Drag panic

Drag panic (also called drag queen panic or anti-drag hysteria) is a moral panic that stems from the belief that drag, when exposed to minors, can be harmful, due to its perception as sexual in nature. Drag panic often includes the belief that drag performances aimed at children are attempts by the LGBTQ+ community to sexualize or recruit children.

The panic, which had been building for a number of years, became more prominent in 2022, arising in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and in other countries in a series of rallies and counter-rallies related to drag queens reading children's books at storytime events for children. Throughout 2022, there were at least 141 incidents of protests and harassment towards drag events in the United States alone. Drag panic has been blamed for the fire bombing of an Oklahoma doughnut shop and the Club Q mass shooting, among other violent incidents.