Wendy Napoles, the mother of ‘drag kid’ Desmond is Amazing has spoken out this week after a string of CPS child abuse reports were filed against her.
Desmond and his parents have achieved both international recognition and condemnation for his work. Pink News describe him as “an icon within the LGBT+ community” since he first burst onto the drag scene in 2015 and went on to be chosen as the face of New York City Pride’s 2018 advertising campaign.
On the flip side, Desmond and his family have faced criticism from conservative commentators, with Alex Parker writing for the American conservative political blog Redstate that:
“We’re living in a different time. When I was 11, being “active” meant playing outside. Today, it means cross-dressing and f***ing fighting against the Constitution. At least it does, apparently, if you’re Amazing”
While Desmond and his parents have often publicly spoken out about the criticism and abuse they receive, the situation escalated in December 2018 when a video was published of Desmond performing at a gay bar in Brooklyn.
You can watch a video of Desmond performing the routine here…
The reaction from certain corners of the conservative community was strong.
The Daily Wire ran with the headline “11-Year-Old Boy Dressed In Drag Dances At Gay Bar, Gets Dollar Bills Thrown At Him”.
Infowars went with “SHOCK: 11-YEAR-OLD PERFORMS IN DRAG ON STAGE AT NYC GAY CLUB”
For Breitbart it was “11-Year-Old ‘Drag Queen’ Dances for Dollar Bills in Gay Bar”
As the story grew, the tweets alleging child abuse, neglectful parenting, drug use and even paedophilia (the P in LGBTPQ actually stands for ‘pansexual’ by the way) started:
What followed was a string of referrals to the New York State Office of Children and Family Services, all raising concerns that Desmond was being abused and neglected by his parents putting him a situation where he was at risk of being sexually exploited by adult males.
These referrals resulted in what Desmond’s mother describes as an assessment where the ‘family was probed more intensely than any other case before’.
Desmond’s mother has now taken to Instagram to update on the assessment and reveal that no further action is being taken. In a lengthy post on the matter she said:
“This is what it has come to. We have been accused of child abuse, exploitation & maltreatment to the point that we have been backed into a corner trying to defend ourselves. Recently a YouTube video was made stating that we should allow ACS (CPS) to investigate if we have nothing to hide. Which we have & we do not have anything to hide. We have been under a microscope since early December. I never thought I would have to breach my own privacy & confidentiality to provide proof that has been demanded of us out of malice”
“ACS has investigated us thoroughly. Because of the number of reports they received, our case went all the way to the Governor’s office. We had announced visits & unannounced visits to our home nearly daily & at all hours & Desmond’s school. Our family was probed more intensely than any other case before. All allegations were “unfounded”. Currently, we send screenshots of anyone encouraging others or admitting to contacting ACS to ACS to keep in our file. ACS is not a weapon. So many ACS resources could have gone to families that needed help. On the plus side, ACS has been offering us many support services”
“In addition, we were investigated by the NYPD, the Child Advocacy Center, the Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Department of Labor, and the District Attorney’s office. No abuse or maltreatment was found. No regulations for child performers were broken. No illegal activity has occurred”
“We endured countless posts & videos slandering our family by people who have never contacted us for the truth or watched Desmond’s videos where he has spoken for himself. We put up with lies & rumors. We daily clear social media of hateful comments & messages. Someone has been messaging Desmond’s followers to convince them of alleged abuse. We deal with hate crimes & death threats perpetuated by “concerned citizens” & have been stalked. The NYPD is assisting us. Desmond has extra security measures in place at his school. All of this because we allow Desmond to be himself & do what he loves. We are a loving and supporting family. Anyone who knows us or met us can attest to that”
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