Anger at transphobic campaign to boycott Macy’s Thanksgiving parade

Anti-LGBTQ+ group started petition to boycott the high-profile event for including two non-binary actors

Conservative anti-LGBT+group One Million Moms has started a petition to boycott the upcoming Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade for including non-binary performers.

The petition has gained more than 28,000 signatures, railing against “the non-binary and transgender extravaganza” at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on 23 November in New York City.

The transphobic campaign has singled out two non-binary actors who will potentially appear in musical numbers from plays in the parade.

The two are Justin David Sullivan, who performs as May in the play & Juliet, and Alex Newell, the Tony-award-winning actor, who stars in the role of Lulu in Shucked, although it is unconfirmed if they will be performing.

The organisation, created by the conservative and Christian fundamentalist group The American Family Association, make it their mission to censor the “filth many segments of our society, especially the entertainment media, are throwing at our children.”

“This year’s holiday parade will potentially expose tens of millions of viewers at home to the liberal LGBTQ agenda,” they wrote in their latest campaign. “It is clear that Macy’s does not have our children’s best interests in mind.”

The petition also referred to past parades, where they claim Macy’s filled the day with “liberal nonsense” after transgender pop singer Kim Petras performed in 2021.

Transgender musician Kim Petras performed at the parade in 2021 (Getty Images)

The anti-LGBTQ+ petition has gained backlash in its quest to censor non-binary talent.

Media group LGBTQ Nation has called the petition “alarmist” and said One Million Moms has a history of  “ throwing a fit anytime any company anywhere publicly acknowledges the existence of queer people.”

Them, another LGBTQ+ platform said that the group’s continuous reference to children when speaking about the LGBTQ+ community is “a clear reference to the far-right myth that trans people “groom” and predate on children.”

While the conservative group tried to demoralise Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade as a “non-binary and transgender extravaganza,” people on X (formerly Twitter), thought that this description made the upcoming festivities sound great.

“Threatening us with a good time, are we?” one user wrote, while another said, “Don’t they realise that actually makes it sound even better?”

One Million Moms has continuously campaigned against any form of LGBTQ+ representation in entertainment or the media, previously condemning companies - from confectionary like Skittles for their packaging to the Barbie movie for including a transgender actor.