Thug bashed me, but I won't let attack drag me down...

I will keep being unapologetically myself

- BY PAUL HEALY Crime Correspondent

A DRAG queen has vowed she won't be deterred from being "unapologetically herself" after being attacked.

Krystal Queer, 25, was left bloodied after being kicked and having a phone smacked in her face in a shocking incident on Oliver Plunkett Street in Cork city on Sunday night.

Part of the homophobic attack was caught on camera as Krystal and fellow performer Lucina Schynning were filming a promotional video for an upcoming event in the midst of the Cork Jazz Festival celebrations.

Speaking to this newspaper after reporting the incident to gardai, Krystal, who has been performing in drag for the past seven years, said it was not the first incident but it was the most violent.

She added: “It won't stop me at all. When the going gets tough, the tough gets going.

“I think I'm going to have to be more cautious but at the same time I think it just shows how important it is to be visible and just be unapologetically yourself.

“They were cowards. The second they did it they ran away. So they knew what they did was wrong.

“I've been in contact with the guards. We have their details now.

“I'm not sure what I'm allowed to say but yeah, I would be pursuing them in court. I will be taking matters further with the gardai.

“We've been doing drag for six or seven years and you know navigating our way through the city is nothing new.

ALTERCATIONS

“We have faced altercations that have been similar before.

“Nothing to this extent where we've been physically injured but we've had people spit at us or scream at us or calling us paedophiles before.

“They might throw a can at us but it never escalates past that.