Coco Jumbo was announced yesterday as one of the ten queens who’ll be competing for the crown on Drag Race Down Under, but it turns out this is not the first time she has made headlines. Back in 2017, she was one of a trio of queens who stepped in to save a man from a homophobic attack on Sydney’s Oxford Street.
Per accounts of the incident, Coco Jumbo had been performing with fellow queens Ivy Leaguee and Vybe and the trio had stopped off for an after-work kebab. A group of men were hurling homophobic slurs at another patron, and when they physically assaulted him, the queens stepped in and scrapped with the homophobic attackers.
Ivy Leaguee said that when she saw patron Ivan Flynn get punched by one of the attackers, she decided she had to do something. Per her account: “I said, ‘you want to pick on little guys, you’ll need to fight the big freak. I’m a man underneath all of this, so let’s go.”
Coco Jumbo also joined the fray, saying: “A guy pushed Ivy so I picked him up and threw him into the gutter. I don’t think they knew what they were getting themselves into. I used to play rugby league. Plus I have an older brother. He tried to run away and I chased him into the oncoming traffic. I’m surprised my wig didn’t come off.”
The victim of the would-be attackers thanked the queens, saying they had quite possibly saved his life, and later started a GoFundMe to replace items of theirs that were damaged in the attack, including wigs and heels. Coco Jumbo said at the time that the message was clear: “Don’t mess with gay people. Let alone two men dressed as women. Silly boys.”
Drag Race Down Under premieres later this year on Stan.
