Drag Queen to CNN: ‘It’s Very Scary for Queer People to Exist in a Time Where We See This Kind of Rhetoric Being Pushed by Our Lawmakers’

SIDNER: “I’m curious for you, first of all, what this day means to you, and second of all, have both Democrats and Republicans agreed to meet with you?”
BANDIT: “Yes, we will be meeting with both Democrats and Republicans. And I‘m really excited to go speak with all of our lawmakers about the attacks that we‘re seeing on our LGBTQ community. It‘s so important to talk about and to discuss protections for our queer community.”
SIDNER: “Can I let you listen to the current sentiment that‘s being shared by former president Donald Trump, who, of course, is running for reelection. Here it is.”

[Clip starts]
Trump: “We’re going to take care of our Capitol. On day one. I will sign a new executive order to cut federal funding of any school pushing Critical Race Theory, transgender insanity, and other inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content onto the lives of our children.”
[Clip ends]

SIDNER: “In those three things, he mentioned what he calls ‘transgender insanity.’ If he‘s voted in as the next president, what will that mean to you?”
BANDIT: “We already see so many attacks on our queer community. I already don’t feel safe in my own hometown just dressed in drag like this. And it‘s very scary for queer people to exist in a time where we see this kind of rhetoric being pushed by our lawmakers and the people who should care about other issues that actually affect the American people, other than attacking our community, our LGBTQIA+ community. It‘s very disappointing and I hope for better for our country.”