The rights of LGBTQ residents have become increasingly contested in US states.
Around 500 bills have been presented this year alone – while threats and violence have increased.
– I pay four times as much for my own safety now, says D’Arcy Drollinger, America’s first drag ambassador.
Earlier this year, the US Department of Homeland Security stated that threats of violence against LGBTQ people in the US had increased and become increasingly serious over the past year.
The report came at the same time as the rights of LGBTQ people have become increasingly contested in several Republican-controlled states.
In Florida, for example, the attention-seeking law that stops teachers from teaching about sexual orientation and identity was expanded earlier this year.
After the political development, the LGBTQ movement has mobilized more and more.
In San Francisco, the city has established a new position as “Drag Laureate”, a kind of ambassador for the city’s drag scene and LGBTQ residents.
D’Arcy Drollinger received the assignment earlier this year and says it couldn’t have come at a better time.
– I think it is very important that this happened now, because it sends a message to the rest of the world and this country that drag artists are not something to be afraid of. And that we can make a difference instead, she says just before a performance of “Sex and The City” at a nightclub in San Francisco.
Safety in focus
D’Arcy Drollinger clarifies that the situation in San Francisco is far from as alarming as in other American cities – or other countries – but that she too has noticed a clear shift in the United States over the past year. It is mainly about threats of violence and that security has been given a different focus.
– I have to let people go through a metal detector to enter a bar and nightclub that is about celebrating and having a party. Because we have seen throughout the country that people who are not stable listen to this dogma that is not true and then act on it, she says.
Several other US cities have also considered creating a similar position to the one now in place in San Francisco. D’Arcy Drollinger thinks it could make a difference.
– Drag artists are at the fore in many situations when it comes to raising money, caring about the community around us and entertaining. So we are already kind of a spokesperson. And a voice is needed for the whole group, she says.