Touring Drag Race Queens Hire Extra Security Amid Club Q Shooting

Several high-profile queens from RuPaul's Drag Race who are currently on tour are hiring extra security staff to protect themselves following the Club Q shooting.

All Stars 7 winner Jinkx Monsoon, who is touring alongside BenDeLaCreme with their joint holiday show, told NBC News that they have "hired armed guards" and have been "using metal detectors and creating venue escape routes" for their U.S. shows.

Yvie Oddly, winner of Drag Race season 11, told the publication that her management company "sent her and other drag performers an email saying they had requested extra security staff at their shows and will have the security teams check patrons for guns."

Similar sentiments were expressed by All Stars 2 winner Alaska, who is currently promoting her new album Red 4 Filth with a nationwide tour. "Why do we have to be worried about where the exits are and where a safe route to get to safety is? It's terrifying, but that's the reality of it," Alaska said in the report.

Other Drag Race queens highlighted the reasons behind this intense pushback against drag artists in recent times. Season four Miss Congeniality winner and All Stars 4 star Latrice Royale noted:

"Before drag was so mainstream (...), we were underground. Everything happened at night, at nightclubs, in the wee hours of the morning. It was not accessible to the mainstream of the world."

There are also Drag Race superstars who believe that this is not the time to be scared or less visible to the mainstream. All Stars 5 winner Shea Coulee told NBC News:

"You can't shake a b*tch that's not afraid of you. I can get maybe a disapproving glance, but the moment I look them dead-ass in the eye and make eye contact, who do you think is the one looking down at the ground first? Them."

Canada's Drag Race: Canada vs. the World airs Fridays on WOW Presents Plus.

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