THE performer at the centre of a row surrounding a drag queen story time event in Dundee has called on Nicola Sturgeon to meet with her to discuss the safety of LGBT+ people at work.
A Drag Queen Storytime event – which involves a drag queen reading books to children – was set to be held at the Dundee Contemporary Arts centre (DCA) on December 3.
However, the event was cancelled at short notice after “hateful and intimidatory behaviour” online led the performer to believe that it would be inappropriate for the event to take place.
There were also concerns that protesters would gather outside of the venue.
Backlash to the event was centred around concerns that it was unsafe for children because the performer was a drag queen.
Miss Peaches, the 23-year-old performer from Dundee who was scheduled to read to children at the event, has been performing across Scotland for more than six years.
She told The National that it was not concern over her own safety that caused her to cancel the event.
She said: “I did feel that there was a possibility that my safety could be at risk because the venue had received a lot of really nasty e-mails and comments.
“The venue themselves also suggested to me that I use another entrance. But that’s not why I cancelled.
“The reason I cancelled was that if there was a group of strangers outside of a venue that has a kids event on, I didn’t personally think that it was appropriate. I didn’t think that was a suitable environment for children.
“I didn’t think it was nice for kids to be confronted with that.”
She added that since the cancellation she had been taking more precautions in an attempt to preserve her own safety.
“The allegations against me, and the words they’ve used, are that I’m a ‘nonce’, a paedophile, a pervert,” she said.
“I’m a healthcare assistant in my day job. I’m more than qualified to be around children. But these are serious allegations that could impact my life and my safety.
“On the way to my first show after cancelling the event I did purposefully make sure that I travelled to the venue looking more inconspicuous.
“There have been hundreds upon hundreds of comments online from people all around Scotland. I didn’t know if I was going to bump into any of these people so I made sure to protect myself as best I can.”
Miss Peaches, who is a transgender woman, added that the conversation in Scotland around gender recognition reform and similar protests against drag queens in America had contributed to the hostility towards performers and LGBT+ people more generally.
She said: “A large proportion of the people making comments about me online went deliberately out of their way to misgender me.
“The same weekend that all this was happening there was a drag queen story time event in Colorado, in America, where neo-Nazis turned up with guns.
“It all just speaks to the fact that it feels unsafe for LGBT+ people right now.”
Miss Peaches is calling on Nicola Sturgeon to meet with her to discuss how incidents like this can be avoided in the future.
She wants the Scottish Government to get involved in vetting events so that both performers and parents can be assured of their safety.
“I’d like to see these events approved by a government body who can do a background check and assure people that these events are suitable and safe for children.
“If that’s done then the people who were protesting me at the weekend should not have anything to shout about because the government has said that it’s safe.
“And if they still do shout about it then we’ll know definitively that it’s not about safety. It’s just bigotry.”
Police Scotland said that after investigating the threats made towards Miss Peaches and the DCA that they were satisfied no criminality had taken place.
The First Minister has been contacted for comment
