Be here, Be queer.

I was trying to remember the first time I saw a Drag show. It may have been when I was in college. It's all a blur now, but I'm almost sure it was during a Wednesday night. The whole GSA group went to a bar and there was some kind of contest going on. With jello shots and Mountain Dew (I have a story with Mountain Dew, remind me to tell it to you one of these days) we passed the night and I think I remember a small stage and lots of laughter. And a funny as hell Drag Queen. It is a blur, really. My college years are literally a blur of fun and discovery. So many new things, so many people, so many experiences.

I think my second time being aware of a Drag Artist was in Pittsburgh, when Hedda Lettuce was the MC for an LGBTQ bingo in a warehouse in the Strip District. It was a blast. She was in roller skates and she was a vision. I didn't win anything but I had a blast. I think my third time watching a Drag show was at The Baton, in Chicago. It was the early Aughts and I went with all my girls to a show there. I was in AWE. My jaw literally hit the floor. I had never seen entertainers like those. Ever. The girls kept telling me that they hoped I could see one of the stars of The Baton: a legendary beauty that I later saw in the documentary The Queens. Yes, Virginia. Trans women have always been part of the Drag scene, lip synching for their lives. Literally. 

Then RuPaul came up with Drag Race and everything changed. Drag was no longer the Wednesday night entertainment for naive college kids. Or the Bingo MC. Or the bachelorette party staple. It was a full-fledged phenomenon. I think that thanks to RuPaul's Drag Race, the Drag scene suddenly changed and it became something more similar to what we see today, where Drag artists can actually have a career. But we would also have to accept that the Drag scene worldwide has been changing for years and that it is much more inclusive and varied than what we see in our screens. With all the flack that RuPaul gets for not being this or that (she's not perfect, she's just a hustler who came back from semi-retirement with an idea and she hit the jackpot) she has been instrumental in bringing Drag -the art form- to our living rooms. And Drag has been through quite a lot during the last fourteen years, ever since that first episode of Drag Race on Logo. 

I love Drag. I think Drag is subversive, fun and super creative. But I kind of agree with Maddie, our resident Drag Maven, when she says that Drag is better when it's gritty and crafty. When it says something about life and when it has soul. Do I love beautiful gowns and costumes? I do love them. I love the pageantry I saw in The Queens and what we see every season of Drag Race in any of its iterations (I have to confess that I have watched Drag Race in several languages, hunty). But what I really enjoy is the wit, grit and humor that Drag Queens have. I love their unflappable resilience and their undeniable artistry and their boundless creativity. I love what they can do with some shiny fabric, a wig, high heels, some rhinestones and a spotlight. 

I do think we need to support Drag Artists. It's a quintessential queer expression of artistry and it needs the venues we have been leaving empty even before the pandemic to survive. Gay and Lesbian bars and clubs need to stay open so this art form keeps flourishing. We do need Queer representation. Drag is both entertainment and a venue to explore gender, gender roles, art and a way to see the world through different lenses. Also, all Drag is valid.

After all, as Ru says, we are all born naked and the rest is Drag. 

XOXO