People aren’t happy that a Republican mayor did drag for charity

Illustrated rainbow pride flag on a white background.

A Republican mayor did drag to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for charity, but people aren’t pleased.

The Georgia Mayor, Derek Easterling, who oversees Kennesaw, dressed as Christina Aguilera and performed ‘Lady Marmalade’.

He took part in the Battle for the Brain fundraiser which raised $250,000 for good causes.

Christina
Christina Marmalade

But on Facebook, residents expressed their distaste.

One called the performance “gross” and another said it was “sick”.

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A third added: “As a mayor, I think there’s other things that he could do to get a message out there.”

But the Mayor has defended his decision to do drag, saying he is glad he dressed as Xtina.

He told WSBTV: “I try to put the fun in fundraiser… I have 250,000 reasons why I did it.”

Derek Easterling 2
Derek Easterling 2

Speaking to 11 Alive, he added: “That was my performance: over the top.

“[I wanted to] get people’s attention and say, ’Hey look, if I can do this, you can too.’”

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Going on, he said the audience had an amazing time saying: “They were so loud, they were louder than the music. I couldn’t hear the music.”


But others did congratulate the Mayor for his efforts.

One Twitter user wrote: “I love it! What a great and caring Mayor! Kennesaw is lucky to have him!”

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The Navy Veteran-turned-Mayor criticised those who hit out at his performance.

Derek Easterling
Derek Easterling

“Everything is already so tough—why make it even harder?” he said. “There’s already enough negativity in the world. Let’s move forward, let’s have a little bit of fun and let’s raise awareness.”

Watch a news report below in which the mayor defends his decision: