James Lindsay, a conservative author in the USA, claims that drag performers are deliberately trying to get themselves murdered so that the gay community can have a person who is a symbol for LGBTIQA+ rights akin to George Floyd being a symbol for the Black Lives Matter movement.

Lindsay outlined his belief at a live event a live event held by conservative group Turning Point USA on December 19th, 2022. The author said drag queens were all about provoking people, and their end goal was to become “Drag Floyd” via unconventional warfare.

“I think this is that unconventional warfare. This is what they do in unconventional warfare. They make these provocations. Drag queens are a provocation. It’s been an escalating provocation. First, they’re just dressing up in kind of somewhat you know, careful dress with their clown makeup, groomer clowns or whatever reading stories. Next thing you know…they’re dancing, they’re grinding, they’re sexual dancing, they’re twerking. The next thing you know, they’re doing simulated sex acts in front of children.” Lindsay said.

“This is an unconventional warfare tactic to provoke. The goal — you guys remember George Floyd; the goal is to have ‘Drag Floyd’. And I’m serious, this is deadly serious.”

The author claimed that public performances of drag and events like Drag Queen Storytime were designed to either make people agree with LGBTIQA+ rights or create situations where people ended up looking bad.

“Either you give into it, and they get to do that, or you go too hard, and you mess up and they make a video of you looking bad, and then they start trying to smear you as an anti-groomer, or as rising anti-LGBT hate.” Lindsay said.

“The goal is to get you to give in, so they get their way or overreact — and that’s where I say, ‘Drag Floyd’, it’s so important to understand that they want a drag queen to get attacked and they want to make a huge amount of hay of it, and they want to create summer 2020 again off of a drag queen or a trans person or something like this.

The comments were reported by US organisation Media Matters. Lindsay has continued to use his ‘Drag Floyd’ descriptor on social media where he’s commented on protests outside Drag Queen Storytime events. He also encourages followers to refer to drag performers as “Groomer Clowns”.

OIP Staff, Image: James Lindsay speaking with attendees at the 2020 Student Action Summit hosted by Turning Point USA at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida. Photo by Gage Skidmore published via a Creative Commons CC BY-SA 2.0 license.

Do you need some support?

If you are struggling with anxiety or depression, support and counselling are available from:

QLife: 1800 184 527 / qlife.org.au (Webchat 3pm – midnight)
QLife are a counselling and referral service for LGBTQIA+ people.

DISCHARGED: info@discharged.org.au / discharged.org.au
Discharged is a trans-led support service with peer support groups for trans and gender diverse folks.

Lifeline: 13 11 14 / lifeline.org.au

Beyondblue: 1300 22 4636 / www.beyondblue.org.au

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