Posted on 06/13/2019 6:11:17 PM PDT by nwrep
Sparkle Lynn Moore, son of Michele Porter
Pride week in Portland has always been an important holiday in Michelle Porter's family. With two of her five children identifying as queer, Porter says, the annual event—with its colorful parades and performances—has become a fun way to celebrate her kids and support the local LGBTQ+ community.
This year, however, Porter says she's afraid to bring her family to any Portland Pride events.
That's because a few alt-right bloggers have used photos and videos of her 10-year-old son dressed in drag to spread anti-LGBTQ+ messaging across the internet, exposing Porter and her family to death threats and violent hate speech.
"It's so damaging and so, so ugly," says Porter, who hasn't slept the past few nights out of fear and anxiety about her family's safety. "And for this to take place during Pride—a time when I should be celebrating my kid and letting him have fun—it couldn't be worse."
Porter's son has been targeted for putting on drag performances in Portland.
Porter says her son, a "self-confident, flamboyant kid" who has presented himself as gender non-conforming since birth, became interested in drag two years ago after watching RuPaul's Drag Race. After learning that Portland had a thriving drag scene of its own, he begged his mom to take him to a show—and she complied.
"As soon as Sparkle saw them perform, he wanted to be a part of it," Porter says. She asked the Mercury to only refer to her son by his drag name, Sparkle Lynn More, for privacy.
Not long after, Sparkle began participating in family-friendly drag shows with local drag queens. Porter says the local drag community's support of her son's work has been "life-giving."
On June 7, alt-right blog Gateway Pundit released a transphobic diatribe against a family-friendly Portland Pride event featuring Sparkle that took place later that day at Friendly House. The disturbing blog post sexualized children who dress in the opposite gender's clothes and scolded parents who let their kids do such a thing. It also shared photos from Sparkle's Instagram account, which is controlled by Porter.
In lieu of police protection, Porter has found security in another organization, one whose history is built on systematic indifference by law enforcement.
"The queer community has been amazing," Porter says. "They're used to the police not stepping up to protect their community. So they know how to take care of each other."
Child abuse
The mother, or whoever is responsible for the boy, should be arrested and sent to prison!
This mother-in-name-only should be arrested and the children put into foster care.
Since BIRTH, eh? How so?
This country has become a cesspool. I don’t see hope for revival, but will pray for it.
Nah, we handed them this bull “S” ‘ultra right’ name, and it’s a name that can easily be thought of by people that don’t know, as if it was uber NAZI.
This was bound to blow up in our face.
One rule of engagement, don’t give your enemy ammo.
The left loves confused and easily fooled people. They are sick.
Why hasn’t DHS stepped in? Criminal.
So the child abuse is “protect(ing)” and trying to wake the kid up is “harass(ing)”. Calling evil good and good evil once more.
It seems they have a “right” to do whatever they wish with both their own kids and the children of anybody else they can get their hands on. What was once American culture has collapsed, and there is no political solution that can bring it back. So why, why, why can we not split up with them and have a chunk of this country for our own—where they will let us alone???
Rule two of engagement.
Don't allow the enemy to select the battlefield.
So this is what you were referring to.
I wouldn't want to be the mom on Judgment Day.
Trump supporters think men in makeup are a bigger threat to family values than babies in cages.
Opinion Columnist
June 7, 2019
Abomination.
Alex Zielinski is the News Editor for the Portland Mercury. She’s here to tell stories about economic inequities, cops, civil rights, and weird city politics that you should probably be paying attention to.
Ya know, we can sit here and discuss what a great idea or not it was to come up with that new name. It matters not. It matters how it is used against us, and what people think who are trying to evaluate what ideology to support.
Not everyone has the tools to do a decent evaluation. They just know what they hear and if it worries them or not.
Our opinions don’t matter. We’re in.
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