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Santos’
past in
the Rio
drag
scene
was made
public
Wednesday
by Eula
Rochard,
a
Brazilian
drag
performer,
and
Santos’
former
friend.
Rochard
told
“The
Handbasket”
Substack
reporter
Marisa
Kabas
that
Santos
dressed
as a
drag
queen
named “Kitara”
while
living
in
Brazil
in 2008. |
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Newly
elected
freshman
Rep.
George
Santos
(R-NY),
embroiled
in a
scandal
over his
resume
and
claims
made on
the
campaign
trail,
sits
alone in
the
House
Chamber
surrounded
only by
the
children
of other
representatives,
on the
first
day of
the
118th
Congress
at the
U.S.
Capitol
in
Washington,
U.S.,
January
3, 2023.
REUTERS/Jonathan
Ernst/File
Photo |
| |
Embattled
U.S.
Rep.
George
Santos
was drag
queen in
Brazil
pageants,
associates
say
reuters.com
SAO
PAULO -
U.S.
Representative
George
Santos
competed
as a
drag
queen in
Brazilian
beauty
pageants
15 years
ago, two
acquaintances
told
Reuters
on
Wednesday,
adding
to
contrasts
that
have
drawn
criticism
of the
openly
gay
Republican
congressman's
staunchly
conservative
views.
The
embattled
freshman
congressman
has also
faced
calls
from
fellow
New York
Republicans
to step
down
over
fabrications
about
his
career
and
history.
A
58-year-old
Brazilian
performer,
who uses
the drag
name
Eula
Rochard,
said she
befriended
the
now-congressman
when he
was
cross-dressing
in 2005
at the
first
gay
pride
parade
in
Niteroi,
a Rio de
Janeiro
suburb.
Three
years
later,
Santos
competed
in a
drag
beauty
pageant
in Rio,
Rochard
said.
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Register
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Reuters
and know
the full
story
Another
person
from
Niteroi
who knew
the
34-year-old
congressman
but
asked
not to
be named
said he
participated
in drag
queen
beauty
pageants
and
aspired
to be
Miss Gay
Rio de
Janeiro.
The
congressman
said on
Twitter
on
Thursday
that
claims
"that I
am a
drag
Queen or
'performed'
as a
drag
Queen"
are
"categorically
false,"
adding:
"I will
not be
distracted
nor
fazed by
this."
Santos
is the
first
openly
gay
Republican
to win a
House
seat in
Congress
as a
non-incumbent,
but has
positioned
himself
as a
staunch
conservative
on many
social
issues.
He has
backed
Florida's
controversial
"Parental
Rights
in
Education"
law,
which
prohibits
classroom
discussion
of
sexual
orientation
and
gender
identity,
leading
critics
to call
it the
"don't
say gay"
law.
Republicans
are
increasingly
denouncing
drag
shows
and
performers,
claiming
they are
harmful
to
children.
Santos,
responding
in
October
to
criticism
of his
support
for the
Florida
law,
told USA
Today:
"I am
openly
gay,
have
never
had an
issue
with my
sexual
identity
in the
past
decade,
and I
can tell
you and
assure
you, I
will
always
be an
advocate
for
LGBTQ
folks."
Rochard
said the
congressman
was a
"poor"
drag
queen in
2005,
with a
simple
black
dress,
but in
2008 "he
came
back to
Niteroi
with a
lot of
money,"
and a
flamboyant
pink
dress to
show for
it.
Santos
competed
in a
drag
beauty
pageant
that
year
using
the drag
name
Kitara
Ravache
but
lost,
Rochard
said.
"He's
changed
a lot,
but he
was
always a
liar. He
was
always
such a
dreamer,"
Rochard
said.
Reporting
by
Steven
Grattan;
Editing
by Brad
Haynes,
Heather
Timmons,
Edmund
Klamann
and
Deepa
Babington
Our
Standards:
The
Thomson
Reuters
Trust
Principles.
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