Philadelphia parade attendees accused of homophobia

A shocking skit in Philadelphia’s Mummers Parade stirred controversy by mocking Caitlyn Jenner, drawing scorn from politicians and others across social media.

The parade – one of the oldest in America – featured a Bruce Jenner lookalike in his Olympic glory with a Wheaties box in the background.

The most controversial aspect this year, however, involved so-called “wenches” from Finnegan New Year’s Brigade centering their act around Caitlyn Jenner, where a man dressed as Bruce Jenner drops into a wheelchair and changes into a woman’s costume while Aerosmith’s “Dude Looks Like a Lady” played. “Our Trans citizens do not deserve this type of satire/insult”.

The Associated Press reported that a local gay man, John Holtz, 28, said he was called gay slurs and assaulted by the group while walking his parents’ dog.

According to NBC Philadelphia, participants from a brigade called Sammar Strutters pulled what they called the “Siesta Fiesta”, where they, including children, wore ponchos and sombreros and painted their face brown.

After posting an image of the group’s members holding a sign that read “Mummers Lives Matter”, The Finnegan Twitter account posted, “OMG STOP EVERYONE!”

“It was not a fun event and it makes me a little concerned about what this actually brings to the city”, Holtz said of the annual parade. When Holtz went to confront the group about the comment, he said, another man “jumped in, clocked me in the face”. That’s when Holtz says an unidentified Mummer punched him in the face, leaving him with a black eye.

Holtz says officers asked him to file a report, but he declined.

The group also defended its choice to focus its act on Jenner’s transition, saying the “satirical” act was voted upon by members of the Brigade.

Inemer assured that the videotaped Philadelphia Mummers Parade participant from their group is “no longer considered a Mummer” and has been “dealt with without any outside influence”.

Dozens of activists from the Black Lives Matter movement used the parade to stage a protest. ‘Hurtful to many Philadelphians.

The incidents during this year’s parade occurred even after organizers created the “Philadelphia Division”, which was meant to diversify the parade with two new Hispanic performance groups, a black drill team and the LGBT Miss Fancy Brigade.

“While the Commission appreciates that Mummers’ leadership took steps for a more diverse parade, more needs to be done to end these public displays of bigotry”, she said.