A petition against a performer scheduled for the Adelaide Fringe Festival who was purportedly pictured wearing a Ku Klux Klan (KKK)-inspired outfit has gained more than 1200 signatures online and prompted an investigation by organisers.
Sydney man Joshua Harrison started a Change.org petition called Fight Racism and anti-Semitism against a show called “50 Shades of Fringe” by Adelaide man Shayne Budgen.
The petition includes pictures allegedly taken from social media accounts showing Mr Budgen, 45, purportedly wearing a KKK-inspired hood.
Mr Budgen, who describes himself as “Switch Master” at Adelaide BDSM club Switch, is pictured in a variety of outfits on his Facebook page and promoting events at the club such as school uniform parties and “freaky Friday” events.
“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,” Mr Harrison wrote.
“As artists, we will not stand for anti-Semitism or racism in any form. We respect our entire artistic and wider community, regardless of race, religious beliefs, sexuality, gender and many more beautiful and celebrated features of human beings.”
He has called on Adelaide Fringe to remove the event from its program.
Read the article in the Townsville Bulletin.