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A trans woman and drag queen appeared to promote a paid partnership with Smirnoff, but the vodka retailer is denying any current deal with the budding activist.
Several recent Instagram posts from drag queen and trans woman "Maxine LaQueene" featured the official "Paid Partnership with Smirnoff" tags, denoting that the major liquor retailer has hired the biological male for promotional material.
In addition to being a promoter of drag and transgenderism, LaQueene is an outspoken LGBTQ activist who had recently been removed from the Texas state capitol building by police for disrupting a legislature vote on a trans bill.
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Smirnoff has denied having any current working relationship with LaQueene. In an email to Fox News Digital, a representative said LaQueene "is not currently a Smirnoff partner, and does not currently have any contract with Smirnoff." LaQueen, the representative said, was one of the participants in a promotional campaign in the fall of 2022 but not now in 2023.
Drag queen and trans woman Maxine LaQueene recently became a paid partner for vodka brand Smirnoff. (Screenshot/YouTube)
U.K anti-trans and detransition activist Oli London made the alleged connection between LaQueene and Smirnoff in a post shared to his Twitter account.
London shared several images, including a paid partnership post, a photo of LaQueene protesting at the capitol, and another of her being escorted out by police while apparently flashing her private parts to bystanders.
In addition to the photos, he wrote, "Meet the FACE of @SmirnoffUS. A radical trans activist who participated in an illegal insurrection in the Texas state house this week and flashed his backside and genitals in front of teenage children and women. He also testified in opposition to SB14 against a ban on child genital surgeries."
The user added, "He campaigns for children yet his Twitter is littered with horrifying explicit content! Is this person someone who should be the face of a vodka brand?"
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Host drag queen Athena Dion performs for guests during a Drag Brunch at R House Wynwood in Miami, Florida, on April 9, 2022. (Daniel A. Varela/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Fox News Digital scrolled through LaQueene’s Instagram in an attempt to confirm the claims in London’s tweet. The first pinned item on the trans woman's account is a video featuring her being yanked out of the Texas legislature’s upper gallery by police after joining in with a raucous left-wing protest of Senate Bill 14.
Fox reported on the protests against the bill that would "ban gender surgeries or other sex reassignment procedures being performed on children," stating, "Left-wing protesters swarmed the Texas state Capitol in Austin on Tuesday, forcing lawmakers to halt proceedings."
In LaQueene’s caption for the video, she stated, "While sitting in the House of Representatives, myself & many others were forcibly removed by @texas_dps [Texas Department of Public Safety] in an attempt to clear the room."
A further look at the same account revealed multiple posts showing LaQueene in full drag doing promotional material for Smirnoff’s Pride 2023 Ambassadorship. One of the posts was a video ad involving LaQueene strutting in full drag for the campaign.
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In the caption, she wrote, "#Ad The suspiciously large woman of Austin, Texas is here to remind you to support @smirnoff and trans entertainers! Don’t forget to tap the link in my bio and vote for Maxine to be Smirnoff’s Pride 2023 Ambassador!"
Again, a tag at the top of the post read, "Paid partnership with smirnoff."
A variety of Smirnoff vodka liquors. (Rick Kern / Stringer/Getty Images)
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