The ACLU of Michigan files a civil rights complaint alleging sex and disability discrimination after a GOP congressional candidate canceled an event featuring British drag performers with Down syndrome.
In a letter explaining his decision last month, Meijer said that, “like children,” adults with Down syndrome deserve protection. He also said he feared the event would be “exploitative” and even questioned whether they could give “full and informed consent.”
But when Drag Syndrome's performers flew from the U.K., where they're based, into Michigan on Thursday night, they had their own words for Meijer. “There’s no way I’m letting you treat us that way. We deserve to perform, we deserve to be who we are, and live our lives as we are,” 20-year-old drag king Justin Bond toldin Grand Rapids. “It doesn’t matter if we are disabled, or [from a] different country, that’s what we have got to do and that’s what we are here to do.”
Daniel Vais, the troupe’s creative director, told WOOD he did not expect this"controversy" and"hate" toward Drag Syndrome's performers. “It’s an excuse,” Vais said of Meijer's stated reason for canceling the performance. “They’re just saying, ‘Oh, we protect them,’ so they push them away from society and high culture, so there’s a hidden agenda there, I think.”“Fair to say I didn’t expect Down syndrome Drag shows to be a defining issue of my congressional campaign," he
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