San Francisco supervisor backs drag queens over Facebook ‘stage name’ bans
A San Francisco supervisor has called on Facebook to meet with drag artists who are protesting the website’s ban on stage names.
The social networking site has a policy of only allowing people to use their “real identities” on the website, and has recently locked the accounts of several drag artists for using their stage names instead.
A petition set up by Seattle drag artist Olivia LaGarce has so far received over 7000 signatures calling for the policy to change.
Openly gay San Francisco supervisor David Campos has now called on the tech giant – which is based near his district – to meet with the drag community.
He said: “I have reached out to Facebook and am working to schedule a meeting at City Hall between Facebook officials and local drag queens as soon as possible.
“Facebook may not be aware that for many members of the LGBT community the ability to self-identify is a matter of health and safety.
“Not allowing drag performers, transgender people and other members of our community to go by their chosen names can result in violence, stalking, violations of privacy and repercussions at work.”
A statement from Facebook said previously: “If people want to use an alternative name on Facebook, they have several different options available to them, including providing an alias under their name on their profile, or creating a Page specifically for that alternative persona.
“As part of our overall standards, we ask that people who use Facebook provide their real name on their profile.”
