Word of warning: wearing a KKK outfit anywhere, let alone an arts festival, is never going to go down well.
The ‘Fight Racism and anti-Semitism’ petition has emerged on Change.org to try and ban a show called ‘50 Shades of Fringe’ from the upcoming Adelaide Fringe Festival.
Performer and producer of ‘50 Shades of Fringe’ Shayne ‘Rax’ Budgen is the subject of the petition after it was revealed he “routinely wears inflammatory and anti-Semitic and racist costuming,” including a KKK-inspired outfit that he is “parading” as “kink.”
“This individual clearly has little care for the health and wellbeing of others, nor the empathy for those who witnessed and suffered horrors during the Holocaust or persecution of People of Colour,” petition owner Joshua Harrison states on the Change.org page.
“As artists, we will not stand for anti-Semitism or racism in any form. We respect our entire artistic and wider community, regardless or race, religious beliefs, sexuality, gender and many more beautiful and celebrated features of human beings,” he added.
Speaking to the Adelaide Advertiser, Budgen said the pictures of him wearing a KKK outfit were deliberately taken in “bad taste.”
“It is a white hood worn with a ridiculous outfit, on a ridiculous occasion,” he said. “I’ve been in the kink and fetish scene here for quite some time and my event, Switch, I have been running for near 10 years.”
“We generally push buttons. I actually go out of my way to make sure that our event is not a one-size-fits-all kind of event,” he said. “At the end of the day these are people who work in the community as advocates of all things open-minded and equality, of which I am myself.
“Now there are pictures being dragged up from previous events where, again, we are pushing our luck with bad taste and dark humour.”
Adelaide Fringe Festival has also responded to the petition, writing in a statement, “As stated in our artists agreement, Adelaide Fringe reserves the right not to accept any event content or material that is liable to promote or incite misogynistic, racial, ethnic, religious or homophobic hatred.”
There’s no excuse for sporting a piece of clothing that represents so much pain, hatred, and violence. Budgen also told the Adelaide Advertiser he was seeking legal advice about the “allegations” made against him, but wth over 1,200 signatures and counting on the petition, somehow I don’t see him remaining on the festival lineup.
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