News.com.au have uncovered the story of a man who was rescued from a violent attack by three knights in shining sequins – three drag queens – on Sydney‘s Oxford Street.
34-year-old Surry Hills local Ivan Flinn was on his way home from Stonewall on a Saturday night at the start of August when he stopped to chat to drag queen Coco Jumbo outside a kebab shop. A group of men came up behind them, shouting homophobic slurs.
Flinn says he turned to the group and said: “Don’t call me or anyone ‘faggot’, it’s offensive, and of all places, you’re on Oxford Street.”
This incited the group to become violent, ripping his shirt and punching him, and breaking Flinn’s jaw.
The three drag queens – Coco Jumbo, Ivy League and Vybe – leapt to his defence: “Like Destiny’s Child they strutted in and saved me. Punches were flying. Hair was flicking. Nails were breaking. I was stunned on the footpath, thankful drag queens exist.”
Ivy League said the men had previously been in the kebab shop where she and her friends had stopped for a snack, and had called her a “freak“. Then when she saw them turn their attention to Flinn, she couldn’t just stand by and watch them pick on a “little guy“: “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.’”
According to Flinn, Ivy League and the ringleader ended up fighting in the middle of the road, cars swerving to avoid them. “I saw the guy rip her wig off… They were bashing each other and she’s still wearing her high heels.”
Ultimately, police had to step in to break up the fight. They continue to investigate the incident.
Flinn is unequivocal about the group’s heroism: “They saved my life.”
Flinn has started a GoFundMe crowdfunding page to raise $1000 dollars to “replace the wig, nails and heels of the Drag Queens who saved me“. He’s already raised $1600, a number that continues to rise following today’s media coverage.
“This campaign is to raise awareness and fight against homophobia. That we have zero tolerance for homophobia and there is no place for it in our society,” he wrote.
Flinn had planned to give Coco Jumbo, Ivy League and Vybe the proceeds this weekend, even though the trio said that they’re unfazed by the damaged outfits.
“It’s all just materials at the end of the day, there’s no use crying over split lace… We’re just glad Ivan’s okay,” Coco Jumbo said.
