Last week, LGBT artist Brandon Hilton shared a disturbing image of a 9-year-old boy dressed up in drag holding a balloon with a supposedly empowering image that verged on child abuse. Some users attempted to report the image to Twitter, but the social media platform gave no response.
“9 year old drag superstar Lactatia at [Ru Paul’s Drag Convention] with a message for her haters!!” Hilton tweeted.
The boy, whose real name is Nemis, gained widespread notoriety following a video put out by Elle magazine last August.
“I’ve been wearing my sister’s tutu since I was like threes and fours, even like twos, and I’ve been dancing around in my little pink dresses and stuff, so yeah I think I’ve had Lactatia inside me since I was born, that’s why I love that song ‘Born This Way,'” Nemis said in the video.
The sexualization of a young boy has struck many the wrong way, and critics have blasted Elle for pushing this “drag queen.”
Hilton intended the message to be a powerful response from the “drag queen Lactatia,” but it came across as anything but. The 9-year-old boy held a balloon with the crude statement, “eat a d*ck.”
Various users responded by denouncing the photo as “grotesque.”
grotesque
— Idgy (@ThreadgoodIdgy) May 22, 2018
One responded by posting an image of a police station, suggesting that the cops should get involved.
— Inma🥀 (@womensblood) May 22, 2018
“This is child abuse and contributes to the normalisation of pedophilia. Shame on you,” one user tweeted.
https://twitter.com/Dyketagnan/status/998845121402580993
Others directly said Hilton should be in jail. “Promotes paedophilia. You and everyone else backing this exploitation should be in jail. Leave kids alone,” one user tweeted.
https://twitter.com/XXnowalways/status/998743633175236609
“This is child abuse. A sane society would’ve removed this child from custody of his ‘parents’ long ago,” Jake Porter tweeted.
This is child abuse. A sane society would've removed this child from custody of his "parents" long ago.
— Jake Porter (@jakeaporter) May 23, 2018
Some announced that they had “reported” the image to Twitter. “Appalling child exploitation! Reported,” one said.
https://twitter.com/JulieJGoldsmith/status/999209253205348352
Others tagged Twitter Support in their tweets.
@TwitterSupport Improper post?
— John Young (@YoungJyoung6350) May 23, 2018
“@Twitter Support, GROSS, children should NOT be filled with hate and over sexualized…..THAT’S what planned parenthood has done,” a jewelry maker tweeted.
https://twitter.com/PunkTeegee/status/999291281254821894
Self-described “left leaning” user Gary Bickmore tweeted, “Twitter needs to remove this, no way of reporting it properly.”
@Twitter needs to remove this, no way of reporting it properly.
— G4C #WeNeedChange AKA Gary (@AVF_Scooby2000) May 23, 2018
“Hi [Twitter Support], pedophiles are openly grooming children and posting about it online, yet you give them blue checkmarks? Is this twitter endorsed?” asked a user named Reginald Harper.
https://twitter.com/harperreginald1/status/999115414390091781
“This has to be a hate crime [Twitter Support]. I’ve seen others removed for much less hate,” a user named Sonny Daze tweeted.
This has to be a hate crime @TwitterSupport. I've seen others removed for much less hate.
— Overcast Daze (@natecancook) May 23, 2018
Twitter has not publicly responded to any of these complaints, and the tweet remains up, with no warning or disclaimer. This seems particularly egregious, given the film “Show Dogs” has been removed from some theaters over concerns that it promotes pedophilia.
“Show Dogs” merely included a very disturbing sequence involving the main dog needing to allow inspectors to fondle his genitals. The image of “Lactatia” is far worse.
To see the full disturbing image, click “Load More.”
https://twitter.com/BRANDONHILTON/status/996503040386531328
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