In drag, Stockholm's vice mayor fights far-right 'intolerance'


Stockholm's deputy mayor donned red lipstick and bouffant hair as he glammed up in drag for a children's story hour, part of a campaign against "intolerance and populism" launched this week.

15/06/2023

Jan Jonsson, a 45-year-old member of the centre-right Liberal party, is behind the campaign.

He launched it in response to the far-right Sweden Democrats' repeated criticism of drag queens hosting children's story hours at libraries and guided tours at Stockholm's Royal Dramatic Theatre.

"I'm using myself as a kind of canvas for the drag artists...to be able to say that we think everyone should be free to express themselves," he told AFP.

"Some political parties have tried to restrict the freedoms for others and especially drag queens.

"With this stance, I hope that more will be able to say, 'Okay, now it's enough. Sweden should be a free country'."

In drag, Stockholm's vice mayor fights far-right 'intolerance'