A mural of RuPaul’s Drag Race star Divina De Campo in Manchester’s Gay Village has been defaced with homophobic abuse for a second time.
De Campo, who spotted the graffiti on Sunday, July 14 while walking back from the Sparkle trans festival weekend, said: “It does make you feel less safe. It brings it home that there are still people out there who want to hurt you.”
The mural, which was created in 2019 to mark De Campo’s appearance in the first series of RuPaul’s Drag Race, was first vandalised in 2021.
In a post on Instagram, De Campo said: “We still live in a world where people think this is ok.
“I’ll get it sorted so we don’t have this sort of stuff written about us in the village. We’re not going anywhere!
“The Gay Village is one of the few safe spaces in the whole country really.
“It’s a place where LGBTQ+ people can really feel safe.”
Councillor Garry Bridges, deputy leader of Manchester City Council, added: “I know that all rightminded Mancunians will be saddened that anyone would use this horrific, offensive language and deface this mural in the Gay Village. It is totally unacceptable.”