Pride doesn’t end in June
—and since the nightclubs were closed down, some drag queens turned to livestreaming to reunite with their audiences. In our French Vanilla Fantasy, Werk From Home is a glimpse into what goes on when the livestream gets turned off.
A child’s imagination
—nightmares and dreams come to life, that is how Travistea views their drag persona. As a non-binary person, Travistea allows themself to be whoever they feel at the moment, sometimes hyper feminine, sometimes the complete opposite. Most times, you can’t really tell.
At first glance, most people would not understand what, who, or why Travistea is, which they have accepted, even committing to becoming “an image of defiance, a finger up to labels and names.”
“What seemed so limitless has had to be recalibrated and some plans needed to be shelved. But drag queens are tough and relentless—we will continue looking for new ways to showcase our art and our identity. Creativity knows no four walls.”
Like a Walking Piece of Art
Identifying as gender fluid, Versex sees the capability of her gender to change at any given moment, depending on the mood and feel of a certain day. To her, drag is very subjective and it can be different for different people. She looks back at the times when people would tell her that she doesn’t have enough makeup on: “‘Di ka naman naka-drag talaga” or “Drag na yan?”, she now understands that these comments helped her in the long run, as they made her realize that she was afraid to look like something outside of her comfort zone.
“The lockdown gave me time to experiment more with my looks and style but it feels very limiting. Even though I had restricted supplies, I learned to depend more on being resourceful and creative with what I have. These bleak current events are very concerning but I still try and divert my energy to productivity. I’ve been given time to reflect more on my drag persona, how I can evolve and progress for the future. What’s currently happening is beyond my control so I just make do with what makes me sane, being creative and drag as an outlet.”
Not of this World
Being AFAB, or Assigned Female At Birth, Marlyn finds herself at a unique position in the drag community. She experienced cyberbullying and people invalidating her drag because she has never performed in drag as an AFAB drag artist.
“I see that our community, as of now, is educated about SOGIE, however, some still refuse to support it just because of the stereotypes and discrimination taught by the mainstream media all these years. What I see in the future though, is us coming together as one because more and more people are becoming open to it and that each individual is respected regardless of their sexuality and gender identity.”
“The pandemic heightened my insecurities since I'm at home most of the time. Being at home all the time made me relapse on many negative thoughts and behaviors but I am coping up by focusing on work and posting what I love to do, which is makeup.”
Baked as a Cake
Jade is a trans woman who also happens to be a sultry show girl.
Seeing as the likes of Marsha P. Johnson & Sylvia Rivera were the ones leading the charge back in the 1969 Stonewall Riots, one would think that being a trans drag queen would bring you at the top of the queer food chain. Unfortunately, this is not the case.
“Being a trans woman, I have experienced discrimination coming from other LGBT people. Whenever there is a trans issue, some LGBT people tend to discriminate us. As a trans advocate, I keep educating people as much as I can. I know everyone has a learning process. In the future, I can see that we’re not just tolerated, but we’re already accepted.”
“This pandemic affected me by not being able to show my talent to everyone but instead we have online shows to slay and feel ourselves. AND LIVE!”
The pandemic may have caused a lot of things to stop, but it should never stop you from serving.
For now, take a look at these other visuals we have served pre-Corona.
