Police investigate threats against drag show in Fresno. ‘We will not allow hate to win’
Fresno police will be on hand during a family-friendly drag show at a Fresno church on Saturday after event organizers received anonymous threats online and in phone messages.
Fresno police Lt. Bill Dooley told The Bee on Friday a criminal investigation was under way.
This year’s fourth annual Fresno Drag Festival is scheduled for Saturday at Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church, featuring drag performers Vander Van Odd and Melissa Befierce. The event also will feature local drag performers and a runway show competition.
The event is promoted as an all-ages, family-friendly event, which Fresno City Councilmember Garry Bredefeld and at least one anonymous social media user took issue with.
A social media user and email address using a screen name including “patriot” threatened to show up and protest the event, saying attendees were “in for an unwelcoming crowd” and using transphobic slurs. The social media user wanted the event changed to only allow participants age 18 and older, saying drag shows are “NOT family friendly.”
“The Proud Boys along with an assortment of others will be in Fresno to say NO to #ChildGrooming,” the user said in another tweet.
Bredefeld on Thursday took to social media as well to express his opposition to the event.
“The evil efforts to sexualize our children continues through what they refer to as ‘Family Friendly’ Drag shows,” Bredefeld wrote in a Facebook post. “First, it was done at the Fresno zoo (sic) on June 24th, where children could ‘meet and greet with the queens after the show.’ Now it’s a church!”
Bredefeld described drag queens as “men dressed provocatively as women” and said children should not be exposed to such sexual situations, “whether they be drag queens or female strippers.”
Bredefeld also called for children to be protected from “inappropriate sexualized reading materials in schools, ‘gender-affirming surgeries,’ puberty blockers, and now drag shows sponsored by a show.”
City Councilmember-elect Annalisa Perea issued a statement saying she was in touch with Police Chief Paco Balderrama about the situation. Balderrama assured Perea that his department was developing a safety plan for the event.
“I have zero tolerance for those that inflict any level of harm upon any segment of our community and have full confidence that our police department will execute their duties and responsibility to protect those in attendance accordingly,” Perea said.
Event founder responds
The event founder, Isabella Ramos, acknowledged the situation and issued her own statement, which was shared in a Facebook post.
“I understand there has been a lot of commotion and fear mongering lately from hateful organizations as seen on social media recently. There has been a lot of misinformation on what Fresno’s Drag Festival is really about,” Ramos wrote.
Ramos created Fresno’s Drag Festival four years ago to help LGBTQ youth feel safe. Her daughter is part of the LGBTQ community, and Ramos said she recognized the lack of resources for entertainment for LGBTQ young people living in the Central Valley.
“I would always hear from her and her friends, ‘I wish I could go to this drag performance, but it’s at a nightclub, and it’s 21 and up,’” Ramos wrote in the statement. “I wanted to provide another outlet of drag entertainment that was family friendly, considering that I’m sure my child wasn’t the only one who felt this way.”
Ramos also called out the bigotry targeting local LGBTQ organizations and events.
“We will not allow hate to win where there is love. It is unfortunate that we’ve received threats against our safety and hateful remarks describing the event as ‘evil,’” Ramos wrote. “I challenge these individuals to truly reflect on how their actions do not coincide with their religious premise of ‘upholding family values’ and ‘protecting children.’ After all, didn’t Jesus show love and acceptance?”
Homophobic, transphobic attacks in Fresno
LGBTQ communities nationwide are on edge in the wake of a Colorado mass shooting at a gay nightclub that left five dead and 17 wounded.
Locally, an onslaught of reports of homophobic attacks — virtual, verbal and physical — plagued Fresno’s LGBTQ community in the last few years.
The LGBTQ community fought hard to change Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer’s mind about raising the Pride Flat at City Hall for the first time in 2021. One year later, local pastors vocally opposed the raising of the Pride Flag at City Hall. They also voiced outrage over a Fresno Chaffee Zoo event featuring drag queens.
There also was a local church’s losing fight to buy the iconic Tower Theatre, the anchor of Fresno’s most queer-friendly neighborhood, which attracted the support of right-wing hate groups such as the Proud Boys.
In October, Fresno police investigated a possible hate crime in the Tower District after an LGBTQ couple was assaulted after being targeted with verbal slurs.
This story was originally published December 9, 2022 at 4:31 PM.