Tracy Shannon
This content was last updated Oct. 4, 2023, 8:01 a.m. UTC
Tracy Shannon is a Texas anti-trans activist who has protested Drag Queen Story Hours at Libraries in her home state and across the country, successfully shutting down events in Houston and Leander, TX. She is the director of the Houston chapter of MassResistance, an anti-LGBTQ+ organization. She refers to herself as a trans widow as a way of describing the fact that her former spouse came out as a trans woman either shortly before or during their divorce.
Drag queens are not for kids, and we need to not be harming kids with chemicals and surgeries. And dirty books don't belong in the school libraries.
Life and Activism
It is not entirely clear when Shannon divorced or what the circumstances were. It seems to have happened prior to 2010, based on the account of her spouse’s cross dressing and subsequent coming out posted by MassResistance. She blames the LGBTQ+ community and the “neo-morality movement” as well as insurance companies for her divorce.
Shannon has been the director of MassResistance Texas in Houston since 2018. On LinkedIn she describes her profession as a "Special Investigator of Child Groomers," most likely a reference to her activism against Drag Queen Story Hour events. It also lists her as a former barista. Her Facebook page, Madmommabear, lists her as a journalist, however it is unclear if she has ever worked as a reporter.
Protests and Publicity
In 2018 Shannon and the Houston chapter of MassResistance joined with the Houston area Pastor Council and sued the city of Houston to end Drag Queen Story Hours in the city, claiming that the city was working with LGBTQ+ groups and "brainwashing the children of Houston." While her suit was unsuccessful she eventually claimed to have found evidence that one of the performers was a registered sex offender, and organizers ended the event after apologizing for not having followed background check procedures.
Since then she has participated in many more protests against Drag Queen Story Hours. She was involved in a plan to get an anti-trans children's book circulating in Texas libraries. In addition to protesting LGBTQ+ literature and Drag Queen Story Hours, she has used her platform and conservative affiliations to speak out against gender affirming care for minors. She has spoken in support of anti-trans legislation, including HB 3502, to vastly expand liability for insurance companies covering gender-affirming care in Texas making transition uninsurable, and Texas SB 14 and SB 162, banning gender-affirming care for youth and limiting the ability of trans Texans to update their birth certificates.