Drag is for everyone

When talking about Pride, it’s essential to talk about the importance of drag in the movement. Pride started in 1970 as a way to remember the 1969 Stonewall Riot, an anti-police-brutality riot in New York City that was in response to police violence against queer people. Two drag queens of colour, Marsha P Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, are credited as two of the initiators of Stonewall. Without them, Pride as we know it today may not even exist. Drag has gone from being an extremely underground art form to a cultural phenomenon, with shows like RuPaul’s Drag Race popularizing it in recent years. However, there are still many misconceptions surrounding drag. Many people assume that drag is specifically about men dressing up as women, and assumptions are also made that every drag artist wants to be a woman. However, drag is a deeply nuanced art form that can be performed by anyone. The relationship that each performer has with drag is different, and its relationship to gender is unique to the individual. Clayton Nussey (known onstage as Kitana Sweett) is a Valley native and one of Montreal’s most infamous drag queens. For him, drag is about transforming into a new character. As someone who has a background in theatre, his style of drag isn’t “about the illusion of being a woman for me as my drag persona. It’s more about the art of drag, the art of transformation, and the art of becoming this character.” Though that is his experience, he emphasizes that “Many people see drag as many different things.” For Abby Long, a musical theatre performer who has performed as a drag queen and in drag venues many times, drag holds a different place in her personal journey. Though she has performed in drag, “Abby” is a version of Long that she uses to help better understand and express who she truly is. “She’s a persona or embodiment of something that has not been able to be expressed until now,” she says. Creating this persona has been personally helpful to Long, and she explains that the transformation feels like letting one mask go by putting on another one – meaning that the change in appearance and physicality can help to release the person who may be hiding otherwise. “You put on layers of fake, and people see more truth,” she says. Kitana Sweett and Abby Long have their own unique experiences and relationships with drag. Each artist has their own take on what the art form can be. PHOTOS courtesy Kitana Sweett and Abby Long Drag has evolved over the years to be much more inclusive. Nussey explains that “It’s become a lot more gender-fluid. I don’t think there were any females doing drag when I started … And now, you know, you have everyone on the gender spectrum.” Not only that, but people of all ages are becoming interested in drag. He recently visited former Valley resident Tina Bye’s new school to do a full day drag workshop for the students. Nussey hopes that in the future, the art form continues to expand and include different expressions of drag. Mainstream culture does a good job promoting queens who are “being a pretty woman and have amazing costumes,” but there are other kinds of drag that deserve to be seen as well. Though there is so much more coverage of drag these days, there is still a lot of stigma attached to it. The fact is, queer people and performers are still the target of hate crimes. Having safe spaces is vital for the survival of the community. One thing that drag provides is an environment where people can explore gender and meet other people with similar experiences. Often, drag performers will have a “drag family.” This usually consists of a drag “mother” who acts as a mentor to her drag “daughters.” They will often perform together as a “drag house.” Long says, “The concept of a drag family is really beautiful if you didn’t feel like you had a family. It’s people who you can experience this journey with.” That experience is vital for anyone who feels like they may not have a place they belong. As drag evolves, it continues to create an environment where people can feel comfortable figuring out parts of themselves and expressing themselves through art. It is an integral part of the queer community. The hope is that it will continue to be more and more accepted by all people, and better understood for the art that it is.

Drag is for everyone

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