Image by Multnomah County Library via Flickr
by Kenn Orphan
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Halifax, Nova Scotia
March 11, 2023
With the recent spate of vicious attacks on drag performers and drag shows, I’ve been thinking a lot about a brilliant quote by the late Ram Dass: “Treat everyone you meet as if they were God in drag.” And I think it gets to the heart of this manufactured controversy.
We are all in some kind of drag. If we live in community with other human beings, then we don our masks and costumes every time we walk out our front door. Most of us wear what our society expects us to wear. The masks and costumes created for us, not by us. We do this to fit in, to conform. But drag tosses all of this pretense out the window. It recognizes that identity is a construct, not a constant. In fact, there is nothing permanent about identity.
The irrational fear of drag queens and drag shows betrays a deep-seated fear of the authentic self. The self that transcends the ego. And it is driving this crusade against those who are daring to live their authentic lives out in the open. Drag is radical because its over-the-top form challenges the status quo definition of identity.
The claim that bans on drag shows are to “protect children” is ludicrous. Most drag shows are for adults, and those that aren’t, whether they are library readings or birthday parties, do not have adult content.
But it is worth reflecting upon our own childhood. A wondrous time when the characters of a story or a song came alive. Drag reminds us of a time when we could be whatever we wanted to be, regardless of gender, ethnicity, skin colour, religion, body shape or societal standing.
This freedom to be whatever we imagined ended for many when the first adult stepped in to shame us. Thus began the long, painful death of our imagination and the long slog toward banality.
And perhaps this is why it is feared so much by some. It makes them aware, whether conscious or not, of the drag they are currently wearing. Of its blandness and of the dissatisfaction it has caused them throughout their entire lives.
In the end, it comes down to what Ram Dass said. It comes down to how we treat other human beings. And if we saw the Divine spark behind the masks and costumes we all wear, how much better this world would be.
Kenn Orphan is a writer, artist, antiwar and anti-capitalist activist, hospice social worker and radical nature lover living in Halifax, Nova Scotia. As an independent writer and artist Kenn Orphan depends on donations and commissions. If you would like to support his work and his blog you can do so via PayPal. He may be contacted at KennOrphan.com.
Previously published on Kenn Orphan, March 9, 2023
From the archives:
The Far-Right Crusade Against Human Sexuality, by Kenn Orphan
Rising Above The Hurt To Enjoy A Day In The Sun, by Tom H. Hastings
Dandelion Salad 
I’ve been to and promoted 100s of Drag Shows. It’s been a form of entertainment for 1000s of years. The dedication to fund-raising for a big assortment of community groups is welcomed and appreciated. Those who knock the Drag Queens ought to go to a show rather than pick on singular events to understand the fun of being entertained.
The far-right criticism is by people who have never been to a drag show before; like you said, it’s entertainment.
In pantomime there are often female characters played by men (widow twanky). The person in your picture reminds me of that. They are taking on the status quo identity of the oposite sex. How far is this a challenge to the the status quo?
Thanks, Johnny.
If regressives only realized how ridiculous they look themselves in their “White Man” uniforms….
Thanks for your comment, John.