These Asian Drag Queens Did Not Come To Play (Or Be Tokenized)
drag queens.With their ethnic and artistic communities coming under attack over the past few years, they’ve needed to be bold.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, harassment, verbal abuse and hate speech plagued Asian American communities across the country.
And for the past year, drag performers have faced an unprecedented wave of hate and intimidation because of right-wing protests over “drag queen story hour” events.Drag may be under attack, but the Asian American drag artists who spoke to HuffPost refuse to go underground.
They’ve worked too hard to back down now. “As a first-generation Vietnamese American, I have been conditioned to never show vulnerability and to assimilate to play nice, but we need to remember our voices are strong and we are powerful right now,” said Kanika Peach, a 28-year-old drag artist who lives in New York City.Legislation targeting transgender and other LGBTQ+ rights more than doubled since 2022.
