Darius Pierce, better known by his drag name of "Shangela," is a pretty big name in the drag scene, even appearing in Lady Gaga's "A Star Is Born" and being present at the White House signing of the Respect for Marriage Act. Pierce gained recognition as a contestant on "RuPaul's Drag Race."
Now, according to Rolling Stone, Pierce has been accused by five men of sexual assault, either taking it by force or getting them blind drunk first. They were all between 18 and 23 when these events supposedly happened between 2012 and 2018 in Texas, Louisiana, California, and across the pond in the United Kingdom. That does not make what Pierce is accused of any better, but it would be far worse if these were minors.
Pierce adamantly denies the charges, he and his lawyer calling the allegations "false and unsupported by any evidence or reliable witness testimony," and the witnesses' testimonies inconsistent.
Look, I fully believe in innocent until proven guilty and will apply the same measure of justice here. Sexual assault is an extremely serious thing to be accused of, and nobody should make the claim lightly towards anyone (look at Brett Kavanaugh and Donald Trump).
But what brings the whole situation from awful to bizarre is that Rolling Stone described how Pierce's supposed victims "all grappled with the decision to come forward with their allegations," because they were worried about "anti-drag and anti-trans laws across conservative states in the U.S." being vindicated.
"But, they all said, they want Pierce — not the queer community — to bear accountability for the allegations," Rolling Stone continued.
That's great and all, but Pierce's accusers were clearly established to be adults when the supposed assaults took place, at least legally. Nobody was forbidding them from going to a drag show or becoming drag queens themselves (as three of them said they wanted to be).
As distasteful as drag might be, it's still legal to do as a form of entertainment, but it is designed with an adult audience in mind. It's the same reason why we don't let kids in strip clubs.
What conservatives are fighting and making laws against is a disturbing push by some to bring children in on drag shows to watch and even getting them to participate.
In mid-February, PJ Media's resident funnyman, Kevin Downey, Jr., compiled a list of reasons why drag shows and kids don't mix (read: several instances of drag queens who were pedophiles accused and/or convicted of sexually assaulting minors and collecting child sexual abuse material. Never underestimate how good Kevin is at somehow managing to write about depressing topics for being a comedian).
Related: The LGBTs Need to Do Something About Their PEDOs, ASAP
Then in the beginning of March, my friend Catherine Salgado wrote on "Heartland Pride," an LGBTWTFBBQ group out in the Midwest hosting an "all ages" drag show in Omaha, Nebraska, featuring a six-year-old drag queen.
Yes, as I have emphasized before, a six-year-old drag queen.
Then just last week, I found via Libs of TikTok showing an ad by skincare company Aveeno showing a little boy wearing a sparkly tutu and an astronaut jacket.
For Our VIPs: Aveeno Ad Features Toddler Boy in Dress
What Pierce is accused of is despicable, but exposing kids to drag to gain access to them is just plain demonic.
