BeatRoute Magazine B.C. print e-edition - July 2016

LOUD AND PROUD
a roundtable discussion with the drag community in Vancouver
In June of 1969, Martha P. Johnson
played a pivotal role in catalyzing
the Stonewall Riots in Greenwich
Village, standing up and fighting for
the rights of the LGBT community
alongside her peers. Johnson was a
drag queen and her actions solidified
drag performers as the guardians
of the gay community. Johnson’s
act of bravery and rebellion opened
the door for us to spit back in the
face of oppression and fear, and say,
“Fuck you! We are people too!”
Vancouver’s Pride Parade is
one of the biggest parades of any
kind in Western Canada. According
to some, the first parade was in
1978, while some say it didn’t
actually take place until 1981.
Pride celebrations are a place
where the gay, lesbian, bisexual,
and transgender communities and
their allies can come together to
continue moving toward a world
of peace and full acceptance.
Queens, kings, and things have
had a role in pride celebrations
around the world. Their shows act
as a soapbox from which they can
rally the communities to speak up
for their rights and freedoms. As
performers, they have the ability
to speak beyond the little boxes
that may be imposed upon them by
society, making them less subservient
and more powerful. It’s difficult
to singularly define what drag is,
as it is based on both performer
and audience interpretation, but
one thing drag most certainly
does is bring joy and comfort to
the hearts of people looking for
validation in being who they are.
The drag community in Vancouver
is booming. Here at BeatRoute, we
thought it would be powerful to hear
the voices of the queens, kings, and
things from our local scene. Most
drag performers aren’t given a public
avenue besides social media to have a
voice, so we have assembled a group
that ranges in generation, gender,
style, and experience to help us
better understand where Vancouver
drag started, what roles it plays in the
community, and where it is going.
by David Cutting
HOW DID THE VANCOUVER
DRAG SCENE START?
Shanda: One night after a few too
many, Lord Stanley was messing
around and put on his wife’s
heels. The rest is history.
Alma: Well that was a very long
time ago so maybe ask Carlotta
Gurl since she was there.
Carlotta: Contrary to some people’s
belief (Thanks Alma!), I wasn’t around
when the drag scene first started
in Vancouver. But from what I’ve
heard from the more senior members
of the drag community, the scene
started many years ago, even when
it wasn’t acceptable to do so.
Jaylene: I have had the pleasure to know
some community icons that were around
back in the 1960s and 1970s when drag
started to become popular in Vancouver,
names like ted northe, Charity, Sandy
St. Peters, and Bill Monroe. Back then
they couldn’t freely walk the streets in
drag and they had to get out of drag
when they finished their performances.
It’s because of people like this that we
enjoy the freedoms we have today. They
stood up against the bigots and pushed
through the discrimination. We are all
indebted to their strength and courage.
Isolde: It’s hard to pinpoint the beginning
of the drag scene anywhere because
drag has been around in some form
forever. It was also such a taboo,
underground thing that it was not
ever properly recorded, as most live
performances aren’t. The modern drag
Meet the Queens
JAYLENE TYME is the host of XY
Legends (Sundays at 9:30 p.m.) and a
legend herself. Her impersonations are
masterclass and her stage presence is
mesmerizing. She is a pillar of support
for many individuals in the community.
scene in Vancouver as we know it
today however, has its roots partially in
the way liquor licenses worked - you
could get a cabaret license but you
needed a show. What better way to
signal you were a gay bar before it was
legal to be gay, than by having a man
in a dress. The Dogwood Monarchist
Society also had a major hand in modern
drag culture. It [was] started 45 years
ago by ted northe, who was known
as the Empress of Canada and was
even addressed as such by Trudeau
(the senior). It was an organization
that elected an Empress for all the
queens who worked at the various
bars as a means to combat infighting
within the community. Drag courts
have subsequently sprung up in cities
all across Canada but Vancouver is
known as the Mother Court of Canada.
WHAT IS UNIQUE ABOUT
VANCOUVER’S DRAG CULTURE?
Shanda: We’re all lawyers by day.
Rose: There are so many different
kinds of drag artists in the city who
all approach drag from their unique
perspective, which not only makes
for interesting shows to watch, but
the fact that everyone is co-mingling
and sharing ideas makes for a really
diverse and vibrant community.
Dynasty: All the performers here
work and interact with each other! We
live in a small city so there aren’t any
real “scenes” that divide us. It’s great
because we are often introduced to
many different types of performers
CARLOTTA GURL is the hostess of The
Barron Gurl Show (Wednesdays at 10:30
p.m.) and Absolutely Dragulous (Saturdays
at 11:30 p.m.) at Junction. Her performances
are legendary and her presence in
the drag community is infamous.
and artists and it allows us to not only
understand each other’s work but it
also let us learn from each other. We
share our experiences and knowledge;
there’s a very strong communal bond
to the Vancouver drag scene.
DRAG IS HEAVILY INVOLVED IN
PRIDE CELEBRATIONS AROUND THE
WORLD. WHAT IS ITS IMPORTANCE?
Jaylene: Pride is a time for us to
celebrate the people who came before
us and paved the way for the rights and
freedoms we enjoy today. Drag queens
have historically been there to support
and bring awareness to many issues in
our communities; from raising money for
the needs of our vulnerable community
members, to standing up to bigotry and
homophobia. I’ve always felt that a smile,
some glitter, and a big wig can heal a
lot of things. And with drag performers,
generally speaking, we bring an
exciting energy to the community.
Isolde: I’ve always believed kings,
queens, and things to be part
cheerleader and part foot soldier for the
queer rights movement. We are the ones
who could never pass for straight so we
learned to survive at a young age and
that often leads to making people laugh.
Jem: A drag queen started the riots at
stonewall, a drag queen started theatre,
a drag queen has always been there at
the beginning: fighting for what’s right
and making them laugh along the way.
Alma: Drag queens have always been
leaders in the LGBTQ community.
DYNASTY (pictured on the cover) is
one of the 2016 runner-ups for the Mr/
Miss Cobalt competition. With fierce
fashion and high-energy performances,
we cannot wait to see more from her.
24
July May 2016