You can’t spell ‘grad’ without ‘drag’

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This article was published 26/06/2020 (2300 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A group of local drag queens has created a very special graduation present for queer youth in Manitoba.

Viewers are invited to tune in to a virtual drag safe grad event hosted by Synonym Art Consultation and the Rainbow Resource Centre tonight at 7 p.m. The video première is dedicated to LGBTTQ+ youth who have had their graduation ceremonies and celebrations cancelled this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“We just wanted to give them a chance to celebrate with all of us and give them this gift while they’re stuck at home,” says Synonym co-director Andrew Eastman. “I think the pandemic has even amplified that the queer community is often in a more isolated community. They are sometimes cut off from certain activities due to discrimination and oppression,”

Riffing on a classic prom theme, the show will include lip syncing, chaperones, a valedictorian address and performances by a prom queen, king and thing — a non-binary term used in the drag community.

Issa Kixen was honoured to be cast in the show, which is an offshoot of Synonym’s popular monthly Drag Brunch event at the Tallest Poppy.

“For me, being involved in a queer grad, it was really cathartic,” says Kixen, who performs drag as Guncle Smokey Trixx Starr and was invited to play the role of Prom King. “When I did my grad I wasn’t out of the closet, so it was kind of like being able to do it all over again.”

Family is what inspired Kixen to come out as an adult.

“It wasn’t until my kid had come out of the closet that I was like, ‘Uh oh, I’m raising a queer kid; I should be upfront and open about who I am.”

Kixen and 11-year-old son Ron — whose alter-ego, Olivia Limehart, is Winnipeg’s youngest drag queen — recorded a video submission together for Synonym’s virtual grad. Ron was particularly excited to take part because he’s missing his own Grade 6 graduation ceremony this year.

“I think it’s so important, especially during a pandemic, that we just celebrate the heck out of all the kids who are either moving up in grads or actually graduating high school,” Kixen says. “Especially the queer ones because it’s a little bit harder.”

While the pair is hesitant to give away too much about the performance, Kixen’s goal was to remind queer youth that “there’s always going to be a community there to support them… You’re going to have your biological family, but there’s always going to be that chosen family that’s there rooting for you.”

Levi Foy is Synonym’s resident drag curator. In the video, he performs as Prairie Sky and plays the role of chaperone and co-host alongside local drag queen Cake.

“As a chaperone, I just stayed true to what I’m kind of good at and that’s giving terrible advice and being foolish,” Foy says, laughing.

The video shoot at Synonym’s studio was his first in-person drag performance with another queen since the pandemic started.

“(With) online (events), I really miss out on the things that I enjoy the most about doing drag: engaging with the audience, banter with my co-hosts and just being around people,” Foy says. “There’s not ability to respond and you lose a lot of that spontaneity.”

Keeping things light and fun was a top priority for Foy, who had a difficult high school experience.

“Many of us never had the opportunity to participate fully in these types of experiences. If we did go to a safe grad or a grad ceremony, you were opened up to a lot of potential abuse and violence and harassment,” he says. “It’s really, really easy for us to be super serious and it’s really important for us to take things really seriously right now, but I also think that we should allow ourselves to have moments of fun.

“I really hope that evening is just a moment of fun for all of the young folks who are graduating this year.”

The Rainbow Resource Centre runs youth programming for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, two-spirit, queer, questioning, intersex and allied youth ages 13 to 21. The centre’s annual Pride Dance is often a stand-in for young people who don’t feel comfortable attending their school’s grad ceremony or who would prefer to celebrate in an explicitly safe environment.

“Even if the school has certain policies in place to really help youth feel protected, I think nothing compares to being in a space where you know for a fact that… the people facilitating the space are very much a part of the queer community,” says Mateo Llanillos, youth program co-ordinator for the Rainbow Resource Centre. “To have that representation is important.”

Like nearly all in-person events, the dance was cancelled this year in light of the global pandemic.

“(It) was really disheartening,” Llanillos says.

When Synonym pitched the idea of a virtual grad event, the centre jumped on board and started sharing the details with youth program participants.

“We were just thrilled to hear that other organizations are really seeing that gap that youth are kind of heartbroken regarding grads being cancelled and Pride being cancelled or postponed,” Llanillos says.

Anyone and everyone can tune into the drag safe grad video première tonight at twitch.tv/synonymartconsultation. Viewers are also invited to dress up in their prom-night best and share a photo to social media with the hashtag #synonymdragsafegrad.

eva.wasney@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @evawasney