RuPaul addresses anti-drag protests and attacks: 'I pray for our country'
As the nation's drag performers face an unprecedented wave of protests and threats directed against their events, drag icon RuPaul Charles addressed the
As the nation's drag performers face an unprecedented wave of protests and threats directed against their events, drag icon RuPaul Charles addressed the incidents for what appears to be the first time publicly Friday.
"It's such a tragedy how our country has become so divided, and it really breaks my heart," RuPaul, who uses only his first name professionally and is commonly referred to as the "queen of drag," said in an interview with NBC's "TODAY" show co-hosts Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager. "I pray for our country, and the world really, and I still believe in the power of love."
He added, "What I say to everyone is: Don't lose faith in the power of love."
There have been at least 124 protests and significant threats aimed at drag events in 47 states so far this year, a report released in November by LGBTQ media advocacy group GLAAD found.
Notably, a doughnut shop in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was vandalized and firebombed by a Molotov cocktail in two separate incidents after it hosted a drag event in October, according to KFOR and KJRH, NBC affiliates in Oklahoma.
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