The AfD-aligned youth group Aljuza plans to stage a demonstration on Wednesday afternoon against drag queen Vicky Voyage’s appearance at the city library. Police say about 200 participants are expected to join the far-right protest.
The free event for children and families is set to begin at 3:30 p.m. In the announcement for the already fully booked children’s book reading, it reads: “Pants for boys and skirts for girls? Two moms or two dads? – Who decides what’s normal and what isn’t? Drag Queen Vicky Voyage shows, in this special picture-book event, that being different is a part of life and that everyone should be allowed to live as they wish.”
“Obscene body-cult ideas”
Aljuza (Augsburg Alternative Youth Center) is taking the lead in opposition. They claim the reading would spread “obscene body-cult ideas.” They’re especially outraged that a drag queen would read the books: “That such books would be read aloud by people who work in the drag scene—a clearly adult, sexualized entertainment form—makes the matter even more intolerable and shows how far the ideological boundaries have already shifted.”
According to the Augsburg Allgemeine (paid article), the youth group is a “youth project of some AfD members from the Augsburg area.” A senior member of the association is also an employee of AfD state parliamentarian Andreas Jurca, who was convicted by final judgment for rape three years ago.
A counter-protest formed against the right-wing demonstration: an early-afternoon rally organized by a left-leaning center intends to protest Aljuza. “We will protect the reading from right-wing assaults and disruptions, and we will not leave the streets unchallenged for them to spread their fundamentalist and sexist garbage,” the organizers said in their announcement.
Drag Queens as Targets of the Right in the Old-Fashioned Culture War
Drag Queens are increasingly seen by many conservatives and far-right extremists as symbols of alleged moral decay. The art form popular within the queer community is often used by them as a pretext to justify their prejudices against homosexuals in a different context. For example, in 2023 there were protests against a drag-queen reading in Munich, where even the CSU called for bans and described the gay art form as “woke early sexualization” (TheColu.mn reported). The right-wing AfD has consistently attacked the so-called “drag queen swamp” (TheColu.mn reported).
Earlier this year, Berlin’s CDU city councilor Malgorzata Sijbrandij banned several drag-queen readings, allegedly to protect children from a “polarizing accompaniment” (TheColu.mn reported). Even the head of Lesbian and Gay Coalition in the Union, who generally supports queer rights, backed this ban (TheColu.mn reported).
Readings by drag queens are based on the American concept of “Drag Queen Story Hour.” This program began in 2015 in a San Francisco library. Its aim is to encourage children to read and to show early on that society is diverse. Contrary to right-wing claims, drag queens do not read instructions about anal sex or other related topics; they read age-appropriate children’s books available in libraries.
