Despite claiming on the campaign trail to be “gay friendly”, the Trump administration has unleashed a barrage of policies and amendments that demonstrate the contrary. From reinstating a ban on transgender military personnel and rescinding legal protections for trans workers and students to arguing in favour of a homophobic cake shop, the actions of the US president have been decidedly unfriendly to LGBTQI people.

People of colour, migrants and women have also been the subject of controversial policies, offensive remarks and ill-thought-out tweets. It feels as if the Trump administration seeks to use diversity as the scapegoat on which America is apparently made great again … and, to top it off, he failed to recognise pride month.When Donald Trump visits the UK on 13 July, I am helping to coordinate a group who will stage a protest in drag. This is to increase awareness of the way Trump’s administration has systematically attacked the LGBTQI community and to stand in solidarity with the many other groups who feel marginalised along lines of race, class and gender. To not object to the visit would seem like a betrayal of the tolerant society that the UK as a whole strives to be.

When diversity is attacked, it is imperative that marginalised people stay visible, stand up to bullies and engage satirically with what is going on.

New York activists in the 90s used the slogan Silence = Death to protest against the way the US government ignored the impact of the Aids crisis on gay men, and the phrase remains pertinent today (particularly given that Trump’s first budget proposal included a roughly $800m cut to bilateral HIV/Aids efforts). One of the things that makes drag so powerful is the way we make ourselves visible in a particularly spectacular way. There is a long history of drag kings and queens getting involved with political and social issues. From their role in the Stonewall riots to the work that they have done raising money for HIV charities, drags are not scared to put themselves forward when there is a need to show up and speak out.

By pushing the way that we look to the extremes, we are showing that we are not ashamed to be different – we are proud of our differentness. Most important of all, we are showing that the UK is a place that is not ashamed to celebrate the diversity of its people. If we can be accepted as the extreme glittery spectacles that we are, then it just might make it easier for everyone else to be themselves, too.

We are eager to join with the many other protests that will take place when Trump arrives in the UK. It is important that we stand with others who feel similarly outraged at the way the UK government is failing to stand up to Trump. It is about more than just one group’s interests and needs, and it is vital to stand in solidarity with all marginalised groups who are affected by Trump’s administration and the rhetoric of intolerance that fuels it.