A small town in Maine held its first Pride event in which a drag queen with a lewd name performed in front of children.
Letta Dicken, the self-proclaimed number one plus-size drag queen in the state, lip-synced to songs and read books at the Windham-Raymond Pride celebration on Sunday.
Scheduled drag performances were canceled before the event after organizers received pushback from the community and threats to the performers.
However, Letta was undeterred and performed inside the gym before an audience full of children and their parents.
Windham-Raymond held its first Pride event on Sunday, where crudely named drag queen Letta Dicken performed in front of children.
Wearing a blonde wig and a sparkly rainbow jumpsuit, she lip-synced to three songs, including one called ‘Drag Queens Save the World.’
Wearing a blonde wig and a sparkly rainbow jumpsuit, she lip-synced to three songs, including one called ‘Drag Queens Save the World,’ the newspaper reported. Portland Press Herald.
One of the songs had the lyrics “the drag queen’s hips go swish, swish, swish, all over the city.”
Letta also joined Windham Public Library Children’s Room Coordinator Alexis Handelman for story time.
“I found it really important to come forward and be visible and help lift up not only the queer community of Windham and Raymond, but also this organization, which has gone through a lot of challenges to get to where they are today,” Letta told Prensa Heraldo.
“I wanted to help spread the message that love is stronger than hate.”
Bradley Youngs brought his seven-year-old son Marshall to the event. “We’re here to support this event and more events like it in town; there aren’t many in Windham,” he said.
Robert King and Nicholas Tucker said they attended the event because they cannot attend Portland Pride this year and were very motivated to come show their support because of the threats.
“We are here to support the LGBTQ community, but especially to be here for this first in Windham,” King said.
Letta Dicken is the self-proclaimed number one plus-size drag queen in the state of Maine.
Before the event, drag performer Chartreuse Money said a man approached her at a Portland bar and told her not to go.
‘He came up to me and asked, “Are you Chartreuse Money?” I said yes. He said, “Are you involved in Windham Pride?” I said yes, on June 2nd. He said, “As a friend, I’m telling you: Don’t go,” Money said. WMTW.
‘I asked him, if I attended, would my life be in danger? And he said yes.
Windham’s police chief determined the threat was “baseless,” but event organizers hired three police officers for added security.