Coronavirus, at this point in time, has affected every person’s life in some way or another. However, the way in which it affects our individual lives is not equal. While some of my friends enjoy time off from school at their lake houses, others are struggling to make ends meet with the sudden stop in income. One group that has been especially impacted is the drag community. With most of their places of performance, such as bars and clubs, closed due to the pandemic, they have suddenly found themselves out of work. Two interesting articles I read addressed this new reality for drag queens and the massive impacts it is having on their daily lives and careers.

For many Americans, and especially drag queens, no work equals no money. Something I learned from one of the articles was the true economics of being a drag performer as a profession. While they may receive 100 to 200 dollars base pay for their performances, and some amount of tips, their outfits for each show are more than 1000 dollars each. In addition, drag queens are expected to pay for “sets, signage, advertising” and other expenses that are included with being an independent performer. When you combine these upfront costs, it becomes apparent that being a drag queen is not a glamorous, rich lifestyle. In fact, it is a “zero-margin business”. Therefore, when a pandemic like Coronavirus strikes, drag performers are left unemployed with no income. Additionally, as one drag queen commented, “If you’re a bartender, you can apply for unemployment, but we’re on 1099s,” and therefore receive limited government assistance during this time.

So what do you do? Turn to social media. Numerous drag queens have taken to platforms like Twitch and Instagram Live to host virtual shows instead. This reminded me a lot of the celebrity artists who are hosting online concerts, like John Legend and Luke Combs. The big difference, though, is that these famous people are doing it for entertainment. These drag queens are doing it to pay their bills. Many performers have begun posting their Venmo and PayPal accounts during these live streams, an act that drag queen Biqtch Puddin’ said was “breaking [her] heart”. While these drag queens want to perform for art, they are being forced to ask for money due to their situations.

Many members of drag communities have joined together to help promote and help each other during this difficult time. For example, Biqtch Puddin’ and her friends created Digital Drag: An Online Drag Show that streamed for the first time last week on Twitch. This show brought together many prominent drag queens and drew in over 27,000 views. In New York City, a nightlife promoter (if anyone knows exactly what that is, let me know) created a live-streaming show that includes both famous and rising drag queens. The show is currently pay-per-view to help provide a salary to each of the drag queens who participate.

One question I had while reading about the previous paragraph’s initiatives was where’s the average drag queens? You know, the ones who aren’t famous, haven’t been on Ru Paul’s Drag Race, and don’t know anyone famous? Those who perhaps don’t have the social safety net of being well-known and thus the ‘acceptable’ version of drag queens? For many drag queens, and LGBTQ+ patrons, these places are the only safe spaces that exist for self-expression. Further, these places can be the only safe locations of employment in communities where queerness and/or being trans is not safe. The pandemic shutdown of these businesses thus impacts many aspects of life, not only finances.

Another thought that I had while reading these articles was who cares about drag queens? And not in dismissive, cruel way. I mean, in the government, in society, who really feels passionately enough about drag queens to offer them support during this difficult time? As a society that still (despite the best efforts of Drag Race and Queer Eye and other commodified, easy-to-swallow depictions of LGBTQ+ life) does not accept LGBTQ+ individuals and their self-expression forms as valid or acceptable, it can be difficult to find enough people to stand behind you to really make a difference. I tried to find a similar area of expression, and the only thing that I could think of was: strippers. This is, obviously, a very flawed and incorrect comparison in many ways, but it worked for my thought experiment. Strippers, I would assume, are also out of work due to business closures. But if a well-known stripper were to appeal to the public and attempt to receive additional aid during this time, I am very confident it would be well-received by many (in comparison to the same action being done by a well-known drag queen). Because strippers, however ‘inappropriate’ and ‘sinful’ they may be, are acceptable in society — bachelor parties, bachelorette parties, company functions, etc. Drag queens and their art form is not. This really led me to think further think about who, and what work, is deemed important. When government officials talk about getting hard-working Americans back to work, I am certain they aren’t thinking of hard-working drag queens. And that has serious implications for real people who work tirelessly at their craft, just like the rest of the individuals to which they are actually referring.

 

Sources:

https://www.gq.com/story/how-drag-queens-are-going-digital-in-the-wake-of-coronavirus

https://slate.com/human-interest/2020/03/drag-queen-performance-online-coronavirus-struggle.html

 

Avery Myers