'It was a beautiful moment': Moore County drag show goes on despite power outages

As word of widespread power outages in Moore County spread, so did rumors connecting them to protests against a drag show Saturday night in Southern Pines.

When asked during a Sunday press conference if the attack on the power grid was in response to the drag show at the Sunrise Theater, Sheriff Ronnie Fields said they had yet to find any connection.

Organizers of the show said last week that far-right activists had tried to shut down the event for weeks. Organizers, responding to threats of violence, ramped up security for the Saturday evening event, with private security and the Southern Pines Police Department monitoring the event, Sunrise Theater Executive Director Kevin Dietzel said last week.

“We’ve taken security very seriously,” he said.

Southern Pines Christian school leaders had claimed that the drag performances target children. In a letter dated Nov. 21, Calvary Christian School administrators urged parents to contact the town council, the theater and show sponsors to ask for the event to be canceled.

“The LGBTQ forces are coming to Southern Pines and they are after our children,” the letter read in part. “This is their target audience to peddle their abomination.”

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The school's letter also invited parents to join a protest at the train station across Broad Street from the theater on Saturday.

Emily Rainey, an outspoken opponent of the drag show and a former Army captain who resigned her commission amid an investigation into her attendance at the Jan. 6 Trump rally, tweeted out a cryptic message following the outages.

"The power is out in Moore County, and I know why," Rainey said in a post to her page shortly before 9 p.m. Saturday.

Two hours later, Rainey posted on her Facebook page that deputies with the Moore County Sheriff's Office had visited her home.

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"Sorry they wasted their time. I told them that God works in mysterious ways and is responsible for the outage. I used the opportunity to tell them about the immoral drag show and the blasphemies screamed by its supporters," she wrote in the post.

Fields, at the press conference, acknowledged the visit, saying, "There is an individual that put some information on Facebook that was false. Yes, we had to go and interview this young lady and have a word of prayer with her, but it turned out to be nothing."

Much like the phrase "come to Jesus;" "have a word of prayer" means to have a "stern and serious" conversation, Chief Deputy Richard Maness said.

Moore Voices political blog writer Cheryl Christy-Bowman said she is not sure whether drag show protesters caused the power outages, but she can be sure who did not.

"I know that people are posting that God did it, but I don’t think that God is taking out substations,” she said Sunday.

She said residents were staying home because they fear for their safety, and do not think law enforcement is taking the criminal acts seriously enough. That county officials are referring to the incident as vandalism and not terrorism is upsetting she noted.

“Many have medical equipment and rely on electricity to keep them alive," Christy-Bowman said.

Drag show shone brightly despite power outages

Naomi Dix, a Durham-based drag artist, hosted the drag show. She said that despite the power outages, the stage still shined. When the lights went out, Dix asked the sold-out crowd to illuminate the room with their cellphone flashlights as she led them in singing "Halo" by Beyonce.

“It was a beautiful moment,” Dix said.

Michael Yates is a Cary resident who attended the counter-protest and the show with his husband and a group of friends. He said that the mood remained high as Naomi also led the audience in singing "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey. At the end of the show, attendees cheered and tipped Dix and her fellow performers.

"Our community does have a lot of bad things happen to us, and as drag artists they carry that pain," he said.

As Dix continued to perform for about 45 minutes after the outage, Sunrise Theater Executive director Kevin Dietzel said he worked with security to monitor entrances and plan for audience members to safely exit the building. He said the full house still had a good time.

“It did not seem to dampen the spirits of anyone there,” Dietzel said.

Dix told the crowd that if the power outage is a result of their opposition’s actions, to remember that the situation is more than just social media comments resisting their presence in the town, she said.

“This has never been about drag queens and children, this is about their direct hate of anyone who does not share their beliefs,” she said. “This is terrorism and nothing less.”

The audience did not want the show to end, but Dix assured them that she and her cast would be back to perform again soon. She said the backlash will not deter her from continuing to bring and facilitate queer events to Moore County. If anything, she said, it only motivates her to continue her work.

Dietzel said Sunrise Theater is not backing down, either.

“We’ve been a place to serve the community since our inception,” he said. “That goal isn’t going to change just because of this.”

LGBTQ allies far outnumbered far-right protesters, organizers say

An organizer of the counter-protest ahead of the show, who preferred to remain anonymous to protect his safety, said there were an estimated 200 LGBTQ community members and their allies behind him as he led the march down Broad Street to the Sunrise Theater. Rainey and her fellow protesters were a group of about 40, he said.

Dietzel said both the protest and counter-protest were peaceful, and that Southern Pines police kept the situation under control.

Dix said counter-protesters were a “beautiful sight to see.” They wore pink and held signs in a show of support, she said. Yates said allies chanted rally cries like "love beats hate" as their opposition across the street shouted bible verses.

"Our side of the street was a lot more fun," Yates said.

He said the community is used to opposition, but that when it faces adversity, it only spawns more love and support for one another.

"What is meant to tear us apart only brings us together closer," Yates said.

Dix said she did not address protesters at the event, but said if their intent is to make the queer community uncomfortable in Moore County, she wishes them luck.

“I love to be uncomfortable,” she said. “We’ll be back soon.”

Reporter Taylor Shook can be reached at tshook@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Moore County, NC drag show goes on despite power grid attacks