Performers tell of 'five times a week' homophobic and transphobic abuse during Edinburgh Fringe

One comedian told how someone had said he looked like he would “give them HIV” while he was dressed in drag, while another said security had had to intervene when she was attacked while flyering in Bristo Square.

Another performer said he was too scared to do his own flyering in drag costume after being attacked during last year’s festival.

This comes days after Fringe performers revealed they had experienced racist abuse during this year’s Fringe. One Palestinian actor said his posters had been defaced, while another Cuban-American artist was told to “go home” while flyering in costume and speaking in a Cuban accent.

Mari Moriarty, who performs under the name Fempaths in her show Transistor Radio Hour, said she had experienced anti-trans harassment five times a week while flyering in Edinburgh.

“My experience in Edinburgh has been rough - and rougher than London or New York,” said Ms Moriarty, who previously performed at the Fringe for three years in a row before the pandemic.

“Being visibly transgender or queer and walking around anywhere is never fabulous, but there is a marked difference this year in Edinburgh compared with when I was here pre-pandemic.

“The harassment has really ramped up. In London, I’ve had two incidents in nine months, here in Edinburgh, it’s been four or five a week. It’s particularly sad because it’s so different to my first experience here.”

She says she gets “yelled at on the street”.

There’s a lot of people who shout ‘trannie’,” she said. “It’s usually, like a drive-by yelling. The worst one was a guy who tried to grab my ass, like a scare tactic and he was laughing. I spoke to a security guard and tried to get him to tell the guy that performers needed to be respected.

“I think they’re emboldened by bigots who are championing trans people losing our rights.”

Ms Moriarty added that she had had hecklers in her very first show, while a “significant number” of people left shortly after she sang the line “I am transgender” as part of her performance.

“I flyer less, I’ve hired more people to do my flyering for me. The first day, I flyered to everyone, but now I’m targeting people from the queer community. My first show, I had a lot of cis, straight people in and then about half of them - more than ten people - walked out. Then one woman came back to heckle me.

“It took a bit of time to trust the audience again after that first day, but there is also a huge, beautiful trans community here, so I look to where the support is.”

She said she had heard similar stories from other performers.

“I’ve been talking to other performers about how it is just such an everyday occurrence,” she said.

Performer Eddie Jen, whose show, Seeking a Pen Pal for the End of the World, is on at Just The Tonic at the Caves, said: “Last year, I was flyering on the Royal Mile when a group of young men came up to me and started messing with me. Then they pulled off my bow tie and dumped their drinks on me.

“At the time, I believed it to be a random incident. But this year, with a new show that is decidedly more overt in sexuality, I don’t feel I can flyer in costume, it attracts too much unwanted attention, so I’ve had to hire someone to do some flyering for me.”

Comedian Linus Karp said he had been walking through Bristo Square ahead of his first sold-out show earlier this month when a couple heading towards him began to shout insults.

Mr Karp’s new show, Linus Karp Was Hit With an Umbrella, tells of a homophobic attack against him in London two years ago: “A couple of early reviews had just come in and they were wonderful,” he said. “There was a spring in my step, I was starting to feel confident and happy in where my new show was at. There were many people around. A man and a woman walked towards me.

“The man shouted loudly, ‘You’re a pussy’. I looked around, was that at me? Yes. There was no one else he was looking at. The woman he was with laughed and I walked on. In my head I wondered if I should shout back. Should I run and get security? Should I try and find someone I know so I’m not on my own and try and confront him – ask him why he’d shout that at me?

“But I just stayed quiet. Having faced homophobic violence in public before, I [knew I] did risk escalating it.”

Mr Karp added: “Being called “a pussy” is quite lame as insults go to be honest, but it adds to a disappointing reality. Over my time coming to the Fringe, I have been groped while flyering on the Mile, a group of men shouted at me ‘are you a man or a woman!?’ after I left a show where I had glitter in the face, I’ve had posters defaced and countless hateful comments online.

“When I raised money for the charity Waverley Care while in drag, someone commented that I looked like I was about to ‘murder someone or give them HIV’. Many queer people have had much worse experiences than me.”

A spokesperson for Underbelly, where both Mr Karp and Ms Moriarty perform, said: “It should go without saying that performers should be able to feel safe while promoting and performing their shows (and indeed, all the time). We treat any intolerance, abuse, or hate speech incredibly seriously, and support and protect our artists in any way we can.”