The way these parents protected their kids attending a drag show from fascist protestors is a work of art
Parasel-armed parents protect children attending a drag show from protesters (Facebook/Charles Rozanski)
Armed with rainbow-panelled umbrellas, parents faced anti-LGBT+, fascist protestors head on at an all-ages drag show in Colorado, US.
Mile High Comics hosted a show on 25 August that pulled the attention of Proud Boys, a neo-facist organisation that admits only men as members and promotes political violence.
Store owner Charles Rozanski started the monthly drag show called Drag For All Ages to raise money for the White Rose Scholarship fund.
The fund is a program of the Imperial Court of the Rocky Mountain Empire that awards non-discriminatory scholarships.
A flyer for the Drag For All Ages show (Mile High Comics/Facebook)
Rozanski wrote in a Facebook post how the latest benefit attracted “30+ vitriolic protesters who screamed at the top of their lungs that our allowing our young people to perform in a Ffmily-friendly drag show constituted child abuse”.
He added: “Among the protestors this month were five or six helmeted individuals carrying shields who purported to be ‘Proud Boys’.
“Their militaristic attire, and the masks and hoods of several other protestors, absolutely appeared to be threatening.”
Yet, protesters were in no way prepared for the ‘parasol patrol’ that greeted them.
“Over 75 brave parents and other supporters showed up bearing colourful umbrellas,” Rozanski wrote, “which they used to shield our visitors and performers from the noise and view of our protestors.
“As a result, everything was fine, except for a little added noise in our parking lot.”
Although, in the store’s newsletter, Rozanski said that he had hired “two off-duty Denver police officers” for the event, “but that seemed inadequate, to say the least”.
“We will never, ever, capitulate to hate.”
The comic book store’s last drag show saw more than 300 parents and children attend, organisers said in a Facebook post.
But the store is no stranger to protest. “Given the protests that we encounter each month at our family-friendly all-ages drag shows, people frequently ask me if we are going to continue,” read one Facebook post ahead of the show.
“Absolutely! You only need to look at the expressions of joy on the faces of our youth performers at our first five events to understand why we will never, ever, capitulate to hate.”
Fascist protestors Proud Boys have a winding and exhaustive history with violence, explicitly white supremacist rallies and potent homophobia.
Earlier this year, two Proud Boys members faced charges for an alleged homophobic assault that saw their pair physically assault a gay man and called him a “f****t”.
Moreover, last October, Proud Boys members were filmed attacking people and shouting homophobic slurs in New York City.
