Conservatives Furious As Armed Men Show Up To Protect Artists At Texas Brunch

The two teams faced off against each other on Sunday outside the Anderson Distillery and Grill when an inaugural “Barrel Babes Brunch” event featuring local drag queens was held. At least one conservative group had planned to protest the brunch before Sunday, including Protect Texas Kids, which, according to its website, aims to “take a stand to protect children from the left’s toxic, appeasing agenda.” — supposedly in reference to supporting LGBT+ people. The event, which the restaurant said was fully booked and attended by families, went ahead with a constant police presence despite earlier threats made by alleged far-right members on social media. In fact, conservative protesters appeared surprised by the presence of armed supporters outside the venue, who were masked, dressed mostly in black, and wielding AR-15-style weapons to defend the venue and fans. The video and images also showed them displaying Pride and transgender flags. Footage captured by Steven Monacelli, a Dallas-area journalist, captured the verbal confrontation that unfolded with police, who ordered the conservative protesters to the other side of the street. About half a dozen people were pictured holding placards with slogans such as “Drag the queens out of them”. A man wearing a Texas embroidered T-shirt told Mr Monacelli in the video: “He just spit on me, he just spit on me,” as he pointed to the group patronizing the drag brunch. The freelance reporter replied: “What did you call them earlier when you were talking to them? Didn’t you call them a bunch of chumps?’ The protester responded, “No, I called them p*****s (pointing to the armed drag supporters) … only the ones wielding AR47s,” before explaining that they were at the drag brunch event “to support people who don’t indoctrinate and they don’t groom little eight-year-olds.” A Texas-based LGBT+ journalist later tweeted: “Look at these MAGA guys, they are absolutely amazed that the people who showed up with guns aren’t on their side. They don’t even know how to process it.” While it remains unclear whether the conservative protesters were affiliated with far-right groups, Kelly Neidert, a well-known anti-trans activist and founder of Protect Texas Kids, was singled out by Mr. Monacelli at the protest, which served as the latest example of armed groups disrupting LGBT+ events which include drag queens. Anderson Distillery and Grill thanked everyone who supported its drag brunch and said “love won today” in a statement shared on Facebook after the brunch, adding: “Yes, every table was full before we officially opened. Yes, we reached maximum capacity and had a waiting list to get in. Yes, we ran out of food. Yes, we passed the Texas Office of the Comptroller’s ‘Sex Free’ inspection.” Trisha Delish, one of the drag queens who performed, meanwhile added on Twitter: “Roanoke CAME OUT to support our show!! We have reached capacity and our kitchen is completely sold out of food from our amazing patrons. I can’t stop crying every time I think about how full the audience was.” Although at least one person was seen with a baseball bat with razor wire wrapped around it, Dallas police said no arrests were made after clashes with and among protesters, the Dallas Morning News reported. Earlier this year, far-right groups, including members of the Proud Boys militia, disrupted several drag queen story events at libraries across the US, in acts of intimidation against LGBT+ people and others. Many on the right have falsely accused LGBT+ people of radicalizing kids with insults like “groomer” — a phrase that was even hurled at Disney earlier this year for opposing a Florida law called “Don’t Say Gay” , which critics say has helped fuel conspiracies and attacks against LGBT+ people and their supporters.

title: “Conservatives Furious As Armed Men Show Up To Protect Artists At Texas Brunch Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-19” author: “Daniel Chaney”

The two teams faced off against each other on Sunday outside the Anderson Distillery and Grill when an inaugural “Barrel Babes Brunch” event featuring local drag queens was held. At least one conservative group had planned to protest the brunch before Sunday, including Protect Texas Kids, which, according to its website, aims to “take a stand to protect children from the left’s toxic, appeasing agenda.” — supposedly in reference to supporting LGBT+ people. The event, which the restaurant said was fully booked and attended by families, went ahead with a constant police presence despite earlier threats made by alleged far-right members on social media. In fact, conservative protesters appeared surprised by the presence of armed supporters outside the venue, who were masked, dressed mostly in black, and wielding AR-15-style weapons to defend the venue and fans. The video and images also showed them displaying Pride and transgender flags. Footage captured by Steven Monacelli, a Dallas-area journalist, captured the verbal confrontation that unfolded with police, who ordered the conservative protesters to the other side of the street. About half a dozen people were pictured holding placards with slogans such as “Drag the queens out of them”. A man wearing a Texas embroidered T-shirt told Mr Monacelli in the video: “He just spit on me, he just spit on me,” as he pointed to the group patronizing the drag brunch. The freelance reporter replied: “What did you call them earlier when you were talking to them? Didn’t you call them a bunch of chumps?’ The protester responded, “No, I called them p*****s (pointing to the armed drag supporters) … only the ones wielding AR47s,” before explaining that they were at the drag brunch event “to support people who don’t indoctrinate and they don’t groom little eight-year-olds.” A Texas-based LGBT+ journalist later tweeted: “Look at these MAGA guys, they are absolutely amazed that the people who showed up with guns aren’t on their side. They don’t even know how to process it.” While it remains unclear whether the conservative protesters were affiliated with far-right groups, Kelly Neidert, a well-known anti-trans activist and founder of Protect Texas Kids, was singled out by Mr. Monacelli at the protest, which served as the latest example of armed groups disrupting LGBT+ events which include drag queens. Anderson Distillery and Grill thanked everyone who supported its drag brunch and said “love won today” in a statement shared on Facebook after the brunch, adding: “Yes, every table was full before we officially opened. Yes, we reached maximum capacity and had a waiting list to get in. Yes, we ran out of food. Yes, we passed the Texas Office of the Comptroller’s ‘Sex Free’ inspection.” Trisha Delish, one of the drag queens who performed, meanwhile added on Twitter: “Roanoke CAME OUT to support our show!! We have reached capacity and our kitchen is completely sold out of food from our amazing patrons. I can’t stop crying every time I think about how full the audience was.” Although at least one person was seen with a baseball bat with razor wire wrapped around it, Dallas police said no arrests were made after clashes with and among protesters, the Dallas Morning News reported. Earlier this year, far-right groups, including members of the Proud Boys militia, disrupted several drag queen story events at libraries across the US, in acts of intimidation against LGBT+ people and others. Many on the right have falsely accused LGBT+ people of radicalizing kids with insults like “groomer” — a phrase that was even hurled at Disney earlier this year for opposing a Florida law called “Don’t Say Gay” , which critics say has helped fuel conspiracies and attacks against LGBT+ people and their supporters.