I've always thought drag was beautiful; inherently radical, expressive, fun, campy...recently I went to Woody's and saw Toronto's famous drag queen Donnarama performing "When I Grow Up" (Pussycat Dolls) and "Firework" (Katy Perry) in what she thinks passes as a burka, a bindi (which doesn't make sense but OK), and a set of bombs attached to her abdomen. To up the ante, there was some actual fire on stage, coupled with gestures (or "dance moves") that mirrored gun violence and recurring explosions.
I was outraged. I looked around to see how other people were reacting. They were recording it on their phones and coming up to Donnarama to tip her. Reward. Lots of social reward. That was the community and audience response to blatant racism and Islamophobia. To top it off, she ended by saying "Happy Hanukkah."
I know I'm not the only one that was angry and knows very clearly how problematic this is. Are we fags really ok with this? I don't think this would be in the least acceptable in any other context. Interesting how white gay hegemony allows for so much more racism than mainstream communities.
I spend a lot of time working in the LGBT community, doing counselling and HIV-related work. I care about this community. I've always thought highly of queers in Toronto and thought we had a lot to offer. Tonight I learned that what we have to offer most is complacency and that we're comfortable reinforcing white supremacy.
I have a lot of respect for Donnarama's craft most of the time. She's creative and pushes boundaries. And I think playing with gender, race and class will inevitably become pillars for drag commentary and for performance in general so I don't think we need to be completely PC all the time.
However, I've seen many queens do it with more nuance. That is, another queen to play off of, reading back and forth, an understanding of playfulness, etc. And by all means BE OUTRAGEOUS but take a moment to identify which dominant system ought to be poked fun at in performance and be aware of your own race and what you can get away with saying.
A white queen should know that this is not funny and that it is super problematic; if she doesn't know that (i.e. she can't recognize that she and her audience are white and making fun of people who are not), she's done a huge discredit to herself and her career...and the gay community.
This performance is nothing short of hate speech, racism, and violence. Yes, sitting in my chair, sinking in deep, and looking around to see the mix of applauding and blank stares I couldn't have interpreted this event as anything other than an act of violence.
A community icon basically assaulted me (and the entire queer Muslim/racialized table I was at) and then my queer community sent me the message that this was okay. It's okay that my people are being depicted this way; that we're at the butt end of a racist joke with a primarily white audience. (NO, there was no subtle nuance with a more positive underlying meaning).
Before anyone responds to this and says, "maybe it was just a joke" -- delete me from your friend list. The rest of you, I think real social justice needs to take up more space in the gay community. This community is for all fags.
Boycott Woody's. Boycott Buddies. That's where she performs. Demand an apology and from the establishments, demand some accountability.
Follow Rahim Thawer on Twitter: www.twitter.com/RahimThawer
And as for white supremacy, white people are now a minority in Canada, and in the world-- if you are still boo hooing about the power of white people then suck it up princess -- make your own power because you "outnumber" us.
Rahim, just because you work with the community and help aids preventative causes doesnt make you a saint.. and also doesnt make you void of racist opinions.
The fact is that no one should tell Muslims how to process or react to satire or comedic materials made at their own expense. Of course the author is using the word " boycott and demand an apology" as we often do whenever a straight man makes a joke pretending to " gay people being pedophiles who transmit decease to kids ''' Please be careful not to use a double standard here . Maybe this is an opportunity to open up a dialogue in an inclusive manner ....People making comments such as " if you don't like don't go there " do not contribute anything to the dialogue, they are only using the same argument homophobic uses against us all the time, it frankly just a lazy cop out, instead of confronting the issue.
There a lesson to be learned by the establishment ( Woody's), the audience and the performer here.I feel as a pioneer and a historic place within the community, Woody's should seize the opportunity to address this in more inclusive and professional manner, at least for a PR standpoint ...Maybe that will be a start
( I know... don't get fussy about my English, i just learn recently)
Back when I was young and rode my motorcycle a lot and liked my riding leathers I used to bristle when the drag queens would loudly tell me that my riding leathers were not, to my surprise, protection from pavement but "a form of drag" and would gleefully tell me I was "a leather queen."
Then I learned to lighten up and just let people do their thing and not let it bug me.
So. Be me.
Are we not sending Canadian soldiers in Afghansistan to fight against a regime that promote subjection of women to men? A regime that do not hesitate to attack girls in school? Burn women if they don't give birth to a male heir? kill women for men' honours? If you associated the "Drag queen entertainment" to islamamphobia because he/she mocks the burka, the Taliban and war. I would consider that you are missing the point. It is an act of courage, an act of freedom, not to say a call for collective awakening to refuse collectively any religion that infrange our Charter of Rights in our country.
Your critisisem should be pointed towards the whole world of Comedy... drag is just a part in it.