Actor slams “dragphobic” complaints to tampon advert
The drag queen who featured in a recently-pulled “transphobic” tampon advert has hit back at critics.
Sandee Crack, a stage name, said the transgender people who had complained were “dragphobic”, pointing out that he “never considered” himself trans, “and never will do”.
Libra pulled the tampon ad in question earlier this week. It featured the drag queen in a club bathroom “competing” against a woman in the mirror.
After each adjusts their mascara, lipstick and cleavage, the second woman produces a tampon from her handbag.
Sandee Crack’s character leaves the room, apparently beaten in the competition.
Libra said it regretted any offence caused, but Crack has hit back at the critics.
The Australian performer wrote on his blog: “I feel hurt that representing myself as a drag queen on television and playing out a common place scenario in my life has lead to a clear “dragphobia” among some transgendered individuals who wish to pull the plug on something that reflects true honesty about the life of a drag queen.
“A drag queen is a man in women’s clothing and if that offends a trans woman I am afraid I cannot apologise, as by doing so I am apologising for being me.”
Crack had spoken of his feeling that the ad was “a great opportunity to participate in a positive step towards acceptance for drag queens & gay men among the wider community”.
He added that the tampon manufacturer, Libra, was “sensitive, professional and accepting of my needs”, and did not give him the impression he would be depicted as a trans woman.
In June of last year, Rose White, a 64 trans woman, claimed drag acts promote negative stereotypes about trans people and encourage hatred and called for them to be banned from pride events.
In a letter to event organisers, she wrote: “Drag queens – homosexuals dressed as women – and drag kings, women dressed as men, performing as stereotypical crossdressers promote, foster and reinforce the belief among the audience that any bloke in a frock must be a homosexual.
A petition which was asking for the ad to be pulled said it was “very stereotypical and discriminates on so many levels against transgender woman and women of all kinds”.
