expect resistance

BenDeLaCreme and queer figures speak out against vicious anti-LGBTQ legislation

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Drag queen BenDeLaCreme speaks with MSNBC's Jonathan Capehart on 'The Last Word'.
Screengrab via MSNBC

In a political moment where laws criminalizing drag are being instated and legislative hopefuls are calling to “eradicate” transgender people, it’s as crucial as ever for LGBTQ+ figures to speak up and speak out.

While community mainstays like RuPaul are being critiqued for their inaction on the attacks against gender expression, many more queer figures are making their voices heard.

RuPaul’s Drag Race All Star and entertainer BenDeLaCreme spoke to MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart on The Last Word on Monday night to discuss the legislative challenges facing the LGBTQ+ community.

She also outlined how people can act as allies in the face of this discrimination:

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The kids are alright — but the political climate they’re being subjected to certainly isn’t.

Many conservative attacks on trans people and drag performers at the moment are attempting to separate the nation’s youth from the LGBTQ+ community (a desperately losing battle in a country where an estimated 20% of Gen Z adults are queer, but alas). Many of the anti-drag bills focus on drag performers’ proximity to children, while many anti-trans bills target limiting trans healthcare for minors and education of gender and sexuality in schools.

An example of the latter legislation in Missouri recently got the most embarrassing reading down ever, as the bill’s author was unable to comprehend that she was attempting to outlaw discussing heterosexual relationships in school too.

In BenDeLa’s appearance, she argued that exposure to queer ideas and values was integral to children’s social development.

“There’s a sense and rhetoric that this is somehow harmful to children,” the queen states. “I would argue that seeing drag queens, seeing queer people, people from other walks of life is essential to children.”

She also acknowledges the harm that separating LGBTQ+ visibility from kids can bring, adding, “it’s essential to children who may see themselves in this.”

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LGBTQ+ commentators, politicians, drag queens, and more have been making noise about the most recent anti-queer push. From interviews to public statements to everyday tweets, folks are making their voices heard.

Here’s just a handful of the people in the community speaking up:

They can throw everything at the LGBTQ+ community that they want — and believe us, they are — but the last thing they’ll ever be able to do is silence us.

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