Controversies have been sparked, in part, by social Awake Illinois, an organization that was born from the anti-mask, anti-vaccine fervor of the pandemic and has been criticized for anti-LGBTQ rhetoric.
Across Chicagoland, recent drag events advertised as family friendly have been targeted with threats of violence and vandalism, with one suburban library even canceling its Oct. 11 children’s drag queen bingo because of “numerous threats” and “aggressive emails.” A lot of the pushback, one drag queen says, comes from a confusion between drag shows for adults and drag events for kids.