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Southwark News, Thursday March 16 2023
Photo by Savills
Rally organised against pub’s non-existent kids’ drag queen event in SE22
Turning Point UK demonstrators
Counter-protestors outnumbered the Turning Point UK rally
By Herbie Russell herbie@southwarknews.co.uk Over 100 counter-protestors opposed Turning Point UK’s rally against a non-existent children’s drag queen event outside an East Dulwich pub.
Approximately sixteen members of the right-wing group were outnumbered by local residents and activists at the Great Exhibition pub on last Friday morning,
March 10. Turning Point UK was protesting against a ‘Drag Queen Storytelling’ event despite the pub’s claims that no event was ever scheduled for Friday. Turning Point UK, which says such drag queen events are inappropriate for children, claims the pub had planned an event but deleted the online post as part of a “cover-up”. A Met Police spokesperson said 150 people attended and did not report any
arrests being made. It was the second such protest in recent weeks. The first was held by Turning Point UK on Saturday, February 25, outside the Honor Oak pub over their ‘Drag Story Hour’, which saw five arrests. Local resident Annette Martin, 75, who attended the most recent protest as a counter-demonstrator, said: “It was very lively. There were. loads of counterprotesters. When I arrived there was a line of police between us and them.” A spokesperson for Turning Point UK said: “We are very pleased with the result of our protests, as inappropriate Drag Queen Story Hour events have been
trending in the media for the past couple of weeks. “Our protests are focused on awareness, not actually physically preventing adult performers from reading to children, as that is for the government to legislate, or for the police to act when necessary.” While there was no drag event on the day, the pub had previously held one in July 2022. The Turning Point UK spokesperson said: “While the session today had been cancelled, we were happy to still protest the venue as they have not committed to age restricting future drag events they plan to host there, with other events still
listed on their website.” In a tweet, the Great Exhibition pub said the pub would open as usual and that it remained “committed to offering events at this pub that are magical fun, inclusive and appropriate”. The Met Police confirmed that officers were deployed to the scene at 10am to respond to any disorder that might have taken place. There was minor traffic disruption in the area and Crystal Palace Road from the junction with Underhill Road was temporarily closed. By 1pm, police said the demonstrators had dispersed with Underhill Road reopened to traffic.
