Thousands join Easter Sunday Drag March against anti-LGBTQ+ legislation

Participants marched proudly down Santa Monica Boulevard chanting, "Drag is not a crime" and "Drag up, fight back!"

News . Written by Nicole Lee.

A group of protestors march with Drag March sign, on Easter Sunday in Los Angeles, California, thousands of people showed their support for LGBTQ+ people by attending Drag March LA.
Image: Twitter @DigitalLA

On Easter Sunday in Los Angeles, California, thousands of people showed their support for the LGBTQ+ community in an inaugural event called Drag March LA. The demonstration was hosted by LGBTQ+ organisations and allies protesting the overwhelming amount of recent anti-trans legislation in the US.

The drag march rallied in WeHo park on April 9 at 10am with opening remarks from Los Angeles LGBT Center CEO, Joe Hollendonor.

“We have seen over 400 pieces of anti-LGBTQ legislation introduced across the US. We are standing up in resistance to that. We want to do so with joy and resiliency. We want to show that every time our community is attacked, we come back stronger and we always win,” he said.

California Democratic State Senator Scott Wiener also spoke to the crowd, sharing, “If you had said to me that in 2023 we would still have to be arguing about whether we have a right to exist — that they would still be calling us pedophiles and predators and groomers — if you had told me that, I would’ve said,’ there’s no way that in 2023, that’s what would be happening.”

 

After several moving speeches and performances from Ru Paul’s Drag Race alumni Kerri Colby and Honey Davenport, the march began. Participants strode proudly down Santa Monica Boulevard with members of the crowd carrying signs boasting slogans such as, “Drag is not a crime” and “Drag up, fight back!”, and chanting, “When trans rights are under attack, stand up, fight back!”

Kerri Colby, herself a trans woman, told Variety, “Easter Sunday has many meanings to me. It’s been a meaning of me finding my faith. It’s also been an unfortunate time where I’ve been met with a lot of obstacles and a lot of things that have made me feel very uncomfortable to be myself.

‘To take that power back, and [to] show up with my community and say that we deserve to be here is the most important part. And what better day to do that than on Easter Sunday?”

 

Over 2,000 people officially registered for Sunday’s rally in West Hollywood which was organised in response to the wave of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation being proposed across the US.

In the first four months of 2023, over 450 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced in the US attempting to ban trans youth from accessing gender-affirming care, prevent trans girls and women from participating in sports and to eliminate drag events. Last month, a university in Texas attempted to ban a charity drag show organised by The Trevor Project, and Tennessee recently became the first state to legally restrict public drag performances.

Much of this legislation is based on false claims from the Christian Nationalist movement which describes LGBTQ+ people as ‘groomers’ and claims that drag story hours are unsafe for children. These extreme claims have prompted some religious organisations like the All Saints Church to demonstrate their allyship by skipping their Easter Sunday services to join the march and show their support and solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community.

Drag queen Aurora Sexton said, “What we are being made of in the conservative press right now is us being vilified as groomers. We’re just human beings trying to live a happy life and achieve our dreams.”

 

The demonstration also included tributes to San Francisco’s pioneering drag performer, Heklina, who sadly passed away earlier this month at the age of 54.

After the march on Easter Sunday, West Hollywood officials officially demonstrated their support for the community by signing a resolution that promises to ensure the safety of drag performers.

 

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