Drag & Politics – Panel Discussiongo drag! munich

Drag is inherently political: it subverts gender norms and transgresses the binary constructs that underpin contemporary Western society. Drag kings, who dare to usurp masculine attributes and roles, are doubly political as they playfully critique dominant power structures and poke fun at masculine authority.

In the almost four decades since the contemporary drag king movement emerged from queer and feminist communities, the socio-political landscape has changed considerably. From women’s lib, the peak of the AIDS epidemic and the rise of neoliberalism, we now live in a non-binary world of social media and identity politics. We have marriage equality and trans people in parliaments, Google sponsors floats in gay pride parades and Ru Paul’s Drag Race screens on mainstream TV; at the same time, these and other hard-won gains are increasingly threatened by backlash from right-wing extremists, online trolling and violent hate crime.

What persists from the drag king politics of the late 1980s and 1990s, and what is no longer relevant? What is lost in the struggle for recognition within a crumbling capitalist system? What does drag mean today for the queer community and for society in general, and what role does it play in this precarious world? Three prominent activist drag kings will unpack (pun intended) their politics to explore these questions and more: Eric BigClit (Vienna), Buba Sababa (Berlin) and Majic Dyke (Kenya/USA).

Panelists

Eric BigClit, aka Alice Moe, is a performer, entertainer and activist from Vienna. Their drag persona  Eric BigClit is a drag king monster who is not afraid of any medium, from mainstream to subculture, and has the motto “gender fluid and gender fluids”. Since 2018, he* has been booked throughout Austria and increasingly in Western Europe, including drag shows in Brussels and Paris, the Lighthouse Festival Croatia and Heideldrag.

Instagram @alicemoe_ericbigclitdrag

Majic Dyke, also known as “the king of beard and titties”, is a Kenyan non-binary drag performer based in Washington D.C., USA and active in queer communities in both countries. Performing drag since 2017, their presence is a force that permeates more than words can; they are a revolutionary symbol of what humanity could be if we allowed ourselves to be free.

Instagram @majic.dyke

Buba Sababa is one of Berlin’s most prolific drag kings, “King of Kreuzberg” in the 2021 Mx. Kotti drag pageant and as a member of the Venus Boys Collective, one of the leaders of Berlin’s Drag King Revolution. He produces shows around Berlin and facilitates community workshops for up and coming drag kings, providing opportunities for new performers take their first steps on stage at his monthly show „König“ at Tipsy Bear. He is a chameleon of performance, cabaret, and theatre, fire performance, as well as a gifted costume designer and teacher.

Instagram @buba__sababa

Moderator Helen Varley Jamieson is a queer feminist theatre and digital artist from Aotearoa New Zealand whose work addresses social and environmental issues. She is founder of Magdalena München, part of the international feminist theatre and performance network the Magdalena Project. In 2012 she organised Diane Torr’s “Man for a Day” workshop in Munich and in 2022 she was a panelist at the conference Transitioning: Art, Politics & Technologies of Gender Change, dedicated to Diane Torr, in Berlin.

Language: English