“My favorite part about D.C. drag is how diverse it is in its expression of gender, or lack thereof,” says Farrah Skeiky, whose kinetic photographs of drag, punk, and queercore performers have appeared in numerous exhibitions and publications, including her book Present Tense: DC Punk and DIY, Right Now.
Skeiky first got an eyeful of D.C.’s underground drag scene several years ago, shooting photos of punk bands like HomoSuperior, fronted by queen Donna Slash, before she actually joined the band as guitarist.
“Because of my bandmate, I was exposed to more of the alternative drag D.C., beyond character drag or diva drag or drag brunch kind of things,” Skeiky recalls, noting that also was the first time she was seeing more trans and nonbinary performers.
“I think the really beautiful part of D.C. drag is there are a lot of trans and nonbinary performers, and in general it gives more room to play, not just with doing a caricature of one gender or another in a binary. There’s more of this, ‘Let’s warp these ideas of gender, let’s warp these ideas of femininity, let’s put our own spins on those, put our own experiences with these gender binaries and our own opinions of them into play and do something different with them.’ And it becomes genderless in some ways, and it becomes gender-full in some ways.”
Survive Glamorously — Photo: Keylimehi
Skeiky has captured that scene of underground artists and performers in photos that will soon be featured, along with work by photographers Cassidy DuHon, Koto Langa, and Keylimehi, in the exhibit Survive, Glamorously: Images of Drag in the District, opening May 3 at Ron David Studio.
“A glimpse at the subversive queer art scene that exists in the nation’s capital,” the show is presented by Haus of Bambi, whose director, Bambi Woofter, co-curated with Skeiky.
In addition to their work as a choreographer, producer, and DancePlace artist-in-residence, Bambi Woofter personifies alternative drag in their own performances. Among Haus of Bambi’s myriad projects — including a May 27 social club gathering for a queer party and dance performance at the Kennedy Center — Survive, Glamorously feels especially timely.
“This is something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time,” Woofter says. “Because there’s so much work being done of documenting queer spaces, documenting queer performers, and beautiful portraits being done that show up on Instagram and then disappear into the ether on the internet. They’re so stunning and they get so much interest and they have such a visceral pull to them, and then they get lost in the feed.”
Survive Glamorously — Photo: Koto Langa
Not only bringing those images together in one place, but bringing people together to experience them collectively was the main idea of the exhibit and its accompanying events.
“That we can actually use these images to gather,” says Woofter, “and create queer spaces using these images as a catalyst, rather than just these images being the documentation of queer spaces.”
Skeiky agrees that, even though D.C. isn’t touched by the anti-drag legislation that other cities and states have been seeing, it’s still imperative to celebrate queer scenes and spaces while we have them. “It is our job to be our biggest champions, our loudest cheerleaders when it comes to these spaces, when it comes to these artists,” Skeiky says.
“I think a lot of people approach art around queer culture, around drag, as if it needs to have happened in the past, like it can’t be current to celebrate it the same way that we talk about a Paris Is Burning, or a Divine. Like, those institutions have earned their place in history, and these things are still happening now.
Survive Glamorously — Photo: Cassidy DuHon
“[But] having the audacity to give what’s happening now that weight, and that you’re putting it on that pedestal, I think, is really important, because, again, if we’re not our loudest cheerleaders and are our greatest champions, we’re up against a lot. So it’s really up to us to be very loud and obnoxious about it, which I know we all can do.”
Survive, Glamorously: Images of Drag in the District opens with a reception May 3, and runs through May 13 at Studio B, Ron David Studios at Union Market, 1262 5th St. NE. For more info, visitwww.hausofbambi.com/events.
A New York City subway rider was slashed in the face earlier this month by an unidentified assailant who took offense to him kissing his transgender partner. The attack occurred around 7:50 p.m. on January 10 aboard a southbound No. 6 train as it traveled through Manhattan.
According to police, the 28-year-old victim was kissing his partner when the suspect began shouting anti-gay slurs. The verbal abuse quickly escalated into a physical confrontation. During the argument, the suspect struck the victim with a sharp object, causing a deep laceration on the right side of his face, according to New York CW affiliate WPIX.
In late November, the University of Oklahoma placed Mel Curth on administrative leave after the transgender graduate teaching assistant gave a student a zero on an essay about gender roles.
The essay cited the Bible to defend traditional gender roles and described transgender people as "demonic." Curth and the course's instructor, Megan Waldron, said the paper failed to meet basic academic standards due to a lack of empirical evidence. Both noted that the paper cited no scholarly sources and failed to offer an evidence-based critique of the assigned article, which argued that children who do not conform to rigid gender stereotypes are more likely to face bullying and negative mental health outcomes.
A transgender woman has filed a lawsuit against hotel giant Hilton, alleging that she was assaulted by a security guard at the Hilton Dallas Lincoln Centre while she was a registered guest.
According to the complaint, filed in the 192nd Civil District Court in Dallas County, Kimberly Barnett, an Afro-Latina transgender woman from Nebraska, was staying at the hotel in late June while attending Dallas Pride Weekend and other LGBTQ events.
Barnett returned to the Hilton Dallas Lincoln Centre around 3:45 a.m. on June 24 and attempted to "valet her vehicle," according to the lawsuit.
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