It’s been a couple of weeks since I had a wonderful day out in London with a well-connected friend, enjoying activities that might soon be illegal in parts of the US.
We braved the heat, fueled only by frozen variations of cocktails, to take advantage of the many free festivals that were on offer that weekend.
First up we saw the self-proclaimed “first Black Drag King from Birmingham to have been featured on Channel 4”: the incredible Don One.
This was on the riverside pedestrian area somewhere outside of the South Bank Centre if I recall correctly, so there was no roof to raise but without question it would have been had there been one.
They’ve a Youtube channel for anyone interested in experiencing the Don1 vibe.
Next up, I’m afraid I didn’t catch the name of this duo, but they were a couple of hilarious drag queens with maximum lip syncing and audience interaction. They took a small break in the middle so they could have a quick on-stage prosecco brunch, entirely understandable given the sunshine.
Then a few streets away from, and unrelated to, the drag stage, I got to witness The Yes Mess, whom you can also take a look at on their Youtube channel.
Although that vid that doesn’t feature one of my favourite parts of that weekend’s show; the live oboe performances.
Why my “illegal in the US” comment above? Well, it relates to the drag performances that formed part of the above adventures.
As part of the Republican effort to invalidate any minority that doesn’t look and behave exactly like Donald Trump, some of their politicians and lawmakers are attempting to introduce bans on drag shows.
This isn’t hyperbole. I’d foolishly assumed that “drag ban” was a catchy name in general for the ever more horrific legislation around gender and sexuality certain US states are producing rather than something literally relating to drag shows. And although it’s undoubtedly a part of the same effort, there are restrictions or bans specifically for drag shows being proposed.
From the Guardian:
Most of the proposed bills include defining a drag performer as someone performing while using dress, makeup and mannerisms associated with a gender other than the one assigned to them at birth.
It’s an absolutely ridiculously restriction on the supposedly sacred freedom of expression value the same folk likely claim to hold dear. The thought that some of the folk enriching our lives by providing hilarious and harmless weekend entertainment could be prosecuted for doing so is truly mind-blowing.
Not that this style of performance would necessarily be what the impact would be limited to. As is typical, laws designed to cause anguish to a section of society that the proposers don’t credit as having any moral worth to worry about whatsoever tend to spill over to other areas. Famously, the definition above would presumably ban the several of Shakespeare’s plays that have storylines involving cross-dressing. This is especially ironic given that back in the day all of their female characters would have been played by men.
I’m really not convinced that watching Mrs Doubtfire - presumably first in line to lose its PG rating - when I was a kid did me permanent harm. Although having not watched it in a while I also don’t know if it aged well.