US charged with attempting to burn down church hosting ‘drag shows’

Un American accusé d’avoir jeté un cocktail Molotov sur une eglise accueillant des «drag shows» dans l’Ohio, dans le nord des États-Unis, a été inculpé par la justice federale au moment où les débats sur les questions de genre crispent Country.

• Also read: The trial of the author of the worst anti-Semitic attack in the United States begins

• Also read: Biden is ready to announce himself as a candidate for re-election

Aiman ​​Bini, 20, was arrested and charged on March 31, including “arson” and “possession of an incendiary device,” according to a US Department of Justice statement released Monday.

Mr. Benny is accused of attempting to burn down a church after learning that it is set to host several “drag shows”, events in which drag queens—mostly male—perform by adopting exaggerated symbols of femininity such as wigs, shimmering dresses, stilettos, and makeup.

The young man was part of a neo-Nazi group and had taken part in a demonstration in early March against organizing “Drag Queen Story Hour,” reading meetings for children where storytellers are drag queens, in Wadsworth, in northern Ohio, according to court documents.

During the event, Aiman ​​Bini held a Nazi flag and shouted “racist and homophobic insults,” according to the same source.

Mr Benny, who admitted the facts, confirmed to the Federal Police that he was seeking “to protect the children and put an end to the drag programme” after watching videos of French drag shows.

The case comes at a time when drag queens have become new targets for American conservatives, on the front line in the “culture wars” fueling the country.

San Francisco’s “Drag Queen Story Hour” was launched in 2015, and thus became the nightmare of the right, which at best considers it an activity, and at worst a spectacle of a sexual nature, dangerous for children.

Aimenn Penny faces up to 20 years in prison.