All Hail the Queens
A Cross-Culture Comparison of Drag Queens
By Natnicha Chuwiruch
Take one part glitter, add in a wig, throw in a pinch of rhinestones and a set of fake eyelashes. Mix them up well, and you have part of the special recipe for a fabulous drag queen.
Lakia Mondale calls herself a “big brand old diva” at Jacques Cabaret. Jacques hides behind several small alleys in Boston’s theater district. Mondale sits in her cramped changing room, her makeup cache in front of her. She’s laid her makeup brushes in an organized pattern — from long to short. The brushes are completely caked with flecks of brown, chunks of pink and speckles of glitter — old makeup that she has not cleaned out. Her large hand glides over her face coating her skin with tan liquid foundation. Mondale, the 47-year-old drag queen, has done drag since she was 13.
“It was illegal back when I started,” says Mondale, brushing powder on her nose. “No one cared for it.”
When Mondale left St.Petersburg, Florida for college at the age of 17, she became sidetracked with drag performing. She decided to drop out of university in Boston and completely focus on performing. Her lifestyle eventually had consequences for her family. Her mother, especially, had to endure the same discrimination as Mondale.
“I was well known in the little small town that I was raised in,” Mondale mutters, applying a metallic dark taupe color to her full lips. “My mother lost friends because of what I chose to do with my life. But she and my family stood behind me though. It wasn’t easy for them because people talk. But that’s just how people are.”
Across the room, Destiny Phon sits, applying her own makeup. She does not encounter discrimination as often. Phon’s body looks petite and feminine. The 32-year-old drag queen from Lowell, Massachusetts ties her long brown hair up, exposing her almond-shaped eyes and delicate facial structure. She then starts brushing powder on her face and down her neck.
“If I were more masculine, I probably would face a little bit more discrimination,” says Phon.
“Boston is much more liberal than some other places,” says Mondale. Mondale participated in a pageant in Ohio, where she says that going out in public while dressed in drag could result in an arrest. Dressing in drag is illegal unless you carry female identification.
Between 1850 and 1870 in the United States, a law came out that stressed the importance of gender distinctions. They explicitly prohibited cross dressing. In Chicago, it became a crime to “appear in a public place in a state of nudity, or in a dress not belonging to his or her sex.” In Ohio, it was illegal for any “perverted person to appear in clothing belonging to the opposite sex.” These prohibitions were adopted in Columbus, Houston, San Francisco, St. Louis, Kansas City, and dozens of other cities. Fortunately, it is not the case now in 2014.
Being a drag queen is less criminalized than it used to be, but that doesn’t mean it is accepted in even very modern realms. In September, the social media giant — Facebook had a crackdown. They locked dozens of drag queens out of their own profiles, and cited their “real name” policy. This put Facebook at odds with the LGBT community. Many drag queens claim that the real name policy jeopardizes their safety, as well as their rights.
Sister Roma, a drag queen in a well-known San Francisco drag group — Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence — said in an interview with Huffington Post that she was shocked when she was forcibly logged out of Facebook and instructed to sign in with her legal name. Her account would be suspended or deleted if she did not comply.
The Facebook policy caused an uproar among many drag queens and performers. The real name policy has been in place since the start of Facebook in Mark Zuckerberg’s Harvard dorm room. The policy is troubling because another user’s complaint triggers enforcement. Many drag queens concluded that they were the targets of hostility.
Sister Roma met with Facebook officials to discuss the matter and after meeting twice, Facebook’s chief product officer, Chris Cox, came out and apologized to drag queens. Cox said in his public apology that an individual reported hundreds of the accounts as fake and Facebook did not notice the pattern. Facebook has reactivated the accounts and allows them to use their stage names.
In places like Thailand, drag queens are more common. You could walk into a 7–11 convenience store to buy a pack of gum and find a drag queen at the cashier.
Destiny Phon has visited Thailand and agrees that Thais accept drag queens and transvestities more than Westerners.
“They have more lady boys there than in the States,” says Phon. She applies mascara for her show. “They’re more laid back in Thailand when they see drag queens walking around.”
In Thailand, says Phon, people barely react to men dressed as women. Your waitress, coworker, or news anchor could be a drag queen. Thais tolerate people who believe they were born of the wrong sex. Drag queens and transgender people are allowed to express their femininity in public without shame. The Thais’ acceptance stems from religion. The majority of Thais follow Buddhism. Historically, Buddha was born a man. In some cultures, Buddha was a woman. But to Buddhist Thais, Buddha was neither male nor female.
The Miss International Queen, founded in 2004 and held annually in Pattaya, Thailand, is the largest and most prestigious beauty pageant for transgender contestants from around the world. Contestants must show formal documentation that they were born men, and can be pre- or post- operation, to compete for the title. Thailand’s Tourism Authority sponsors the Miss International Queen pageant.
The contest crowns a new queen every November 7. Isabella Santiago, a contestant from Venezuala is currently Miss International Queen 2014.
The competition promotes transgender rights and awareness among international countries. The profits go to Thailand’s Royal AIDS foundation.
Phon or Mondale face adversity, but nothing has stopped their doing what they love.
“I live as a girl, honey,” Mondale says, pursing her lips before her mirror. She covers her tied up curly black hair with a pantyhose before putting on a strawberry blonde wig. “It’s a struggle sometimes, but it’s one that I like. And I like what I do.”
Mondale and Phon finish their makeup. They emerge through the black curtain separating the bar from the dressing rooms, out onto the stage in full drag. They lip sync to their favorite songs and when they are done, a round of applause echoes from the full house.
For Lakia Mondale and Destiny Phon, drag is what they do and queens are who they are.
