No Pride for Facebook! Drag Queens Prepare to Protest at Facebook Once Again

After 8 months, Facebook still hasn’t listened to cries from the drag and LGBT communities, and many other communities around the world, that their ‘Real Name’ Policy isn’t working.

sister roma san francisco drag queen
Sister Roma – Image Credit: Jose A. Guzman Colon

Last year, in order to avoid a protest by drag queens and their supporters, Facebook agreed to meet with San Francisco drag queen Sister Roma and an intimate group of her supporters about their malicious ‘Real Name’ Policy. Eventually, Facebook released an apology. Now, Sister Roma has called it a “false apology” and another protest has been scheduled to take place at the Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto, California on June 1st.

In a statement released on her Facebook page, Sister Roma stated the following:

[quote]Starting today I will no longer act as a conduit between Facebook users and their customer service team. I will no longer assist users in getting their names back. That’s not my job. That’s Facebook’s job.
I feel like a fool. I was duped by Facebook’s false apology and placated by false promises to allow users on Facebook to identify authentically without threat of prosecution.

“I played directly into Facebook’s hand by agreeing to funnel emails from friends and members of disenfranchised Facebook communities who were maliciously targeted, reported and suspended because of their Identity and not their behavior. By helping thousands of users get their profiles back I have inadvertently silenced the maddening cries of those who were bullied by the unfair “Real Names” policy. Now that many users are back to their authentic identity and using the site as they were before, it seems that they’ve forgotten the dismay and frustration they felt when they had no access to all of their friends, their photos, and their memories.

“For these reasons the ?#?MyNameIs? team has started an online petition and sent letters to the San Francisco and New York Pride Board of Directors asking that Facebook be prohibited from being involved in all Pride events and the Pride Parade.

“Whether they agree or not, I hope Facebook realizes what PRIDE means to me and my community. It means overcoming oppression, freedom of expression, accepting yourself and each other for who we truly are and love. Maybe one day Facebook can be truly proud of how they are embracing our community.”[/quote]

Sign the online petition to prevent Facebook from attending SF and NY Pride Parades this year >

Keep checking back right here on Dragaholic.com as we keep you updated on the day-to-day progress of this cause.

The ball is now in Facebook’s hands, so let’s see what they do with it…

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