The original organizer for the New York City Drag March defended the āWeāre here, weāre queer, weāre coming for your Childrenā chant made during the event.
According to NBC News, Brian Griffin, who started the march in 1994, said the chant was āall just words.ā
āItās all presented to fulfill their worst stereotypes of us,ā he added.
Griffin also revealed he has chanted crude things in the past during the marches, like, āKill, kill, kill, weāre coming to kill the mayorā and made various sexual references. Additionally, attendees of the march sang āGod is a lesbianā repeatedly.
Karla Jay, the first female chair of New Yorkās Gay Liberation Front, explained the purpose behind the controversial chant.
āThe person who said this isnāt a march isnāt the person who came up with this idea ā the person in the march is saying, āGo ahead, call me this; why do I care?āā she said. āThe person is trying to destigmatize this and claim their own power.ā
She noted, āI grew up in the time where it was considered really bad to be called āgayā or ālesbianā or anything like that, and what we did is we reclaimed words.ā
Jay also pointed fingers at the right-wing for blaming āthe victims.ā
āThese are the words that theyāve used all our lives to manipulate and control us and we can now own them and see them for the falsehoods that they are,ā she continued.
In the article, NBC News referenced LGBT activists who claimed, āThe ācoming for your Childrenā has been used for years at Pride events.ā
However, Twitter denied those claims, adding a community note to NBC Newsā tweet of the article.
āThe news articles provides no evidence of the āweāre coming for your Childrenā chant being done for years at pride nor does it quote specific individuals that make this claim. This is very irresponsible reporting,ā the note reads, via Fox News.
