A vicious attack occurred in the early hours of Wednesday, November 9, when a group of men reportedly set upon three drag queens in the Spar shop on Dame Street, Dublin.

According to a statement put out on Alexis McQueen’s Instagram account, she was glassed in the head in an unprovoked attack. 

The attack allegedly took place outside what has fondly been dubbed ‘gay Spar’ after two of the queens had finished performing in The George and were on their way home.

Fellow drag queen Anita Hero, who was with the two performers, later posted a story sharing her recollection of the event. She recalls that Alexis had changed her clothing but was still wearing makeup while the other performer was in full drag.

She suggests that two men “took offence” to their appearance and followed them out of the shop shouting slurs. The two men were then joined by friends.

According to her account, the men started throwing bags of glass and tried to attack the other drag queen when Alexis stepped in to protect her.

Anita reports that Alexis received a large cut to the back of her head and an ambulance was called to the scene.

On her Instagram story, Alexis assures followers that she is fine but urges the community to be careful.

This attack is the latest in what appears to be an escalation of anti-LGBTQ+ violence in Dublin and across the country, prompting the community to call for urgent hate crime legislation.

While there is currently no hate crime legislation in place, a new draft Bill has been approved by Cabinet and is being presented to the Dáil later today, with a commitment from government that it will be signed into law before the end of the year.

This new Bill, which will also cover “extreme forms of hate speech”, proposes a number of important changes to the General Scheme of the Bill published in April 2021. Among these is the expansion of the list of protected characteristics, which now includes: race; colour; nationality; religion; national or ethnic origin; descent; gender; sex characteristics; sexual orientation; and disability.

If you have been affected by this story or are looking to reach out to someone for support or advice or just to talk, there are numerous services available for LGBTQ+ people, listed below, and many offer instant messaging support.
Samaritans
LGBT Ireland
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