I love drag queens. My favorite reality show is RuPaul’s Drag Race. No joke. Although I’m not a drag queen, I can see so much of society on this show, which makes me see myself on this show too. There are queens that come from poverty and there are affluent queens. Some girls grew up in loving families while others were abandoned at their most vulnerable time in their lives, wondering whether anyone will ever love them. Some know who they are while others are in transition. Although this show is a competition, it doesn’t really matter who wins because they’re all hard workers, making each of them heroines to someone watching. There’s an illusion of glamour and fabulousness when we all know, just less than a decade ago, drag queens were looked down upon and seen as a sidenote, a fringe minority in the gay community. They turned their heads up and act like nothing gets to them. The show must go on, life must go on.
Then when a convention featuring these drag queens, their contour kits, their DIY fashions, and teased wigs get together, reminding me of New York’s Wigstock, but mainstream niche, like Comic Con, it gives me a sense of awe. Their humor is often bittersweet and biting, but you know that most of these girls, if you met them on your worst day, would sit next to you and hold your hand and not let you feel alone. That’s how I feel when I am surrounded by thousands of fans attending Drag Con. They each have stories that are universal, about that need for love and acceptance. Attendees validate our existence, whoever you may be.
I found myself skipping around, pointing at each colorful flower, picking each one with my camera for a visual bouquet I present to you here because that’s what friends do.
***For detailed photo information, please go to my Instagram: xtiaanity.
CHRISTIAANITY ISAWESOME 