human beings trying to do what we love, which is to entertain and inspire.

We will need all hands-on deck. We need people that ever supported a drag performer to have our backs and not stand down. Silence is not the answer, and action is the solution.

Last year, we had over 100 drag queens, burlesque performers, and we marched peacefully with pride and joy. Let’s triple it this year.

We will start with a rally with speeches, give a big fierce march across the gayborhood, and the biggest public drag show anyone will ever see!

We will speak, perform, march, and give the biggest show of them all!