My friend,
Kai Lee Mykels, and a group of other queens got together for the second annual Stonewall rally in Austin Texas . . . on the Capitol . . . in drag.
What follows is an amazing visual testament to the many sides and faces of drag: the glamour, the fun, the camaraderie, the celebration, and, yes, the political activism. Being political doesn't stop when we, as queens, put on some make-up, a wig, and a dress. On the contrary. Drag's very nature situates us within political and social contexts, commentaries, and statements. The queens in this picture embody and reflect much of the same political and social gumption and fearlessness that those queens who began the Stonewall riots did.
Texas is NOT an LGBTQ friendly state. Just because it's 2012 and we, on the surface, appear to be making political strides doesn't guarantee that in our everyday lives we, as a society, have progressed beyond the hatred, harassment, and homicide that was the reality before Stonewall. In March of 2012, mother
Wanda Derby in Fort Worth Texas beat her son's boyfriend with a cane because they were gay. In the city that i call home and who's streets i roam as a flamboyant and PROUD gay,
2 men were attacked and beaten with BASEBALL BATS. Baseball bats, people. This past June in my hometown of Corpus Christi,
young lesbian couple Mary Kristene Chapa and Mollie Olgin were shot in the head. Chapa was in critical condition and Olgin lost her life. The cops said "there was no sign of a hate crime."
And in the very city that these queens took this picture and on Austin's PRIDE weekend,
Mike Soret and Andrew Oppleman were on their way to get pizza when a man picked a fight with them and began pounded them with his fists. This happened a week ago today. That could have been you. That could have been me. That could have very well been those queens who were photographed in front of the Capitol of Texas celebrating the birth of our movement that has allowed our community to be open and freely gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and/or queer and remembering that it wasn't always so. And reflecting on the fact that it's not always so now.
Let me clarify: i'm not saying that the trials and tribulations of LGBTQ people are
exactly the same as they were back in 1969. We
have come a long way. And yes, we
are making strides. What i am saying is that hatred of LGBTQ people and the very real consequences of that hatred
still exists.
So, as a queer lesbian gay drag faux queen i am thankful and
forever grateful. Thankful to be a part of a lineage of bravery, sacrifice, camaraderie, and love. Yes, love. There is a lot of love in our rainbow village. Grateful that there are still queens, as well as others, who are willing to put themselves out there for ALL of us: flamboyantly queer, those who wish to assimilate, those just coming out, those still in the closet, and gay republicans. i am grateful for the queens of the past, the one's in the present, and the many more of the future for their endless bravery of putting on a dress and heels in a society (and a community at times) that doesn't always see drag queens as the invaluable and revolutionary beings that they
are.
This post didn't start off in the manner in which it became; my intention was to post an amazing picture of some drag queens that caught my attention on Facebook and that i connected to for reasons that i didn't quit understand.
i understand them now.
Reno Winston, Samira Sacriste Aguinaga, Robbie Foster, Althea Trix, Kara Foxx Paris, Nadine Hughes, Kai Lee Mykels, Pannica Tack, and Reagan Reynolds shine on you crazy diamonds! And thank you. i am so grateful for you taking that extra (flawlessly heeled) step.
i am humbled and proud to be a part of the drag family.
~b.
