Drag queen speaks out after anti-drag tirade at Hawaii hotel caught on camera

Drag queen Marina Del Rey is speaking out after a video went viral of a woman yelling at her and other drag performers in a hotel lobby during Pride month.

“It went from a point of view to an attack,” Del Rey said in an interview with ABC News.

Del Rey said several drag queens were participating in a promotional video for the Alohilani Resort Waikiki Beach on June 23. They were disguised as staff members, playing different roles in the hotel’s operations when Del Rey said a woman approached them.

Del Rey said the woman started recording them and shouting that she was against drag and didn’t want her children to see them. Del Rey was left shaken by the incident.

“This is misogyny,” he can be heard saying in the video, which ABC News has seen. “I’m not going to let my kids come down from the 30th floor to see what’s going on here. »

She wondered what would happen if her son saw drag queens and thought “he could wear makeup, fancy clothes and high heels.” She went on to make statements about drag queens that were criticized as offensive.

Del Rey said it was unusual to be confronted by cross-dressers in an “aggressive” manner because of the deep-rooted community of “mahu” – a term that encompasses the spectrum of gender and homosexuality, but which makes originally a reference to the third gender in Polynesian culture.

Del Rey said the “mahu” is intrinsic to the local culture and “has always been a part of our lineage, our existence and our society here in Polynesia.”

The woman, Beth Bourne, said she was then escorted from the scene by several police officers and given a summons to appear in court. After demanding a refund, she was also refunded her hotel stay. She told ABC News that she stands by what she said and that what she did did not constitute harassment.

“If you see something that doesn’t look right and isn’t safe, you should say it,” she told ABC News.

Instead, she claims that drag queens harassed her because of the way they dressed.

“I didn’t think drag queens should be in a space used by children in the hotel lobby,” said Bourne, who is also president of the Yolo County chapter of Moms for Liberty, an organization conservative politics. She said she was not speaking for the organization at the time. “I was a paying customer and I didn’t think we should have this. To me it’s very sexual adult entertainment.”

“Alohilani Resort Waikiki Beach has a zero tolerance policy for discriminatory behavior; it is the antithesis of our values ​​of aloha and hospitality. June is PRIDE month, an annual celebration dedicated to equality, cultural diversity, history and the resilience of every community and society across the world,” the hotel said in a statement to ABC News, signed by Kelly Sanders, president of Highgate Hawaii. the parent company of Alohilani Resort.

Del Rey said they don’t expect everyone to agree with drag performers, but “there’s a real difference when (an opinion) is expressed aggressively, loudly and with intend to affect you in this way,” they said.

Del Rey acknowledged that for some drag queens, instances of hatred and aggression are much more common.

In recent years, the United States has seen a growing number of bills aimed at restricting drag racing performances – however, several have been blocked due to First Amendment concerns. Drag events have also been the target of death threats and bombs across the country.

They say the video was not released to shame Bourne for his opinion, but rather to warn the local LGBTQ community “that this is not something that is happening elsewhere because today it s “It’s happening here today, in the hotel lobby, against a backdrop of blue skies, during the day, and tourists parading around the lobby, just dragging their suitcases while it’s happening.”

Drag queens have since received support from across the country in light of the incident, including from Hawaii Governor Josh Green.

“The video was heartbreaking, without a doubt. I am proud of Hawaii’s LGBTQIA+ artists who maintained their dignity and integrity in the face of such a hostile attack,” Green said in a statement. “This type of behavior is unacceptable. This is not aloha and we will not tolerate it from anyone. »

A drag advocacy group, Qommittee, also expressed support for the performers.

“Let’s be clear about this, drag performers can face this type of harassment almost every time they leave the house,” the ABC News statement read. “In this case, the complex, the police and the governor have taken responsibility for their role in making it clear and unequivocal that gay people have the right to live and work without this type of unprovoked harassment.”

Bourne’s employer, the University of California, Davis, condemned Bourne’s statements and supported the LGBTQ community.

“Although employee comments are protected by the First Amendment, they do not reflect the values ​​of respect and belonging that form the foundation of our university community,” the university said in a statement.

Bourne denounced these criticisms, saying that “women in particular cannot express themselves freely.”

“This was an incident where I was a paying customer, wanting to share my freedom of expression with what I considered to be degrading and inappropriate behavior from adult men in a setting where I would be with my children,” Bourne said.