Down syndrome drag collective banned from performing over ‘serious ethical concerns’

A drag collective featuring queens and kings with Down syndrome has been barred from performing at a venue in Michigan due to ‘serious ethical concerns’.

Drag Syndrome were due to perform at an ArtPrize Project 1 venue, organised by DisArt, but the group were forced to pull out after venue owner Peter Meijer raised concerns about the performers.

In a letter posted onto DisArt’s Facebook page, Meijer said: “The differently abled are among the most special souls in our community, and I believe they, like children and other vulnerable populations, should be protected.

“Artistic expression is inherently political, and in making this decision I approached the issue from a content neutral basis.

“Setting aside the content, the involvement of individuals whose ability to act of their own volition is unclear raises serious ethical concerns that I cannot reconcile.

“I cannot know, and neither can an audience, whether the individuals performing for Drag Syndrome are giving, or are in a position to give, their full and informed consent.”

 

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Statement from Justin Bond regarding the horrible attack on us. Thanks for your support and solidarity everyone! And wish happy birthday to our Justin Bond today! ? #dragsyndrome #solidarity #t21 #downsyndrome #drag #humanrights

A post shared by Drag Syndrome (@dragsyndrome) on Aug 23, 2019 at 8:14am PDT

The group was brought together in 2018 by choreographer Daniel Vais.

One of the performers, Justin Bond, has posted a response on Instagram in which he opened up about being a drag king.

In the video, Bond says: “Being with Drag Syndrome has been one crazy ride and I’ve always wanted to become a famous drag king.

“I don’t want people in America to think that Daniel is abusing us. He’s trying to help us become more famous as we all are.

“And I think it’s great what he’s doing. He’s doing a wonderful job supporting us and building us up to become famous drag kings, queens and kings.

“And it feels great to do that. I just wanna live my life as a drag king. And also, I’ve been a drag queen.

“Being a drag king is what I wanna do for a living and I know most Americans think it’s terrible.

“’You have Down syndrome. You don’t have what it takes.’ But I think we do have what it takes because we deserve the right to be in drag and to perform.”

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