The Orlando Drag Queen Scene
Orlando has been a haven for the diverse LGBTQ+ community, and the growth of drag has been exponential. From early beginnings at places such as Parliament House in the 1960s, to now Hamburger Mary’s Drag Brunch and weekly Drag competitions at Southern Nights, the Drag Queen scene is rising in popularity, and quickly. The standards of drag have been growing as well, with discussions surrounding proper stage-wear and female-identifying drag queens, called BioQueens.
Image Courtesy: Bungalower
Drag is an art-form where performers dress up in an exaggerated look of a specific gender identity, usually the opposite sex; and in Orlando, the drag community wants performers to be posh and glamorous, but most importantly: polished.
Image Courtesy: Instagram
Lavender Frost is an Orlando Drag Queen who’s been performing since 2018. He gave me the insider information on what’s going on in the drag scene: “It’s a big deal if you wear something that can be worn off stage, on stage.” This means that casual-wear– clothing that can be bought at stores and maybe ill-fitting, are not to be worn on stage. This can be brutal sometimes, stating that “un-polished Drag Queens are called ‘Boogers.’” Drag Queens are performers - if your costume, your look, doesn’t live up to your performance, you can be looked down upon. Even when it comes to Alt-Drag looks, like the ones that Lavender Frost does– with fake blood dripping down your lips, or horns coming from your head– your outfit needs to be polished.
Another conversation within the Drag community is whether BioQueens, Drag Queens that were assigned female at birth, can actually do drag. It’s a controversial topic in the drag community; even Drag pioneer RuPaul, when first questioned in 2016 about the possibility of female Drag Queens on his show on Twitter, said “That show already exists. It’s called #MissUniverse.” TeenVogue specifies that the controversy “arises… when cisgender and sometimes heterosexual women are accused as seeing drag, a historically important social tool for change in the LGBTQ+ community, as a novelty for them to claim without understanding or appreciating the cultural heritage of it.” But when done correctly – when appreciative and understanding of the great amount of work done before them, BioQueens perform drag just as beautifully, as electrically, as male-identifying performers.
Image Courtesy: Instagram
UCF Alum and BioQueen herself, Venus Envy, has incredible, colorful looks that anyone can love. In an interview with blog Babes Who Hustle, Venus says that she’s always loved drag, falling in love with it through RuPaul’s Drag Race when she was 14. Even she was unsure about BioQueens in the drag world: “When I was 18, I googled “can girls be drag queens?” and learned about faux drag (also known as bio drag).” Venus says she started drag as a hobby, performing at Pulse before the tragedy. She now performs all over Orlando, and tours with a group of former Pulse entertainers, called We Are Orlando, where all proceeds from these shows are given to the Pulse Orlando employee fund.
Drag is to play with gender and performance – and as long as you entertain with enthusiasm and are polished, Orlando Drag will welcome you with open arms. Orlando Drag is a safe space for the new and incredible.
Strike out,
written by: Haley Wright // edited by: Peyton Boudreaux
Orlando
