Drag queen targeted by vile anti-LGBTQ+ protests says ‘extreme right wing Christians’ fuelling hate
Cherrie Ontop during a drag queen story event. (Twitter via Cherrie Ontop)
A drag queen whose story time event was targeted by an anti-LGBTQ+ protest says American conservatives and “extreme right wig Christians” are fuelling hate.
Belfast-based Matt Cavan has been working as drag queen Cherrie Ontop for 11 years, and hosting children’s story time events for the past six.
During that time, aside from one or two minor incidents, he has never faced protesters and abuse – until now.
Cherrie is among a number of UK drag queens whose story time events have come under attack in recent months by angry, anti-LGBTQ+ protestors.
Cavan tells PinkNews he believes his experience, and what’s happened to other drag queens, is directly linked to what’s going on in the US right now.
He says the overturning of Roe v Wade, the Supreme Court ruling that made abortion a federal right, and was overturned in June, “has given rise to the right wing voice, and gave people who wanted women’s rights restricted the belief they had “won”.
“So if they were able to win on something that was so massive – women’s rights in America – why can’t they just start to win and all the things that they don’t particularly like,” he adds.
“In my personal opinion, it’s fascists and it is extreme right wing Christians that this is stemming from, it’s not stemming from other religions and it’s not stemming from the left.”
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In July, one of Cherrie’s Belfast events was targeted by protesters from the UK-based group Parents Against Grooming, which started in 2012 in response to the child grooming scandal in Rochdale.
According to its website, the group believes “all parents have an inherent right to be informed about the dangers their children potentially face in a modern society.”
At the protest they held up banners reading “hands off our children”, which follows similar messaging to other protests that have taken place across the UK.
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Since the protest in July, Cavan has faced an increasing number of violent threats, which forced him to seek police protection.
“People have now come forward to say that they have my address. And I’ve been getting nuisance phone calls which are very sinister in nature,” he admits.
‘Children shouldn’t come into contact with protests’
Cavan has persisted with story times as Cherrie Ontop – but currently only puts on ticketed events.
“We’ve been trying to keep the events as hush as possible, because they are for children and full of joy and love. They are not political. I don’t think that children should have to come into contact with protests,” he explains.
But he’s frustrated at right-wing suggestions that being around LGBTQ+ people and drag queens can influence a child’s sexuality.
“Growing up I was read all of these fairytales about straight princes and princesses and I didn’t turn out to be straight,” he says.
“So people talking about the gay agenda – that is not what these events are about by any stretch of the imagination. We’re not trying to turn people gay, because as gay people, we know that that’s not how it works.”
Explaining the true purpose of these story times he says: “These story times are to show children that there are people in this world that are going to be incredibly different from them and that’s okay.
“Or they might feel incredibly different from what society tells them and that is also okay, and we should celebrate that. It’s not about sexuality or gender.
“I think that society is giving children a place to be able to think for themselves and that is scary for non-liberals because how are they going to control that in later life?”
