Important: This story is categorized as an opinion piece. This means it bypasses ordinary fact checking and is likely based entirely on the authors opinion. Please see disclosure in author bio below story.

Op-Ed: Adults with Down Syndrome Dressed Up Like Drag Queens and Kings and Exploited

2,542
Down Syndrome
Digital media outlet Mashable put out a video documenting this Down Syndrome drag troupe called “Drag Syndrome” on Twitter.  File photo: Kraken Images, Shutter Stock, licensed.

PORTSMOUTH, OH –  Just when you thought the transgender cult movement members could not go any lower under the limbo bar – they go lower. They crossed a line of decency by targeting vulnerable victims.  

Disturbing, distressing, disconcerting. Upsetting, unnerving, unsettling. A range of emotions flowed through my brain and body as I viewed the video clips. Sadness and sorrow for the participants being used by members of the woke transgender mob. And outrage. 

FOX News associate editor Gabriel Hays aired the story, “Drag queen show starring people with Down Syndrome shocks internet: ‘What’s the target audience?’” 

Yes, read that again. Then watch the video clips. 

Digital media outlet Mashable put out a video documenting this Down Syndrome drag troupe called “Drag Syndrome” on Twitter.  

Watch another clip on YouTube.

The documentary featured brief interviews with several of the participants, including “Justin Bond,” “Horrora Shebang,” and “Lady Francesca,” who expressed how much drag and dancing means to them. 

A video about a drag queen troupe featuring a cast made up of people with Down syndrome shocked social media users this week, who deemed the concept “unethical” and exploitative of “vulnerable” people.” 

Shocked Reponses on Twitter: 

Substack.com journalist Graham Linehan claimed on Twitter that the Down Syndrome individuals “are being manipulated and abused.”

“They seem to be hell bent on dragging all the vulnerable people into their cult. It is criminal to be pushing fetish into these places. Where are the ‘safe spaces’ people need from this dogmatic push?” 

“It’s a very dark thing. I’m just horrified.” 

“Whoever is in charge of this is manipulating these people and abusing them and someone should be held to account for this. This is wrong on all levels not just with downs kids but with the kids in general and we shouldn’t be funding drag shows in Brazil.” 

“Trust the gender bourgeois born without souls to invent Downsploitation.” 

“This is unethical and this is evil. Exploiting and demeaning helpless people with Down Syndrome for entertainment or political clout is depraved.” 

“Just when you think they hit bottom they bust out their shovels and start digging.”  

“As a parent of a special needs child and a special needs teacher- I’m appalled.” 

What person created the exploitive escapade? Daniel Vais, a man without Down syndrome, who declared, “Sometimes drag is an idea that you want to communicate.”  

Drag Syndrome, a London-based drag troupe for people with Down syndrome, is the first of its kind, according to Vais: “Born to Dance with an Extra Chromosome: The Drag Queens (and Kings).” 

Watch an interview with Vais.  

“Vais says it takes some extra planning and resources to work with performers who have Down’s Syndrome. His performers sometimes get quickly exhausted or need trained assistants who can help care for them.”

The troupe have performed across the UK and internationally, including Wilderness Festival, Truck Festival, Sink the Pink, Duckie, London Pride, Alternative Miss World Awards, The Glove That Fits, Notting Hill Carnival, RuPaul DragCon, The Place, Yard Theatre, Photographers Gallery, Ulster Hall, Multikids Inclusive Academy, Chisenhale Dance Space, Hackney Showroom, Bonn Museum of Modern Art.  

Recent press coverage includes features in Vogue, The Guardian, BBC, ITV, New York Times, Pink News, 55 Pages, The Beckett Journal, Paper, Magazine, Dazed, i-D and Hungry Eye journals. Endorsed by artists and companies including Jess Thom, Annie Lennox, Told By An Idiot, Complicite & Peter Marinker.

Really? Why do individuals with Down syndrome want to or need to dress in outlandish outfits, caked makeup, whacky wigs and twerk in front of an audience? Sounds like manipulation by an adult overseer to me. And who is in the audience? 

My questions: How did Vais explain gender ideology, transgenderism, gender identity, gender fluidity, sex reassignment surgery (aka mutilation of healthy breasts and genitals) to the participants? Did he push the nonscience fairytale that biological males can be transformed into females and biological females can become males?  

As a former child therapist, I’ll call it what it is – abuse. Adults taking advantage of naïve individuals. 

My questions: Why not adorn appropriate costumes for a themed dance show – attire that doesn’t confuse, indoctrinate, an manipulate based on nonscience gender ideology? Why not perform a musical play and travel the country?  

Vais is also over the Radical Beauty Project: Photos of people with Down syndrome. In my opinion some of the photos and videos are disturbing. Especially the video with creepy masks and the shirtless males.  

Use your critical thinking skills and arrive at your own conclusions.  

Comment via Facebook

Corrections: If you are aware of an inaccuracy or would like to report a correction, we would like to know about it. Please consider sending an email to [email protected] and cite any sources if available. Thank you. (Policy)