Drag artist forced to sell home after intense harassment from right-wingers

Trans drag artist Tara Lipsyncki has revealed that she had to sell her home after being harassed by right-wingers, including anti-trans group Gays Against Groomers.

In an interview with Advocate, Lipsyncki said doxxing and other abuse forced her to sell her childhood in Salt Lake City, Utah, left to her after her mother died.

The drag artist has regularly been targeted for her work, founding the LGBTQ+ resource centre Mosaics, as well as the Intermountain West chapter of Drag Story Hour. In 2023, one of her events faced a bomb threat and another was stormed by armed members of the far-right Proud Boys.

Lipsyncki said the personal abuse and harassment began when the anti-trans group Gays Against Groomers leaked private information, including her address. She contacted the police and the Utah attorney general’s office when things escalated, including suspicious packages arriving, but, she claimed, nothing was done. 

The harassment “led to the home having to be put on the market for the safety of my family” in April this year, after a bomb threat targeted Mosaics.

Lipsyncki’s attorney, Don James Knight Ord III, told the magazine that the drag artist had repeatedly reached out to the police about the harassment campaign, but authorities did not intervene.

“Gays Against Groomers doxxed [Lipsyncki], claiming she was grooming children for sexual interference. Her personal details, email address, social media and private home address were broadcast for retaliation,” he wrote in a letter to the Salt Lake County district attorney in February.

“As a result of the online harassment and death threats, [Lipsyncki] and her husband have had to list their home and move to an undisclosed location.”

Lipsyncki told Advocate that police departments in areas including Riverton, Provo and Midvale had failed to take action.

Chief deputy district attorney Jeffrey William Hall said his office “takes seriously allegations of violence, discrimination and other unlawful activity”, and that if it receives reports from the police about the ongoing incidents, it will “address the matter”.

Lipsyncki has insisted that she’s “not going anywhere”, and is focused on continuing her work at Mosaics, which is at risk of closure because of financial difficulties. “Hand me the resources and I can make it work,” she said.

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