Drag queens, Facebook meet over real name policy

MENLO PARK, Calif. -- The Bay Area drag queen community does not like being locked out of their Facebook accounts because they use their stage names. Members of the LGBT community are at Facebook's Menlo Park headquarters Wednesday to discuss the social network's name policy.

The meeting comes after local drag queens reported they could only regain access to their Facebook accounts if they listed their legal names found on their driver's license or credit cards.

Many members of the transgender community and drag queens say people often only know them by their stage name.

They say this is because listing their legal names on their Facebook profile could put them at risk of being found by family members, co-workers and others they may not want to share information with.

"The issue of safety and privacy, that we are here saying that basically everybody has a right to control their online identity. In the digital age, Facebook is one of our major public forums, so people have a right to choose how they participate in that forum," said draq queen Lil Miss Hot Mess.

Facebook says their identity policy is in place in part to help deal with cyberbullying. The social network does allow drag performers to use their stage names on fan pages.

San Francisco Supervisor David Campos will hold a 2 p.m. press conference with an update following the meeting at Facebook.