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Rep. George Santos denies ever having been a drag queen

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Embattled Republican Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., stated claims that he carried out as a drag queen are “categorically false.” His denial comes shortly after a Brazilian drag performer shared on social media a picture of herself and one other particular person in drag, whom she recognized because the newly elected congressman.

“The latest obsession from the media claiming that I'm a drag Queen or ‘carried out’ as a drag Queen is categorically false,” Santos, who has been the topic of worldwide headlines for weeks for fabricating elements of his résumé, tweeted Thursday morning. “The media continues to make outrageous claims about my life whereas I'm working to ship outcomes.”

Final week, Brazilian drag artist Eula Rochard posted a picture on Fb and Instagram of herself with an individual sporting a pink feathery gown, vibrant pink lipstick and dangling chandelier earrings. Rochard, who's recognized as Eula Rorard within the picture, claims the opposite particular person in drag glided by the stage title Kitara Ravache and is, in actual fact, Santos. 

“Me with the American Republican congressman who wouldn’t go away my home,” Rochard wrote in Portuguese on the Fb put up. “Whoever stated I used to be a liar chew your tongue.”

NBC Information has not independently verified the pictures posted on Rochard’s social media accounts, which she stated initially appeared in a Brazilian newspaper in 2008. As of Thursday afternoon, the pictures had been broadly circulated on social media and information web sites.

Rochard advised NBC Information that she met Santos in about 2005 and final noticed him in 2008 by Niterói’s homosexual group, however added that she solely knew him by his drag title, Kitara Ravache, and Anthony (Santos has passed by numerous combos of the title George Anthony Devolder Santos, the complete title listed on a Federal Election Fee submitting from 2019). Rochard stated she noticed a photograph of Santos as a just lately elected U.S. lawmaker in a Brazilian information outlet and acknowledged him. When requested why she determined to put up the picture that she claims to be of herself and Santos, she stated, “As a result of I wished to.”

Rochard, who described herself because the “RuPaul” of Brazil, stated she knew Santos when he was “developing” within the drag world and stated she was a mentor to him. She described him as having an “outgrown sense of grandeur” and added that “he lied on a regular basis.”

Rochard’s claims about Santos, who has positioned himself as a conservative Republican and has aligned himself with among the social gathering’s most hard-right lawmakers, come because the GOP has thrust the centuries-old artwork type of drag into the middle of the simmering tradition struggle. 

At the least six states are contemplating payments this time period that may ban minors from attending drag performances and search to categorise any enterprise that hosts drag reveals as a cabaret or a “sexually oriented enterprise,” in line with an NBC Information evaluation of recent laws concentrating on LGBTQ rights and queer life.

Among the many laws is a Tennessee invoice that may ban drag queens from acting on public or non-public property within the presence of a minor. If enacted, repeat offenders may very well be charged with a felony and resist six years in jail.

The anti-LGBTQ laws additionally coincides with a current wave of far-right protests and threats directed at drag occasions.

Final yr, there have been no less than 141 protests and important threats geared toward drag occasions in 48 states, in line with LGBTQ advocacy group GLAAD. And a report from the Crowd Counting Consortium, a public curiosity and scholarly mission that paperwork crowds and competition within the U.S., discovered a steep enhance in anti-LGBTQ demonstrations over the previous two years, with a typical goal final yr being drag-related occasions.

A lawyer for Santos didn't return NBC Information’ request for remark relating to the congressman’s stance on the proposed insurance policies associated to pull performances. In a earlier interview, Santos advised NBC Information that he sees no contradiction between his id as a homosexual man and his social gathering’s coverage stances, saying, “I've by no means skilled discrimination within the Republican Celebration.”

Questions over Santos’ biography first erupted on Dec. 19, when The New York Occasions revealed a bombshell investigation questioning whether or not he fabricated points of his training, work historical past and funds. Santos later admitted to “embellishing” his qualifications and apologized for having carried out so. 

Democratic lawmakers, in addition to a number of Republicans, have since known as for Santos to resign.

Kate Santaliz and Olympia Sonnier contributed.


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