“Every time one or two get fixed, a handful get suspended,” Sister Roma explained to the Guardian. “So we really feel like we’re swimming upstream, and while I’m hopeful that Facebook is doing the right thing, it’s discouraging.”
Facebook began deactivating drag queens’ accounts after a single user reported hundreds for technically being in violation of the site’s policy. Facebook has stated that it encourages users to use their real names in profiles so as to hold them more accountable and prevent them from abusing one another beneath the guise of anonymity.
“We are committed to ensuring that all members of the Facebook community can use the authentic names they use in real life,” Facebook reps said in a statement. “Our team is busy working to improve the implementation of this standard so that some of the issues people recently encountered can be prevented in the future.”
Sister Roma is currently acting as a liason for all queens affected by the policy, and encourging them to contact her with their names, deactivated profile URLs, and an explanation as to how their drag identity is the public identity they wish to present.
