Transcriber: Ian Edwards Reviewer: Leonardo Silva
Ahhh!
(Applause)
Yes!
Alright!
Joy.
Joy is when you are holding onto a feeling
that can encompass your entire being.
Whereas happiness can be fleeting, joy can be everlasting.
Let's get through this icebreaker, the elephant in the room.
Yes, I am a drag queen! Yeah!
(Applause) (Cheering)
Whoa!
And, a little while ago,
I learned how the power of a 20-second video can change your life,
how a 20-second clip can change your entire worldview.
Take a look.
(Music: “Baby Shark” song excerpt on video)
"Mommy shark, doo doo doo doo doo doo,
Mommy shark!"
"Daddy shark, doo doo doo doo doo doo
Daddy shark, doo doo doo doo doo doo
Daddy shark!"
"Grandma shark, doo doo doo doo doo doo
Grandma shark, doo doo doo doo doo doo
Grandma shark!"
Okay ...
(Laughter)
That's me - you can clap for that!
Yes, absolutely!
(Applause)
That's me and two-year-old Brody at my "Drag Brunch" in New Jersey.
So, a lot of times, families come to the brunch
because they're not able to go to a regular drag show late at night
and it's a time that kids can experience drag.
During the brunch, we do what's called “Drag Roulette”.
This is where the audience gets to pick songs for me to perform
and I have to perform them whether I know them or not.
(Laughter)
On this particular day, Brody wanted to hear “Baby Shark,”
and if you're not familiar with “Baby Shark,”
you haven't been around a toddler in the past three years.
It is an old campfire song
that was reworked to become a delight for all the children
and disdain for every parent across the globe.
It will never leave your head!
So, let's do it now - No, I'm just kidding. Okay.
It will never leave.
So,
after this moment, with permission from Brody's mom Kaylan,
I shared the video on my Twitter account.
And, also thanks to her, we are sharing it for you today.
But I shared it on my Twitter account, and within one day,
I had half a million views.
Half a million views.
(Applause)
Okay.
That's amazing.
It was super cool.
It landed me all over the news, mainstream media.
And I don't know about you, but drag queens love attention!
We love it!
(Laughter)
This is mainstream!
Look at that.
So, it was really awesome.
Within a few days,
millions and millions and millions of people had seen this video
across a variety of platforms.
And with any viral moment come the comments.
A lot of comments, of course, were very loving and supportive and kind,
but a lot of the comments expressed anger, disdain and even acts of violence.
[This is disgusting]
[Child abuse]
[Irresponsible parents]
[Absolutely disgusting]
Yeah.
Looking at this is really hard.
It's really hard to have thousands of strangers
say what they think you are.
All because of what I thought was creating a moment of joy
with another human being.
I imagine that a lot of people watching this today
probably agree with some of these comments.
If you're one of those people, I want you to take a moment.
Pause. Stop.
Think before you react.
There's another human being on the other end of that.
Lead with kindness.
(Applause)
Despite my best efforts to be respectful of boundaries
and put out a video that I thought was spreading joy,
I was taken to task.
I was taken to task, and for what?
For what? For doing my job as a drag queen?
My job is to entertain people, whether that's an adult or a child.
My job is to entertain the people in my audience.
And, on this day, I was entertaining an audience member.
My drag isn't just about entertaining, though.
My drag is about uplifting, educating and empowering.
For me, drag is about spreading moments of joy,
and I'm really grateful.
Because of this viral moment,
I was invited to come to Family Week in Ptown.
It's amazing!
(Applause)
So, if you're not familiar with Family Week,
Family Week is put on by the Family Equality Council
here in Provincetown, Massachusetts,
where thousands and thousands of families come to celebrate their love
and their beautiful, beautiful families.
And it's amazing!
Ptown has the most LGBTQ-inclusive population,
according to the US Census Bureau.
(Applause) (Cheering)
Yeah.
(Applause)
And, because of Baby Shark,
I was able to come to The Pilgrim House and do a series of kids’ shows.
And I would ask the kids during these shows.
I would say, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”
And to my surprise,
a lot of these kids said they wanted to be a drag queen!
Audience: Aww ...
(Applause)
Alright. Well, let me retire!
But the kids would always ask me back.
They would say, ”Well, what do you want to be when you grow up?”
(Laughter)
And I would reply with the answer, “I want to be a senator.”
(Applause)
Yeah!
(Applause)
That might sound like a strange answer coming from a drag queen.
However, drag to me is not just about what you see.
Drag to me is about activism, political action, and doing the work.
That's what drag is!
I am so lucky that I had this video,
and I'm so lucky that I had this opportunity
to perform for these kids.
And, throughout my decade career,
I've put my drag to work.
I won an election on the county committee
in New York City.
I was appointed by the Speaker of the New York City Council
to be an advisor on the New York City Nightlife Advisory Council.
And I just launched my own bid for City Council
in the seventh District of New York.
(Cheering) (Applause)
Because, for me,
drag has always been about leadership,
about being a leader and being a role model,
being able to be a leader and a role model for these kids.
Baby Shark reminded me of these values,
reminded me of the values of leadership and being put in this role.
It reminded me
of what I truly believe in,
which is that saying that I said earlier.
Lead with kindness.
It's so simple.
It's the golden rule.
Do unto others how you want to be treated.
Be kind.
I can't tell a parent how to raise their kid,
and I can't tell you how to think or behave.
But I can remind you to take those moments
and really, really cultivate the appreciation of joy.
Recognize that. Create it and amplify it.
Look around you.
Every single one of you has a platform.
Whether you have one follower or one million followers,
you, you have a platform within your friend groups
within your family units and the communities you belong to.
And a lot of people in today's world
are using their platforms to spread negativity.
But you have an opportunity to do different.
You have that opportunity.
And you may be asking yourself, "How can I do that?
How can I make a difference?"
You can speak up.
Speak up.
When you see somebody belittling somebody,
making fun of somebody;
when you see somebody being homophobic, transphobic,
misogynistic, Islamophobic, anti-immigrant, being a bigot,
you you have an opportunity to use your voice to stand up.
Stand up!
(Applause)
When you stand up for another human being, you are directly impacting the world.
You are taking that moment, that moment that might seem so little,
and you are lifting somebody else up and you are spreading joy.
(Applause)
Spread joy.
The world is a scary place.
It's hard,
but these moments can really change a life.
They say that it takes a village to raise a child.
Well, drag is a part of that village.
(Laughter)
(Applause)
Let your drag be joy.
Thank you.
(Applause) (Cheering)