North Texas drag protest group removed from Instagram and Facebook after ‘groomer’ posts
Facebook and Instagram suspended accounts belonging to Protect Texas Kids, a nonprofit behind protests against drag events throughout Texas, after the group posted personal information about drag performers on social media.
On Wednesday, Protect Texas Kids shared a series of images on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter identifying the legal names and hometowns of Texas drag queens. Each post is titled “GROOMER DRAG QUEEN IDENTIFIED.” The posts accuse the queens of “advocating for the sexualization of children.”
By Friday, the group’s Instagram and Facebook accounts were no longer available. As of 2 p.m. Friday, Protect Texas Kids’ Twitter account remained active.
One of the posts featured Austin-based drag performer Brigitte Bandit, who went viral after testifying against S.B. 12, the new Texas law forbidding “sexually-oriented performances” in public or in front of children.
Protect Texas Kids’ post had three photos, including a photo from her performance at a 21 and older bar, which Bandit said was misleading. Her repertoire contains numbers she would not perform in front of children, and she adapts her performance for her audience, she said.
After seeing the post, “I was really upset and scared for my safety,” Bandit said. “I don’t know how they got my personal information. I’m very careful about what I share online, especially my legal name.”
Bandit shared Protect Texas Kids’ posts on her own social media Thursday and asked people to report the posts for sharing personal information. By about 5 p.m. or 6 p.m. that evening, she said, the group’s Instagram account had been taken down. The group’s Facebook page went down soon after.
“Even though we’re feeling a little bit of success today, the fact that this is even something that we’re fighting for is really frustrating,” Bandit said. “And I really hope that we are able to get through it and and have a better future for all of us, and especially for queer Texans, because we belong here as well.”
Bandit said she would like to see the group’s Twitter account suspended, as well.
In response to news of the organization’s Instagram suspension, Protect Texas Kids wrote on Twitter: “Advocating to protect children apparently goes against Instagram community guidelines.”
Protect Texas Kids was founded by Kelly Neidert, a University of North Texas grad from Little Elm. Neidert’s brother Jake Neidert works for state Rep. Tony Tinderholt and once tweeted that parents who take their children to drag shows should be publicly executed.
Kelly Neidert did not respond to requests for comment.
This isn’t the first time a drag protest group has manipulated video or images to bolster support for its political cause. On Monday, the Star-Telegram published a story about a mother who took her kids to a drag show and became the star of a doctored viral video shared by activist Sara Gonzales.
This story was originally published June 30, 2023 at 2:57 PM with the headline "North Texas drag protest group removed from Instagram and Facebook after ‘groomer’ posts."
