The Gay Cold Makes It's Second Wave
The Gay Cold Makes It's Second Wave
Plus, drag artists hold "Bushwig" accountable for not paying performers.
Babes,
I’ve been sick for literally two weeks and am finally coming out of a Sudafed-and-Gatorade haze. Got many covid tests and it turned out to be a second wave of the Gay Cold, which was of course exacerbated by my cross-country travel and drag-infused weekend bender. Turning [redacted] years old helped me realize that my body has limits, but also that I am also welcome to push those limits with greater attention to my needs and a weighing of the consequences. And honestly? I may be dead now, but Bushwig was worth it.
Anyway! That whole “get sleep and drink fluids” thing is no joke. Didn’t feel better until the day I woke up at TWO PM and chugged gallons of rotating electrolyte beverages (Essentia leading the pack, tailed shortly by Squeezed Lemonade Vitamin Water Zero).
This week’s joy below! More things next week, xx.
Fran
some things that brought me joy this week
1. ICYMI: I was in the gayest music video of all time with my two faves Phoebe Bridgers and Muna. The director and band worked together to recreate the iconic film “But I’m a Cheerleader” and I, of course, played Dolph, aka Rufio.
Spending an entire day with creatives and comedians dedicated to filling the cultural ethernet with gay nonsense was an absolute delight, and the Muna bois are a sublime positive force in an otherwise oppressive industry.
2. Anyway, stream Silk Chiffon!!!!
3. Hate promoting a Ryan Murphy joint but the Monica Lewinsky show, EPed by Monica herself, is already a triumph in its first two episodes and it shows no signs of stopping. Are we surprised? OJ v. The People is weirdly my favorite thing in the Ryan Murphy Cinematic Universe because the writing teams behind these crime stories become pop cultural nerds in a way I greatly appreciate. To grasp more of the show’s historical intentionality, I recommend the Vulture companions. We are surely on the cusp of a Beanie-saince following this performance, but Sarah Paulson is obviously (eek, I almost typed “pulling her weight” but would feel like a reference to that terrible fat suit she wears — which, outside of being offensive, is really distracting considering how they didn’t bother to make Edie Falco look like Hillary Clinton at all??) serving.
4. They named a corpse-eating bug after RuPaul and yeah I mean if that doesn’t bring you joy, I don’t know what will.
5. I finished Q-Force and really loved what it’s trying to do. As someone who wrote their undergrad thesis on the inclusion of queer characters in adventure narratives (someone wedgie my underwear over a fencepost as punishment for this sentence) it was a dream come true to watch a show about an all-queer spy agency. Where some of the jokes and tropes could have used an editor, I loled throughout — mostly at Matt Rogers as Twink aka “a femme top with a gun” who has the best jokes in the series, though Wanda Sykes has one about traumatized pitbulls that maybe wins the show. Loved its Archer-y vibe and unapologetically niche gay humor. One to stream for your Saturday morning cartoons!
6. There were many highlights from this past Bushwig, but first and foremost, a breathtaking recovery from Magenta, the drag princess of Brooklyn.
7. Which led me to revisit her profoundly metaphorical ice skating recovery. She really is all of us.
8. Another Bushwig highlight was watching MTHR TRSA, one of my favorite drag artists making work right now, make a measure and long-overdue statement holding the festival accountable to paying its performers. This has been a long time coming and many performers and patrons have grappled with the ethics of attending. It will surely be a story to follow, and I hope an intracommunal conversation can help preserve the drag community’s favorite event of the year.
Congratulations bushwig on not paying local talent for the 10th year … This festival was built on local drag talent, yet here we are spending the money on headliners who made some performers so uncomfortable that they had to drop out. The words pay me flashing behind me wasn’t just for the audience, it was for the producers of this festival. As my bank account was $300 in the negatives, I performed [my number] on Bushwig’s stage in hopes that my background video inspires people to electronically tip me. As someone who produces their own events, I will forever be grateful to pay my cast members as much as fucking possible and not for a second would ever consider giving them the ultimatum that we were given.
I deal with capitalism and exploitation enough and I refuse to deal with this in a space where I have the freedom to radically run around in a breastplate and human unit wig. If there is one thing I’m going to risk here, it is my drag reputation in calling out what should’ve been called out years ago.
9. I don’t to spoil too much of this precious book, but my friend Jessica Dore is releasing a beautiful integration of tarot and modern psychotherapy next month and I promise you it’s worth the preorder. Most know I don’t really practice tarot as a tool of divination so much as an exercise in storytelling and something supplementary to my own talk therapy. This book lays out those kinds of ideals beautifully, and I recommend it for beginner and expert tarot readers alike!
10. Our lord and saviour Sza released three new songs on Spotify a bit ago, and “Joni” might be my favorite release of hers….. ever? I remember discovering Sza on Spotify back in her Sweet November era and just listening to her album on repeat through the fall before seeing her perform to a sparse crowd at Afropunk 2015. With the world caught up to her genius, I feel so much Frank Ocean influence in her work and playful elusiveness. But where’s the damn album!!
11. Barbie released a Celia Cruz doll for H*sp*n*c Heritage month and where HHM is a largely exploitative enterprise (the same as any calendar holiday celebrating marginalized people), I really did gag over this fucking doll. Stream Quimbara!
12. A recent study found that Indigenous organizers protested enough to block 1.8 Billion carbon emissions this past year alone — nearly a quarter of the world’s emissions as a whole, which is unreal. Moments like these really concretize the efforts of activism in a way that gives me hope.
13. That cartoonishly dystopian activist competition reality series has sunset, bent to the will of digital organizing and accountability. As someone who used to work exactly on the other side of controversies like this, I knew the powers that be could kill the project and listen, but I honestly had little faith they would. Yet, as Rose says, bullying works!
this week’s action
I am still learning about the issues affecting the IATSE union, so I won’t pretend to be an expert. But their efforts have reached a rolling boil highlighting issues related to crew and behind-the-scenes workers of Hollywood. Leading up to the Emmys, the union has gained momentum but needs more eyes. I recommend getting lost in the IATSE Stories and taking action on their web page.
Hi Fran ! Steve here! I follow your newsletter and would love to ask if you’d consider being an ambassador for the inaugural Palm Springs Pride Art Walk - an official event of Palm Springs Pride. We have an art curation of all LGBTQIA artists which will live at Janssen Art Space and be auctioned all month via gallery and PS Pride ( 501c) to support . Would love to get in touch with more details ? Steve@thestyleguyde.com 3107518756