There's a difference between being a drag queen and being transgender. 3, 2, 1...
Girl, I can't twirl over here fast enough.
They are two completely separate things, you know? One's, like, uh...
artistic expression and one's an actual like gender identity. Yeah, like the easiest way I had someone explain it to me was like:
"Drag is what you do; trans is who you are."
(YES!) Very well done, well said.
Well, I will say this...
Oh, no.
I know, I know, I know, I know. No, no, no, no, no, I agree with y'all! I agree with y'all!
I'm clarifying for the people out there because
me in the type of drag that I do-- maybe not with my rainbow hair right now, y'all, but when I have my blond hair
and my cleavage out and I look like a woman, whether that is a transgender woman or a cisgender woman--
I get hit up by men in the public who don't know drag, and they do think I'm a woman or they don't understand the difference
even when I tell them. So I do think it is important to know that there are people out there who don't know the difference,
and, for them, I would just really say: this is an illusion, a pretend, a performance. That is
an identity. And there are people who like to walk the line between both, and that's fine, too.
My family is supportive of my career. 3, 2, 1...
Um...I will just say it didn't start off that way.
I started drag a year and some change ago, and
I didn't post anything on Facebook or anything like that until about three months in because I was afraid of it, and then my brother, who
is the one that I kind of argue with a lot was the first person that actually shared my pictures and was like, "Keep it
going, I'm proud of you" and everything. And then, from there, all of my family followed suit
probably because they think I'm going to get rich from it, and they want money, but...
Well, at the age of 17, I got thrown out of my house by my mother on my birthday when they found out I was gay, and
ever since then they haven't supported me up to this day. Yeah, it's very hurtful.
I'm going to change my answer to "somewhat disagree" after hearing your story.
I remember when I first moved to LA and started getting gigs that like seemed really impressive to me,
I was like, "Dad,
do you know what drag is? I do drag." And he was like, "No, no." And he was like,
"Well, don't tell your mom" because my mom was really sick, and then my mom passed away, and I never told her, and
so that's something that I think about a lot.
Women can do drag. 3, 2, 1...
You don't have to come here just because we did. Live your truth.
This is an issue.
I've always been very divided on, and I have to be very careful with how I say this.
I do stand divided on what my definition of drag is and where a
biological, cisgender woman fits into that because obviously, yes, women can do drag because we have a drag king here,
you know, and we have femme Queens and hyper Queens. So yes, they can and they do. Do I personally agree with that?
I know too many girls who have come up to me and asked me to "teach them drag," and I get them on at a show
at my home bar, or whatever, and they show up in just, like, their regular club
makeup and their club outfit. And I'm like girl that is not...
Well, I can't tell her that's not drag.
I have to jump off of that really quick. My belief is that drag is the art form of gender.
It is the performing of gender, and we are all negatively impacted by societal expectations of gender.
How we should or shouldn't sound like, what we should or shouldn't wear,
what we should or shouldn't be into... And so we all have something to share through drag,
so to tell anyone that their drag is not valid is
really frustrating because we all have struggles with gender.
And the thing I will say, as a cis woman, is that like, as women, we are taught our entire life,
you know, to listen to what men tell us about how we're supposed to look. And
the whole point of drag is to throw all of that in the garbage. I was very feminized as a child, and
getting really personal here,
but I'm actually a cancer survivor. And I lost my hair and was bald when I was a 7 year old girl, and so
everyone around me, in the name of
supporting and loving me--which is beautiful-- tried to make sure to emphasize
everything that was feminine about me. And, for me, my drag persona and
discovering drag and doing drag has been all about reclaiming
who I am and my identity.
It's your opinion--and honey, I don't argue with opinions. That's your... live your fantasy.
But, in my head, that's telling someone, "I'm gonna impersonate you, and I'm gonna live out what I think you are,
but you can't." To me, that just seems a little off.
And that's what I'm saying. I'm not on the disagree side.
I'm on the "somewhat agree" side because I'm saying, if you're going to do it--and that goes for everybody--
really do it. Don't be in there, half assing it.
Sometimes people don't know how
to do it. Everyone has a right to look the way they want to.
And I have a right to stand on this line.
No, you're good. Stay over there, but we're still going to disagree with it. You can stay on that side all you want to.
Drag reinforces negative stereotypes about women. 3, 2, 1...
I chose "strongly disagree" because it said "drag," and I don't think all drag is female impersonation.
