Dozens counter small anti-trans protest at downtown Houston drag show

About 100 activists lined the sidewalk Sunday outside of Hamburger Mary’s, an LGBTQ-friendly restaurant in downtown, to stand against a handful of anti-transgender protesters from North Texas who came to demonstrate outside a drag show at the restaurant. The dozen or so protesters with Protect Texas Kids, a group that claims children are being “indoctrinated” by gay and transgender activists, were largely drowned out by boos and chants from the counterprotesters, who vastly outnumbered them. “Stop the hate, stop the fear, everyone is welcome here,” the crowd chanted. Soon after the protest started, a small group of men, some of them wearing Nazi regalia, arrived to join the anti-trans protesters, shouting homophobic slurs and Nazi slogans across Prairie.

Kelly Neidert, founder of Protect Texas Kids, said the men were not affiliated with her group and attempted to distance herself from their presence. She blamed their participation on the Screwston Anti-Fascist Committee, which organized the counterprotest, rather than her group’s messaging. “When antifa put out a call, and some of them are more extreme on the left, it brings out the extreme on the right,” Neidert said. The counterprotesters, however, were not convinced. “They need to be told that what they have to say is not welcome here,” said one 30-year-old counterprotester, who declined to give his name out of concern for his safety. “You don’t get to go around in polite society with these bigoted views, so that’s why we came out to support our community,” he said. Hamburger Mary’s, which was founded in 1972 in San Francisco, regularly hosts “Drag Brunch” on weekends at its downtown Houston location, where diners can watch local drag stars perform during their meal. Hamburger Mary’s didn’t return a request for comment.