Blak Drag Queens Are Finally Getting The Visibility They Deserve
“Drag is just an extension of who you really are... the power and strength comes from what’s always been inside."
Drag is in the throes of an uptick in popularity and visibility; whether it’s in the form of Drag Bingo, Drag Trivia Nights, or Australia getting its own iteration of RuPaul’s Drag Race, the celebrated reality TV show which sees drag queens compete in a series of challenges to impress a panel of discerning judges.
The effects that Drag Race Down Under has had on the local drag scene cannot be underestimated. The reality show has given representation and platforms to a bevy of local blak drag artists including Biripi and Worimi queen Jojo Zaho and Kamilaroi (and Ngata Ranginui) curvy queen Pomara Fifth.
The show’s commitment to platforming of Drag and blak Drag also means that larger audiences flock to the Miss First Nations Australia — the only national competition for Indigenous entertainers, performers, drag queens, and sista girls.
Blak And Queer
Sitting at the intersection of being being Blak and queer can be difficult. In the first episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under, Jojo tells us that she never had to worry about being gay, because people always saw her as blak first. It’s difficult to navigate a world as two minorities, especially when at times the world can still be so vile. However, there is also a sense of power and strength that comes from these identities and their communities.
Chocolate Boxx
Dunghutti, Bungalung, and Kamilaroi queen Chocolate Boxx explains that “being black, queer and a drag queen aren’t easy on their own, but living with two or even with all three is empowering”.
Choccy explains that while racism and homophobia remain rife, the empowerment that comes from being your authentic self is a form of self-care.
Chocolate Boxx is an absolute legend in the Drag Community, not to mention a trailblazer for other blak drag performers. Choccy boasts titles of Miss First Nations 2019 (the only Brisbane contestant in the competition’s four year run and thanks to COVID, the longest reigning queen), she went on to also win the titles Miss Talent and Miss Lip Sync Superstar and then two weeks later at the Pride Ball in Brisbane won Drag Performer of the Year and First Nations Leadership and Engagement Award.
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At drag shows in Meanjin I have heard Chocolate Boxx referred to as ‘the winner of everything’ and ‘Jesus’ more than once. Choccy’s Blak Drag excellence is no joke.
“I Could Do That”
A common theme with these performers is their entry to drag. They see a performer that looks like them and think, in an awe-filled moment, “I could do that”.
Kamilaroi performer Katya Louking says their first ever drag show was watching Chocolate Boxx perform. “That was the first time I’d ever seen someone queer and first nations in front of me doing performance or art like that. It blew my mind that there was someone up there like me and that I could do this as well.”
Katya says their love and power for being a representative person in drag comes from that moment with Choccy, and that Choccy ended up becoming both a collaborator and a friend. “She gave me that love and fire and it hasn’t stopped”.
Drag And Empowerment
Aside from the cultural strength and friendship that drag brings, it has also been a source of mental strength for performers. Anmatyerra, Nyul Nyul, Bardi, and Jukun artist Magenta has gained confidence they hadn’t accessed before trying drag.
“I didn’t really grow up with any queer representation, so when I discovered drag it was a big deal, but when I was in drag it was an even bigger deal; when you do your make-up and put on your good wig and get in full drag it really builds a type of confidence and power that’s really unlike any other … almost like putting on a super-suit and [taking on] a different identity”.
“When I put on the wig and the lash and the make-up and I became Katya I would have this undeniable confidence”. Katya found that the confidence grown from being in drag and performing would slip into their “boy” life and that the would experience less social anxiety since gaining power through Katya.
Chocolate Boxx sees the strength and power that Magenta and Katya talk about as something that’s always been inside; Drag was just the vehicle used to access it. “Drag is just an extension of who you really are, like an artistic release, so the power and strength comes from what’s always been inside”.
Being a blak drag performer is more than just that. Your entire existence is representation for people. Katya notes (as did Pomara in a recent episode of the Not So PG podcast with Matty Mills and Brooke Blurton) that there is that pressure that comes with it. The general consensus in regards to the pressure though, is that while representation is a duty, it is fun: and that if you wear your heart and culture on your sleeve, you’ll always feel strong.
Visibility Begets Action
The visiblity of all of these performers has led to more people like them joining and discovering drag. Just as Choccy’s existence led to the creation of Katya and the community of drag artists of colour in Meanjin led to the creation of Magenta. Katya told me when they started there were only four drag performers of colour on the scene, but now there’s a bustling community that gather to perform together and endlessly give each other support. This is all because of trailblazers like Katya, Choccy, the performers from the inaugural Miss First Nations, and in time, Magenta.
I urge you to listen to these stories, follow these artists, watch Black Divaz (a documentary about Miss First Nations) and support your local blak drag artist!
And to anyone thinking about taking the dive into drag, Magenta has some advice:
“Being Indigenous and queer can be unbelievably difficult but there are people in the world who will support you and there is power [in] being a queer person of colour… embracing that power will make you stand out like the star you are.”
Watch Black Divaz here.
Blak drag artists I’d recommend you check out include: Katya Louking, Chocolate Boxx, Magenta, Brandi Doll, Felicia Foxx, Tyra Bankstown, Cerulean, Peaches Rosé, Karma Isavich, Demonica, Raz Beret — and of course, the Ru Girls Jojo Zaho and Pomara Fifth.
Bizzi Lavelle is a Wakka Wakka woman living on Quandamooka country. She is an educator, performer and writer who specialises in sociology, gender and sexuality and race-based works.