Pride is a busy time for drag artists — and not always an easy one. Last year, drag king Freddie Hercury said they received a bomb threat on Facebook ahead of a gig in Niagara Falls.
“And I was like, ‘OK, um, well that doesn’t make me feel great,’” Hercury said.
Hercury reached out for help to Qommittee (pronounced “committee”) — a network of drag performers and allies who aim to help people in just these situations.
“They were immediately responsive,” Hercury said. “And really just walked me through the process of how I wanted to handle it.”
Hercury reported the threat to the FBI. The gig went ahead with no incident, Hercury said.
Qommittee has dispensed a lot of security advice to drag artists over the past year since their founding in 2024, and has now, with help from lawyers and other experts, distilled it into the Drag Defense Handbook.
“This handbook is a collaborative collection of experiences from drag artists across the country who have experienced hatred or threat — and what they’ve done to stand up and make these safe spaces,” said Veranda L’Ni, a drag queen based in Cleveland, who was part of the team that helped put the handbook together.
Divided into seven sections — crisis response, online harassment and digital security, violent threat response, First Amendment protections, protections against defamation, employment discrimination, and mental health resources — the handbook contains best practices for dealing with everything from online doxing to bomb attacks.
L’Ni herself has been a target: a man from a neo-Nazi group threw a Molotov cocktail into a church to prevent her from leading a Drag Queen Story Hour in 2023. No one was hurt. The culprit, who admitted to wanting to “protect children” with his actions, was arrested and sentenced to 18 years in prison.
“There are steps to be had,” L’Ni said. “Things like making sure that you screen capture everything, making sure everything is documented, making sure you have security around you and knowing your First Amendment protections.”
The organizers of the handbook tried to incorporate feedback from artists who read drafts of the document and were worried that these earlier versions didn’t do enough to acknowledge that some drag performers aren’t comfortable with going to the authorities in a crisis, among other criticisms.
“If you are a sex worker, if you are undocumented, if you have a criminal record, it’s not going to be that easy to work with police or the court system,” said Julian Sanchez, a drag king and activist in Long Beach, Calif. “You’re going be targeted, potentially, and then abused within the system.”
Based on feedback, the published version of the handbook includes “A Note On Law Enforcement,” which addresses police violence against marginalized communities. And Sanchez ended up contributing a section titled “Alternatives to Law Enforcement.” It lists solutions like community violence intervention programs and provides a Qommittee email address for people who would like help with finding options beyond the standard authorities.
Qommittee is also planning to issue an updated handbook next year that’s more focused on community organizing efforts in response to threats.
The release of the handbook comes at a difficult moment for drag artists.
The Trump Administration has issued several anti-LGBTQ executive orders since taking office in January; 588 anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced around the country in the 2025 legislative session so far, with 57 passed, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. In 2020, for context, there were about 120 such bills introduced. Three were passed.
Much of this new legislation targets transgender and gender-nonconforming people, restricting trans students’ restroom rights in schools, for example, and curtailing gender-affirming healthcare.
Attacks against trans people are also on the rise: more than half of the 932 anti-LGBTQ incidents tracked this past year by the advocacy nonprofit GLAAD were aimed at transgender and gender-nonconforming people — a 14% increase over last year.
But attacks specifically targeting drag performers have been in decline over the past year according to GLAAD, which reported 83 incidents between May 1, 2024 and May 1, 2025 — a 55% falloff over the previous year. It’s the first year since 2022 to show a decrease.
GLAAD is also currently tracking 17 anti-drag bills around the country.
GLAAD attributed the falloff in attacks on drag artists in part to the drag community getting smarter about safety and security.
“The threat remains, and handbooks like this recognize that and are working to mitigate it,” said Sarah Moore, GLAAD’s senior manager of news and research. “The drag community knows best what they need and are working together to keep each other informed and safe. Rather than back down, they got creative, standing up to bullies.”
Jennifer Vanasco edited this story for broadcast and web.
Copyright © 2025 NPR
