“I Didn’t Want to Be Here”: Drag performer left terrified after image appeared on “paedophile hunter” sites
A drag performer has spoken publicly for the first time about the personal toll of a row over a children’s library event, revealing he feared for his safety after his photograph was circulated on websites linked to vigilante “paedophile hunter” groups.
Marcus Hunter-Neill, who goes by stage persona Lady Portia Di’Monte, said the backlash following a protest outside a storytelling session left him traumatised and struggling to cope.
The controversy escalated after TalkTV aired footage from the demonstration and repeated allegations which the broadcaster has since accepted were baseless. The channel later issued an apology, withdrew the claims and agreed to pay substantial damages.
Graham Robson
Speaking to BBC News NI, Hunter-Neill described the experience as emotionally overwhelming.
“At one stage, I genuinely didn’t want to be here any more,” he said. “It became unbearable.”
The event at the centre of the dispute formed part of the Eastside Arts Festival in east Belfast in August 2025. The session, which included British Sign Language interpretation, featured two drag performers reading stories and interacting with children at Holywood Arches Library.
Police escorted the performers from the building after demonstrators gathered outside, and videos from the protest quickly spread online.
Organisers have since decided not to hold the event this year because of concerns about security.
Hunter-Neill said he was stunned by the reaction, particularly as similar sessions had been held for a decade without incident.
Rather than avoid the protesters, he approached some of them to hear their concerns directly.
“I wanted to know what they believed was happening inside,” he explained. “People only change their views through conversation.”
He said many demonstrators appeared convinced something harmful was taking place, despite the event itself being relatively ordinary.
“We played games, read stories and taught a few basic phrases in sign language. That was the extent of it.”
The aftermath, however, left him shaken. He recalled the surreal experience of leaving the venue in a police vehicle after arriving there earlier on foot, greeting local shopkeepers along the way.
“One minute I’m walking through my own neighbourhood as normal, and the next I’m sitting in the back of a police car unable to think straight,” he said. “I couldn’t even remember my address.”
The ordeal unfolded while Hunter-Neill’s family was already facing a major personal crisis. His father Billy had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer and was beginning chemotherapy treatment as the controversy intensified.
Hunter-Neill said the stress became all-consuming.
“I was trying to support my dad and keep things together for my family, while at the same time being frightened to leave my own house.”
His father, a former prison officer who worked at the Maze Prison during the Troubles, died in December.
Hunter-Neill said one of their final meaningful conversations centred on the fallout from the library event.
“That’s what we ended up talking about near the end of his life, which is heartbreaking when I think about it now.”
Scene was founded in Brighton in 1993, at a time when news stories about Pride protests were considered radical.
Since then, Scene has remained proudly independent, building a platform for queer voices. Every subscription helps us to report on the stories that matter to LGBTQ+ people across the UK and beyond.
Your support funds our journalists and contributes to Pride Community Foundation’s grant-making and policy work.
Member discussion