A drag queen who recently appeared on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK said they were involved in a ‘homophobic attack’ on a train from London to Manchester over the weekend.
Elektra Fence, who appeared on season three of the BBC Three reality TV show, said she was subjected to an attack by ‘a group of nine people’ on an Avanti West Coast train from London Euston to Manchester Piccadilly on Sunday (April 24). Tweeting about the incident, Elektra said the incident happened as they passed the group of five men and four women as they went to buy a cup of tea on board.
The queen, from Burnley, tweeted: “One of the men jumped out at me, making me scream and the group went on to call me various homophobic slurs as I passed. I ignored them and moved on as I was alone.
READ MORE: Landladies nicknamed 'Kray twins' at trouble-hit pub
“On my way back to my seat one of the men grabbed me and I was pushed on top of him, at which point he pulled open my jacket. Other members of the group then began putting their hands on me. It was incredibly aggressive and frightening and I felt totally helpless."
Elektra, real name Julian Riley, said she used a self-defence move to get out of the man's grip, before the group continued to shout homophobic slurs at her. The incident was reported to police and the on-board train manager, identified as Lee. However, it was reported that police officers did not arrive in time to investigate when the group got off the train at Crewe station.
Speaking to the M.E.N today (April 27), Elektra said she was still upset about the incident but wanted to express that she is determined to remain ‘strong and resilient’ despite what happened. “I haven’t felt like this since I was at school,” Elektra explained.
“I keep having moments where I get a bit scared or emotional just thinking about it, but what annoys me the most is how these people felt they had the right to do that to someone. I’ve been through worse but that still doesn’t diminish what happened.
“The thing that scared me the most was when their hands were on me, and my jacket was opened. I had no clue what they were going to do. I was only able to get out of it because of a self-defence move I learnt on TikTok. Imagine if they’d done this to someone who was already really struggling with being LGBTQI+ and this was the thing that tipped them over the edge.
“I was so surprised that these were young people doing this - like they looked to me like they could be my friends or the people I’d hang out and enjoy a glass of wine with. That just blew my mind.”
Elektra said she was wearing a pink tartan ‘Cheshire Cat-style’ jumper, alongside jeans and a pair of Converse at the time of the incident. Immediately after, she said she felt she wanted to change her outfit to ‘blend in’.
She explained: “I was ready to go into my suitcase and change my outfit completely, but then I thought to myself ‘Why? Why am I doing this?’. I shouldn’t have to do that for anyone and I feel like it would also be me essentially sticking two fingers up to those who have fought so hard for our rights over the years.”
Since the incident, Elektra said she has been ‘inundated’ with messages of support from her followers and even her fellow Drag Race sisters. Michelle Visage, Lisa Scott-Lee and Russell Tovey are also amongst those to reach out to her.
“I’ve never felt so much love in my life,” she says. “People are ringing me and reaching out to me to check if I’m okay. I’m overwhelmed with the support I’ve received. We’ve surrounded this bad thing that’s happened with love. I was emotional about what happened, but now I’m emotional about the love and support I’ve received.
“I also cannot thank Avanti and Lee enough for what they’ve done to help. He told me the same group had been using racist slurs earlier and had refused to pay for their ticket. They shouldn’t have to endure that. But Lee made sure to let me know they’d got off the train, which was such a relief to me as I was scared that they would follow me and beat me up.”
Tweeting Elektra earlier today, Avanti West Coast added: “We are really sorry to hear that this happened onboard one of our trains, Elektra. No one should have to experience that. Really glad to hear our TM Lee was there to support you.”
Elektra said she has been told by Avanti they are looking into the matter and will be involving the police. She added: ““The reason I want to talk about this and make a deal out of it is because this shouldn’t happen in this day and age. It’s absolutely crazy that this still happens.
“People say that ‘Oh, you don’t need Pride anymore’ but this shows why we have Pride and why it’s still needed. We can’t let this happen, this is not okay. I’m not allowing this to happen to anyone else.
“I’m not going to pretend that I haven’t cried about it. I’ve been really upset over what happened but I want to remain strong and show that this can’t happen. There’s millions of homophobic and transphobic people still out there and I don't want this to be a witch hunt on those who did this to me, but we just need to remind everyone that this isn’t okay. This cannot happen."
Elektra Fence will next be appearing at the Pride of Manchester awards on May 10.
