Cedar Park LGBTQ+ Pride event postponed due to threats over drag queens
CEDAR PARK, Texas (KXAN) – A LGBTQ+ Pride event, originally scheduled to be held on June 24 in a Cedar Park Starbucks, was postponed and will be reimagined due to several “threatening” calls made to the business about the event's drag performances.
In a statement to KXAN, Starbucks said that because of the threatening voicemails and recent violence in Cedar Park, the event was moved to August to coincide with Austin's LGBTQ+ Pride events. A Starbucks spokesperson said they plan on making the future event bigger and more accessible to the Cedar Park community.
The violence referenced by Starbucks was the murder of 24-year-old Akira Ross, who was fatally shot June 2 at a Cedar Park gas station while with her girlfriend and friend. Ross' family and friends have called for her murder to be investigated as a hate crime.
The manager of the Starbucks named the event “Coffee and Drag Queens" — prior to the postponement, he wanted to host the event to “raise awareness for an art form that is under attack.”
He hired two Austin drag queens who perform together as the ‘“The Beckys” – Maeve Haven and Alysha Pretty. The event was going to feature them making coffee, performing a duet and answering audience questions about their experience as performers.
“It was supposed to be a fun time,” Maeve Haven said. “The regional manager [and] district manager, they got several phone calls about people just noting their admonishment about this event. So they had people posting [on social media] and reaching out,” she continued.
Both the queens said this is the first time an event had to be changed due to threats.
“They haven't been canceled, but it's always kind of a concern,” Alysha Pretty said. “It's kind of always in the back of your head, even if it's not canceled [and] if it's in a public spot, because of this current climate.”
With popularity comes hate
Maeve Haven and Alysha Pretty have been performing in drag for ten and seven years, respectively, and as a duo for five. They said since they started to do drag, the art form has become much more mainstream.
But as it has gained popularity, so has the outspoken hatred, they said.
“I mean, drag is everywhere, which, unfortunately, makes it an easier target for people to discriminate against us,” Alysha Pretty said.
The duo said that some performances featuring drag queens are intended for audiences of all ages while others, like ones in bars, are meant for adults. They said the Starbucks performance would have been an all-ages event.
Amid the increase in critics, both queens acknowledged that drag continues to be a meaningful art form to many in the LGBTQ+ community.
“[Drag] really inspires people. When people come to our shows, there are countless times where people message us afterward or come up to us and talk to us and just be like, ‘I needed this tonight,’” Maeve Haven said. “I think that's something that really brings joy to my heart.”