The Guardian has a story today about a London woman addicted to drag culture, whose dream in life was to be a drag queen. Enter the always delightful season 7 standout Mrs Kasha Davis, who played fairy godmother to her, transforming her into a colorful “bio queen” and having her lip-sync onstage at her one-woman autobiographical show There’s Always Time for a Cocktail at the legendary Royal Vauxhall Tavern in London.
As for the often thorny philosophical issues of gender politics, she writes:
But a question remained. How can a woman be a drag queen, when a drag queen is a man dressed as a woman? This issue has divided the drag community – with bio, or “faux”, queens defending their right to perform alongside their male counterparts. The answer comes down to the fact that drag is about more than just a man wearing a dress, but about questioning gender stereotypes and the norms we are expected to conform to – norms that can stifle us all – all while putting on a blinding show.
Another issue of contention is whether a straight, cisgendered woman – such as myself – has the right to take the stage in a gay bar: one of the few places where those who identify as LGBTQIA (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual) can let go without judgement. RuPaul’s Drag Race has propelled drag into living rooms across the globe, creating a new fanbase of straight cisgendered females who would not have otherwise been exposed to the intimacies of the scene. Members of the LGBTQIA community have complained that increasing numbers of straight women are visiting gay clubs without respecting why such spaces exist. The worst offenders cling onto tired stereotypes that gay men are tirelessly fabulous and one dimensional, and see queens more as curious toys rather than human beings. Some queens have even reported that women have invaded the stage mid-performance without invitation.
I ask Victoria Sin, a bio queen based in London, her opinion on this thorny issue. She, and other queens, caution me that those who do not identify as LGBTQIA should be respectful and consider how important spaces such as gay clubs are to a community that, despite having come leaps and bounds in terms of legal rights, is still widely marginalised.
“Identifying as part of the LGBTQIA community is not just about sexuality, as actually some ‘straight’ people also identify as queer and a lot of trans people are straight as well,” she explains. “It’s more about contributing the the community rather than acting as a tourist within it, and respecting that it’s important for queer people to take up space.”
But she stresses: “I think it’s good to recognise your privilege in these situations, but as a woman you shouldn’t feel like you can’t call out misogynist behaviour when it is happening to you within these spaces.
Read and watch what happens when the newly christened “Trashmira” takes to the stage to perform the Scissor Sisters classic “Let’s Have a Kiki,” below. (via The Guardian)