I fully agree with that. The only reason I'm here at "somewhat disagree" and not over there is because there are a lot of drag
standards that reinforce female stereotypes, such as nails,
lashes, wigs... And there are some amazing, super queer
performance entertainers that are somewhere in this room that are just amazing and do whatever the fuck they want,
but there are queens who will go to the club, and they'll read you because they're like, "Girl, you're not wearing nails. Girl,
your heel is not above five inches." And by
reinforcing those stereotypes for a drag queen
impersonating a woman, you're reinforcing those stereotypes on the women that you think should look like that.
I think a lot of the really unreasonable expectations from drag queens about the nails and the hair and the hips and the that is
because, suddenly, drag queens are on television. And one of the unfortunate parts about breaking drag to straight people or straight
audiences is making it, to some degree,
palatable, and the reason someone like RuPaul shot to fame was because she was stunning. She was beautiful.
She was a supermodel.
I think we're definitely seeing the effects of
stunningly beautiful drag queens on television because now a lot of us are expected to look that way.
But, in fairness, you could
wear whatever you want. You know, I'm here because I love
the beauty of a woman, the way she looks-- whether if she's skinny, big girls, or any of color.
It's the beauty; it's the homage that you're giving.
The problem is not that the Queens and the performers who want to look like a beautiful woman.
It's the Queens who will judge other Queens for not doing that, for not following these female beauty standards.
The drag community is diverse and inclusive.
3, 2, 1...
Dang, y'all.
I mean... I'm going to have-- Oh, oh, make your shift, make your shift.
Thank you.
I'm really gonna have to say "somewhat disagree," even from my own
stance on an opinion question earlier where I didn't believe that necessarily all cisgender women should do drag. Drag is not 100%
inclusive because I have been told I'm not this enough or I'm not that enough. I had a girl touch my stomach and go,
"Mm girl, don't you want to wear a girdle?"
And I said, "No, I don't." So I mean... I can't say that we're totally inclusive.
I think we're
going towards that, and we should be, but we're not right now.
And drag, at large, is still such a boys club.
I know, as a King,
there's either people don't book Kings at all, or there's like a quota, where they're like,
"Aww, we're going book a King." And it's like, "No, bitch. I'm
talented. It is in your best interest to book me. And if you don't book me, I'm going to produce my own show,"
which is what I did.
Yeah, I feel like there are definitely pockets of inclusivity, and while I do love West Hollywood,
I will say I didn't start getting booked in West Hollywood until I was on a TV show (Right, right.) 'cause they wouldn't have me there. And it still feels weird sometimes going into that environment.
It's weird for for me, too.
And then that's a place where I also thought: I need to wear nails,
I need to pad, and all of these things.
But then I think I felt so much love going to places in downtown, saying,
"What you're doing is valid," that that's why I'm comfortable enough to walk around in any venue. And it's divided in sections. Absolutely.
I will not say it's not, but I think there's a spot for everybody in all these areas. I
I like the way I look outside of drag.
3, 2, 1...
Bitch, I'm hot out of drag.
You got to love yourself first,
then you love the craft.
I feel very thankful to be happy with the way
I look outside of drag because I think there are a lot of people that don't. I know a couple of friends who have told
me that they do drag because it makes them feel more confident with their
appearances because, outside of drag, they feel ugly, and they feel like a nobody.
I used to really fucking hate the way I looked. I was a short, skinny kid, and
I was femme. I was the worst of everything you could possibly be growing up Catholic and Mexican in the South,
you know? Through drag, I
was able to find the things I loved about myself and kind of feed that until I got to a point where I
really don't give a shit anymore. I love the way I look. I fucking love it.
I don't know if I would have gotten there without the drag.
I mean, I love the way I look out of drag. I'm a big guy, which is harder to be a gay man
who is larger. I can go to West Hollywood and drag and sit VIP at Pomp or Sir.
If I go as a boy, I got to check my ID, pay maybe double the cover, you know?
No one's gonna buy me a drink. I got to buy the doorman a drink. It's like that.
So I love myself out of drag. I just need y'all to love me up out a drag. You can find me. Hello! Thank you!
I've seen all of you outside of drag. It's a very distinct look. And I like y'all outside of drag!
I don't know if that counts for anything 'cause it's your opinion, but, listen, I live for y'all outside of drag. I'm glad for y'all to live for yourselves.
Thank you so much.
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