Vegas Files: Girlypop brunch and the state of queerness in America
Woof, heavy title, yeah? It’s been a heavy (somewhat terrifying) year for a lot of people. It’s nice to pull away from the increasingly disturbed headlines to enjoy some good drag that celebrates being a girl. I went to “GirlyPop” Drag Brunch at The Front Yard in Ellis Island on the last Saturday of Pride Month with my bestie and I had such a good, pure, wholesome time.
I think I talked about this when I went to the Megan concert last summer. There’s something magical about being in a space that caters to feminine energy. A drag brunch that features Chappelle Roan and Sabrina Carpenter queens is a top tier way to achieve that. It’s not just feminine energy, its a welcoming, soft, cheerful, supportive vibe too. It makes me feel good inside.
Also, I debated on whether to bring my 2.5 year old daughter to this, because it ended up being all ages, but I wanted a mom day out, which I deserve. On that note, I DID see two little girls there with their moms and aunties and uncles, one was celebrating her 4th birthday. Both were older than my kid, but I definitely see a distant future where I could enjoy this with my lil clone.
I’m not the biggest Roan fan but I enjoy some of her music, I definitely get more thrill out of Carpenter’s brand of coquettish, coy, satirical silliness, but both draw fun fandoms that clearly appreciate the art of drag.
I can’t stop thinking about how much drag, queer culture, and LGBTQ+ people are under attack more and more each day. Especially trans people. It’s disheartening as hell to see certain cis gays turn their backs on our trans siblings to curry favor with bigots who will come for them next. They always do. It’s hard not to worry when gay bar after gay bar keeps closing, lessening our queer gathering spaces, making it harder to find community. This along with our neighbors being snatched up in the streets if they happened to look “illegal.”
We have to do more than just hold onto and support our queer spaces, we have to fight for them. We have to speak up for people who can’t do it themselves. But it also feels so daunting, when the Supreme Court can just be like, yeah, no you can pretend LGBTQ+ people don’t exist in books. It’s a slippery slope to ensuring people don’t exist at all.
It’s refreshing to see drag bust out if its usual spaces. As poisonous and toxic as social media and online fandom can be, it has been really dope watching the growth of some of my fave queens. Bob the Drag Queen has been thriving almost in spite of the bullshit that is being heaped on drag performers.
Even with everything going on, I pray sunshine continues to peek through the cracks.