Drag has long been a vibrant and multifaceted part of LGBTQIA+ culture, embodying themes of creativity, resilience, and community cohesion. Recently, however, the relevance and legitimacy of drag have been challenged, particularly in rural locales where LGBTQIA+ visibility is notably sparse. Now, more than ever, it’s imperative to understand and affirm drag’s critical role in these spaces as a signifier of enduring queer culture and social progress.…
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On this episode of the Asking for a Friend podcast, host Dr. Laura McGuire chats with sex educator, influencer, and content creator Jacob P. Kelley about queerness and sex education in rural America, their experiences in entrepreneurship, HIV outreach and prevention, and fighting stigma.…
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In this month’s episode of the Asking for a Friend podcast, host Dr. Laura McGuire chats with Bonnie Violet, a trans genderqueer chaplain, spiritual drag artist living with HIV, and recovering addict, about her experiences with queerness, religion, sobriety, HIV, and being "a chaplain of another sort."…
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Javier Martinez led an illustrious career spanning a 40-year period as the hilarious, sometimes politically incorrect drag persona, Shady Lady. Beginning in 1976, when Martinez first auditioned for a weekly drag show in McAllen, Texas, up until 2014, when he gave his last performance at the Pegasus Nightclub in San Antonio, Martinez entertained audiences with a unique brand of comedy always stressing pride and unity. …
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“Four numbers in and we’ve already had a dildo and a 9/11 joke,” quips host and star entertainer Regina Blake-Dubois during the second-anniversary performance of The Broad’s Way, Houston’s only Broadway drag revue. At the Broad’s Way, the mood is always tongue-in-cheek and campy, like you hope to see at any drag show. But at Michael’s Outpost, the revue’s home stage, the performers bring more than kitsch comedy and silliness.…
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Walking into a Fear the Queer (FTQ) show is like being transported into a world of queer fantasy and fiction. The music is loud, the lights are dimmed, and the boundaries of drag and art are being pushed and pulled in every direction. Self-described as “a perfectly peculiar posse of performers,” “an incubator of talent,” and “a safe haven for the alternative subculture, within a subculture,” FTQ came out swinging when they launched last August.…
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It’s March, and in Houston, that means three things: annoyingly ambivalent weather, springing our clocks ahead for the dreaded tradition of daylight saving time, and the most popular of the three by a long shot, Houston’s Livestock Show and Rodeo. Talk about tradition, this three-week-long event (celebrating 86 years this month) brings in over two million attendees every year and has committed more than $430 million to youth since its inception. No wonder it’s known far and wide as the…
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Sequined dresses, wigs that could put Dolly Parton to shame, a face beat to the heavens, and a book—story time never looked so glamorous. Soon this glittery scene will be a regular sight at the Houston Public Library, which launches Drag Queen Story Time on September 30.…
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