Get Out! GAY Magazine – Issue 458 February 26, 2020

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interview / GET OUT! MAGAZINE >> GETOUTMAG.COMJackieCoxBY MICHAEL COOKTALKS HER CULTURALAWAKENING ANDBEING A PART OF THISSEASON OF THE ‘DRAGRACE' NEW YORK CITYSISTERHOOD
Jackie Cox knows herway around the NewYork City stages andis ready to take herunique performing styleand Broadway sensibilitiesto the stage of “RuPaul’sDrag Race” this year. I satdown to chat with Jackieabout how she’s meldingher cultural backgroundwith her currentperformance style (andwhy that is so important)and what New York City“Drag Race” dynamo hasbeen one of her biggestinspirations.So tell me, Jackie, whatdoes it feel like right nowas your life is changingright before your eyesas “RuPaul’s Drag Race”Season 12 is about topremiere?I feel like a breath ofrelief that it is finally not asecret–that’s the biggestthing. I feel very honoredto also be a part of thisgroup of New York Citygirls. It’s a really coolgroup; we all love eachother and hate each otherat the same time in thebest way. [laughs] We areall just doing ourselves.It really doesn’t even feellike competition. It feelslike five amazing differentqueens ready to havesome fun and hopefullymake New York City proud.You have an extensiveperforming backgroundand a true Broadwaysensibility. Do you thinkthat it was helpful to you incompeting?Well, you know, of courseeverything in your life ishelpful. Those that thinkthat past experiences area waste of time probablydidn’t learn the lessonthat they needed to fromthose past experiences.I think that everythingthat has happened in mylife has led me to thismoment, which has beenvery thrilling to see cometo life. If you had askedme three or four yearsago, I probably wouldhave said something like,“Probably one day, never,”but this year it happened,and I said, “Why not, let’sgo for it.” It was my firsttime auditioning also. Ithink this felt like the rightmoment for me. All ofthe theater stuff, thoseexpensive college classes,hopefully now they havepaid off a little bit.Your culture is extremelyimportant to you. What isimportant that you madesure is something youhighlighted as aqueen?Definitely, andespecially rightnow. Therewas a longtime whenI did notembracemy culturalheritage. Irememberthat 9/11happenedwhen Iwas in highschool at thattime. Beinga MiddleEasternperson wassomethingdifferent. I wasliving in OrangeCounty at thetime, and theyactually put awaythe Aladdin andJasmine charactersat Disneyland.People were scaredof what MiddleEastern people were andare, and I thought that wassomething that I couldnever really embrace.What I saw with theelection of Trump was thathappening again, but inan even scarier way, in away where people fromMuslim-majority countriesall over the world aresuddenly not allowed tobe in America at all.Have his policies affectedyou personally?My family members notbeing allowed into thiscountry was crazy tome. My aunt, who justvisited here in 2015, wassuddenly not allowed tocome visit my mom andme anymore, her sister.I really thought that thiswas not a moment tohide anymore. Thisis not a moment topretend that you arenot Middle Eastern,that this is not partof your life andthat this isn’taffecting you.I have thisplatform, andI have theseshows andthis stage. Ineed to talkabout it in mydrag and makepeople see and havethis visibility and nothide and not hidethese charactersaway. I was thinkingback to 2001 andthinking whatFRIDAYS
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Get Out! GAY Magazine – Issue 458 February 26, 2020

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