My name is Brigitte Bandit. I am a nonbinary person, Texas drag queen, and one of the latest scapegoats for the Republican Party.
In July, I joined my fellow queens, Joey Jay and Jiggly Caliente, to advocate for federal protections for the LGBTQ+ community on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Before the event, I chatted with CNN’s Sara Sidner about our advocacy and the dangerous anti-LGBTQIA+ rhetoric perpetuated by conservative lawmakers and pundits. That interview was met with hateful words and misinformation about drag artists and trans folks from the likes of Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA).
Instead of hearing and listening to my lived experience as a drag artist, I was used as a scapegoat to perpetuate harm and misinformation against my own community. Now more than ever, it is crucial that we fight against this rhetoric and hold our elected officials accountable to protect the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community.
Drag artists are just one of many marginalized groups within the LGBTQIA+ community who have been villainized by conservative lawmakers and pundits across the country. In my home state, they hypocritically claim that drag artists are a threat to children, but refuse to support common sense gun laws, while guns are the leading cause of death for children in the U.S.
This kind of harmful anti-LGBTQIA+ rhetoric has two consequences: it distracts from the real issues that are affecting people, and it does more harm to queer people by making them targets of discrimination and violence.
We must continue to fight back against these attacks on our rights and demand our voices be heard by people we elect to make decisions about our lives and our bodies.
According to the ACLU, there have been more than 500 anti-LGBTQ and anti-trans bills introduced at the state and federal level this year alone. Our rights are under attack at the local, state, and federal level, and it is extremely disheartening to see inaction by our federal lawmakers on protecting the queer community nationally.
This is why we must fight for federal protections for our community through legislation like the Equality Act and the Transgender Bill of Rights, to help shield our community, especially those who are most vulnerable, from discrimination based on their sexual orientation and gender identity.
We must protect trans people, drag artists, and our queer youth from those in power seeking to use us as political pawns, and fight for a future with liberty, justice, and freedom for all.
Folks may feel powerless or unsure of how they can fight back against LGBTQIA+ hatred and advocate for our rights. There are three simple things you can do this year to fight for the LGBTQIA+ community: listen, have conversations in your communities, and vote.
When you are advocating for LGBTQIA+ rights, listen to queer people and lift them up. Learn about their experiences and make sure to center their perspective, leadership, and concerns in your advocacy.
The best antidote for misinformation is education. Have conversations with friends and family about what it means to identify as transgender, what it looks like to be a trans person, what drag is, what is looks like to be a drag artist, and what drag storytimes actually look like, because the rhetoric we see is built upon false information and manipulated content on the internet.
There is a lot of discussion in the media about voting in national elections, but it is just as important that you vote for your state and local officials too. Your state and local officials can also protect or attack your rights too, so make sure they represent your values.
All people deserve to express themselves without judgment or fear of harm, especially from our lawmakers. We also deserve to be seen and celebrated for who we are.
To my young queer friends, you may feel the need to hide, but please know you are so loved and cared for, and there are so many people fighting for you. You have the right to be exactly who you are, and to exist openly. I believe in a future like this for all of us. We will get there together.
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