This screencap taken from a video on TikTok shows troopers yanking Maxine LaQueene from her seat in the House Gallery.

Austin drag performer and activist Maxine St. James LaQueene was among the protesters forcibly removed the House Gallery last Tuesday, May 2, when Speaker of the House Dade Phelan ordered Texas DPS troopers to clear the Gallery after protesters began to sing and chant in opposition to Senate Bill 14, which would ban gender affirming healthcare for transgender minors.

And now, she LaQueene says, she is banned from being able to go back to the Capitol and is being attacked by right wingers on Twitter after Republican state Rep. Jeff Leach posted a photo of her taken from the House floor.

In the photo, LaQueen can be seen bending over, with her apparently bare rear end showing. Leach’s tweet is directed at Democratic state Rep. Jarvis Johnson, who had criticized Speaker Dade Phelan for having activists removed from the House Gallery.

Maxine St. James LaQueene at the Queer March on the Capitol in April. (Photo by Tammye Nash)

Leach tweeted: “Jarvis – you believe this is acceptable behavior in the TX House Chamber?! I don’t think so my friend. This is the people’s House. Not animal house.”

Leach’s tweet does not address the fact that “the people” were, at the time, being forcibly removed from “the people’s House.” He also does not indicate that the photo was taken after Phelan ordered troopers to remove protesters, leaving the impression that this was why protesters were made to leave.

Jarvis’ tweet has been deleted from Twitter.

While Leach’s tweet implies that LaQueene was being intentionally lewd and disrespectful, LaQueene told Dallas Voice she was only trying to help a friend, who was having a panic attack, get up to leave the chamber, and did not realize her rear end was exposed.

“A House Rep took this pic of me trying to help my friend up, and I guess my ass showed,” LaQueene said. “And now, conservative Twitter is attacking me and saying it was ‘indecent exposure.’ And if I had showed up today [Friday, May 5, for another protest against SB 14], they would’ve arrested me.”

She added, “It’s so frustrating. No matter what I do or say, the narrative being portrayed is negative and somehow MY fault.”

Video posted to TikTok (watch below( shows LaQueene sitting next to a friend in the gallery when a trooper walks up, grabs her by the arm and yanks her from her seat. Although LaQueene the troopers to “let go of me now,” the video does not show her fighting or resisting them.

In the video description, LaQueene explains: “Yesterday at the Texas State Capitol, the LGBTQIA+ community came together to peacefully protest Senate Bill 14. A bill that would prohibit gender & life-affirming healthcare to trans kids. While sitting in the House of Representatives, myself & many others were forcibly removed by @TXDPS in an attempt to clear the room. At what point does peaceful protest have to become physical? I was sitting there helping to compose my friend who was having a panic attack yet DPS did not care & continued to get physical.

“At the same time, a group of conservative Texans were occupying the chamber as well, and none of them were forcibly removed. In fact, none of them were removed from the Capitol, & I was told they were allowed back in, but we were not. Multiple queer individuals were arrested and detained, including @*SofiaLism* for putting up a banner during our protest rally in the main rotunda. And because of that, she has been banned from the Capitol for a year.”

Another activist, Texas Freedom Network Director of Organizing Adri Pérez, was wrestled to the floor and arrested after a trooper walked and grabbed them from behind as Pérez and other activists were making their way down the stairs from the lobby outside the gallery.

— Tammye Nash

@maxine_laqueene Yesterday at the Texas State Capitol, the LGBTQIA+ community came together to peacefully protest Senate Bill 14. A bill that would prohibit gender & life-affirming healthcare to trans kids. While sitting in the House of Representatives, myself & many others were forcibly removed by @TXDPS in an attempt to clear the room. At what point does peaceful protest have to become physical? I was sitting there helping to compose my friend who was having a panic attack yet DPS did not care & continued to get physical. At the same time, a group of conservative Texans were occupying the chamber as well, and none of them were forcibly removed. In fact, none of them were removed from the Capitol & I was told they were allowed back in, but we were not. Multiple queer individuals were arrested and detained, including @*SofiaLism* for putting up a banner during our protest rally in the main rotunda. And because of that, she has been banned from the Capitol for a year. Please share this and let people see how our government is actually treating the LGBTQIA+ community. @equalitytexas @The Austin Chronicle ———————————————————— #foryou #fyp #trans #translivesmatter ♬ original sound – Maxine LaQueene