Pitts: Anger against drag shows, like in Moore County, is recent, but drag has long roots

Lauren Mathers was asked Monday why she thinks drag shows have become a target for some people and organizations.

Mathers, who is executive director of Sandhills Pride, said she gets asked that question a lot.

More:'It was a beautiful moment': Moore County drag show goes on despite power outages

“I’ve wracked my brain for an answer,” she says. “My first answer is honestly, I do not know. Clearly, it’s become a huge thing in the last year or so, and I think there are people who just really have to hate on the LGBTQ community, and they pick different paths.

“And this year’s path, this year’s brand, or this year’s flavor of the month — whatever you want to call it — is drag shows.”

On Saturday, Sandhills Pride and the Sunrise Theater in Southern Pines played host to “Downtown Divas,” a drag show event held at the theater, which is located downtown.

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During the day, picketers showed up to protest the show, although they were outnumbered by supporters. In the run-up to the show, organizers say they received death threats.

Saturday night, someone shot up at least two power substations in what law officers call targeted attacks. Authorities have not drawn a link between the attacks and the drag show.

Duke Energy reported that tens of thousands of Moore County residents are without power. County schools closed on Monday and Tuesday.

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No arrests have been made in the attacks; the FBI, the State Bureau of Investigation and local law enforcement are investigating.

Many in the LGBTQ community in Moore County and on social media believe the goal of the attacks was to disrupt or stop the Downtown Divas show, which had already sustained organized opposition and death threats.

Mathers says the drag show, which is a fundraiser for Sandhills Pride, is not its first.

“Why this one got all the attention and not the three previous ones we did outside in a square in the middle of town? I do not know," she says.

Drag shows have a history

Despite drawing some anger and opposition, drag performances, where the entertainers cross-dress, sing, act, dance and perform comedy, remain popular.

A Holiday Drag Brunch themed, “Twas the Queens Before Christmas,” is scheduled for Dec. 17 and 18 at Dirtbag Ales in Hope Mills. The venue also hosts a monthly Carolina Drag Brunch.

Owner Tito Simmons-Valenzuela said the show was still scheduled but did not care to comment further.

Mathers believes the people most angry about drag shows “have never in fact actually been to a drag show.”

“They have no idea what it actually is. But it’s the most beautiful form of entertainment.”

She attended the Saturday night show, hosted by popular Durham queen Naomi Dix: “If you had been in the room even for the 40 minutes we were able to perform, there was only joy, and happiness, and glee … and a lot of glitter.”

She said the audiences tend to be split 50-50 between LGBTQ and straight people.

Mathers said that drag shows, in addition to being fun, are part of the cultural history of the LGBTQ community.

She points out that performing in drag is far from new and goes all the way back to the Elizabethan era when men dressed as women for female roles because women were barred from the stage. The origins of the word drag, used in this sense, is still unclear.

But Mathers says some believe it refers to how the actors’ robes would drag the floor. Another theory is that in the stage notes, the letters in “drag” refer to “dressed as a girl.”

She says early 20th century New York City, drag and ballroom culture provided safe spaces for LGBTQ people, especially in the Black and Latino communities.

She says: “For us, it was a place — the drag shows, the balls, the pageants, the drag houses, especially with a mother and all of that, became home.

“When we do drag, we are honoring our people who came before us — our folks who suffered, our folks who rose above.”

Drag story hours draw opposition

Across the nation, and in North Carolina, some of the anger at drag performances has centered around drag queen story hours.

The official events were started by Michelle Tea, an author and activist in San Francisco. Tea, who describes herself as queer, had a newborn son and “frequently attended library story hours, but said they were ‘really straight’ and did not properly include her queer family,” according to a writeup in The Daily Signal, a conservative publication.

The article quoted an interview she gave in 2018: “There is just a sort of flair with which queers do anything. It’s just a certain sense of humor, a sense of the fantastic.”

The story hours were meant to celebrate reading and inclusion.

The concept spread, especially to libraries, and drew protests and opposition from people and organizations who believed they were vehicles to corrupt children. Among those protesting were groups associated with the far right, including the Proud Boys, which has disrupted events in several locations, including in San Francisco, Cleveland, Manhattan and Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Violent threats led Apex officials earlier this year to pull a popular story hour from its official Pride Festival schedule.

In Fayetteville, a group of Proud Boys, most wearing their yellow-and-black gear and masks, showed up at a story hour held in Festival Park at Fayetteville’s PRIDE Festival this past June. No incidents were reported in that case.

But one PRIDE organizer said afterward: “It’s crazy that we had to get armed security to read a book,” he said.

LGBTQ group: We are 'not going away'

As for drag shows like Downtown Divas, Mathers is as committed as ever that the show must go on.

She said she has received an outpouring of love and support since the events of this weekend.

“I am getting so many emails, messages, Facebook posts — donations which we are so grateful for,” she says, “appreciation for what we do."

She added that Sandhills Pride is “not going anywhere.” She said the nonprofit has programs for youth; parents of LGBTQ youth; transgender and nonbinary people. They partner with local businesses to do trivia nights, wine nights and nature walks.

“So, none of that is going away,” she says. “Nothing is changing. We will be here tomorrow. We will be here next week. We will be here next year. We will be here next century, although I honestly hope by then we’re not needed.”

Myron B. Pitts can be reached at mpitts@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3559.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Anger vs. drag shows, like in Moore Co., is recent, but drag has long roots