Demonstrators showed up early Sunday to confront right-wing groups threatening to disrupt the drag brunch.
(George Hale, WFIU/WTIU News)
A large crowd gathered Sunday morning to protect performers and audience members at a drag event in downtown Bloomington.
Members of the LGBTQ community and their allies were responding to internet chatter from far-right groups threatening to disrupt the performance.
The sold-out, 2-hour drag brunch at Switchyard brewery went ahead without major disruptions — something organizers attributed to the turnout.
“The showing of support, I think, prevented anyone from even showing their face here,” said Kurtis Cummings, the founder and CEO of Switchyard Brewing Company.
Cummings said the brewery began receiving threatening phone calls and messages a few days before the performance. Social media accounts supporting far-right groups such as the Proud Boys were also threatening to disrupt the brunch.
They took issue with the event’s branding as family-friendly, saying minors shouldn’t be subjected to what they described as adult content.
The B-Town Pride group reported that organizers were working with Bloomington Police Dept. and an Indianapolis terrorism task force ahead of the event.
Bloomington police didn’t immediately respond to inquiries over the weekend.
Decent crowd this a.m. to protect a Bloomington brewery that's hosting a drag brunch. Management reported receiving phone threats, and right-wing groups were urging their followers to disrupt the event. pic.twitter.com/fgktSo377J
On Friday, the Bloomington Young Republicans tweeted that it was “time to fight fire with fire” but later discouraged supporters from protesting the event.
After the event, the Republican group took credit for the “large public backlash” it said Cummings endured as a result of its activism.
But Cummings says the brewery will host more drag events next year.
At Sunday’s event, Cummings and others pointed to the cancellation of a drag event in Ohio last weekend amid threats from the Proud Boys.
The Red Oak Community School’s “Holi-Drag Storytime” event was to have been held at a Unitarian church in Columbus, where the school is based. The Ohio chapter of the Proud Boys announced plans to attend and protest the event.
A school manager said officials canceled the event amid internal disagreement about efforts to secure police protection along with the discomfort with law enforcement felt by a “community defense team” that had volunteered to help provide security.
Our local activism was successful, the business & building owner who hosted a drag show that was "kid-friendly" received a large public backlash for their actions.
We did exactly what we needed to, and hopefully stopped Kurtis Cummings from advancing in his political career.
About 50 to 70 members of the Proud Boys and other groups had gathered on the sidewalk on roads leading to the church, shouting, chanting and holding signs.
About two dozen people showed up in opposition to the protesters despite a coalition of central Ohio LGBTQ organizations urging people not to show up, citing the need to protect against a “potentially volatile and dangerous” situation.