Facebook's 'Real Name Policy' Has Drag Queens Petitioning For Change
By KYW social media editor Melony Roy
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Facebook's "real name policy" is not new, but its enforcement is causing a stir in the LGBT community -- specifically for drag queens.
The policy requires everyone to provide their real names, so you always know who you're connecting with, but this is problematic for people who perform with stage names in the drag community and who do not use their birth names.
"Our name is everything to us. It doesn't matter how much money we have or anything like that. This is your brand, this is your persona," says Ian Morrison, better known as Brittany Lynn. "For the queens who have been on Facebook awhile and have 5,000-10,000 likes, its their means of reaching out to their fans to see where they are going to be appearing then its a big deal. Then you're messing with their money and you never come between a drag queen and her coins."
To rally others and draw attention to the issue, the drag queen community has launched a social media campaign using the hashtag "#mynameis" on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
According to Mashable, Facebook will meet with San Francisco city officials and activists to discuss the issue.
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