Drag is good for kids, actually
  July 6, 2022 Salutations Meteor readers, I’ve been listening to a lot of soundtracks recently. You know that song “Everything is Awesome” from The Lego Movie? It’s an absolute banger. But lately, I can’t help but replace “awesome” with “awful” in my head. Everything just feels like it’s bad. There’s no solution—other than replaying “We’re All in This Together” from High School Musical. It’s an antidote to despair. Give it a try. Speaking of tweens and music, we’ve got a delightful newsletter for you today. Writer Ellie Rudy spoke with three “drag babies” about why they love dressing up and slaying on the dance floor. What’s a drag baby, you ask? You’ll have to read to find out. But before that, a quick ask. We recently joined TikTok and we’d LOVE for you to meet us there. (If we hit 20K followers, Samhita and I will do the High School Musical dance for you. Just don’t tell her I signed her up for that.)
Okay, now we can get to the news. Tiking and toking, Shannon Melero  WHAT’S GOING ONHighland Park: As you may have heard, a gunman in Highland Park, Illinois, opened fire Monday, killing seven people. The suspect, who has been charged with seven counts of first-degree murder so far, carried out the attack using a legally purchased rifle that was “similar to an AR-15”, despite having two previous encounters with police and sharing violent imagery online which should have disqualified him from purchasing one let alone five firearms. Nancy Rotering, Highland Park’s mayor, said of the tragedy, “I think at some point, this nation needs to have a conversation about these weekly events involving the murder of dozens of people with legally obtained guns.” That conversation has been going on far too long already. 139 days: That’s how long WNBA star Brittney Griner has been wrongfully detained in Russia. On Monday, Griner sent a letter to President Biden asking, “please don’t forget about me and the other American detainees,” and adding that she feared she might be stuck in Russia forever. Despite a whole lot of lip service, Griner’s wife charges that the Biden administration has not done enough to secure Griner’s release; as Griner’s coach pointed out, “If it was Lebron, he’d be home, right?” Which is quite the double-edged sword because LeBron would in fact be home—not just because of his status, but because, unlike WNBA players, NBA players aren’t dependent on traveling overseas during the off-season to make ends meet to begin with. To raise your voice in support of bringing Brittney Griner home, consider signing this petition. AND:
 KIDS AT WERKThese “Drag Babies” Will Not Be StoppedThey may not be old enough to order mimosas at drag brunch, but these teens are already performance pros. BY ELLIE RUDY  TWEEN DRAG PHENOM THE KING OF QUEENS AT THIS YEAR’S DRAG CON (PHOTO COURTESY OF THE KING OF QUEENS) When I was nine years old, I went to South Beach, Florida, with my mom and godmother for spring break. One night, they took me out to a drag show and I was instantly enamored. These untouchable, confident goddesses amazed me. They were like every Disney princess mixed with every Marvel superhero all in one, and they didn’t care what anybody thought. I had never seen a more admirable example of how expansive gender expression can be. Drag culture made me the person I am today—not just loud, covered in sequins, and saying “YAAS QUEEN” way too often, but also creative. Drag represents our freedom to express ourselves, and that rubbed off on me. But conservative lawmakers in Texas, Arizona, and Florida want to bar children from attending drag performances and are even proposing banning “family-friendly” drag events altogether. In a press conference, earlier this month, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis described a Dallas drag show for kids as “really, really disturbing.” He told the crowd, “That is not something that children should be exposed to.” Right-wing protestors have also disrupted performances, standing outside one family-friendly drag event in Dallas last month to demand it keep children out. But despite this pressure, some kids are doing more than just watching drag—they’re performing it themselves, taking to social media to compete in online drag competitions, and putting in the werk. I spoke to three of these young queens. They told me that the right-wing attacks are taking their toll. But they also said that drag was an integral part of their identity—and a place to express themselves in a world full of trauma. (I’m referring to the children by their drag names, and using she/her pronouns.)  TWO YOUNGSTERS COMPETING IN A DANCE-OFF AT DRAG CON 2022. THIS IS WHAT JOY LOOKS LIKE. (PHOTO BY SANTIAGO PHELIPE VIA GETTY IMAGES) Vee Miyake Versace has been doing drag for two years since she was 15. Now, at 17, her drag persona is very much intertwined with her identity as a trans woman. She competes in Instagram drag competitions called fashion races, which replicate challenges on RuPaul’s Drag Race and in which contestants design and create their own garments, dance, sing rap, and even do standup comedy. She loves connecting with other “drag babies” (the term used in the drag community for non-adult queens) around the country and loves exploring her artistic side. “Drag to me, it’s all about the creativity,” she says. “It doesn’t matter what you do, how you do it, it’s just about the creativity behind it and the effort you put into it.”  THAT LASH WORK? HIGH ART! (PHOTO COURTESY OF VEE MIKAYE VERSACE) She’s incredibly frustrated with the conversation around kids and drag. “I just think it’s all so stupid at this point because there are also things like what happened [in Uvalde], but [lawmakers] are more worried about people just dressing up doing drag than actually protecting people.” Stella Virgin, a 14-year-old Ohio-based queen, describes herself as a “glamour girl” and prides herself on her makeup skills. “I give face and mug,” she says. “I am the mug queen…someone you can meet at a party who you can trust but you know you’ll also have a good time with.” She got into the drag scene when she was 12, and has excelled in the world of Instagram drag, winning two competitions. Her mother Pam beams when discussing Stella’s passion for drag, “She doesn’t need reassurance from people she doesn’t even know, just as long as she knows her family loves her and we support her,” she said. “We’re just so proud of her and we just can’t say enough about her. She’s the most loving, extraordinary child.” Stella is upbeat—throughout our Zoom call, she can’t stop smiling and practically glows whenever her mom chimes in. She says the current attacks on drag concern her: “It feels like I can’t express myself how I want to, like the way I see myself.” But she manages to keep her head up by continuing to pursue her makeup and dance skills.  STELLA VIRGIN GIVING US PRINCESS PEACH, CANDY LAND EMPRESS REALNESS (PHOTOS COURTESY OF STELLA VIRGIN) “I want to do more than just online competitions,” she says. “I want to get out in the real world and showcase my talents.” One of Stella’s best friends is a 12-year-old California queen named The King of Queens. The two met through Instagram when The King reached out to Stella after admiring her online drag performances; the two eventually met in person when The King flew down to Ohio for the weekend, and have been online best friends since. I had the pleasure of meeting The King of Queens at RuPaul’s DragCon 2022 in Los Angeles. She told me she started drag when she was just eight years old after her older sister showed her RuPaul’s Drag Race. Her mom, Amy, wasn’t surprised: “Since she came out of the womb, she’s been one of those kids that just naturally performs…She’d see a group of people and just start dancing in the middle,” Amy says. When I ask The King what kind of girl her drag persona is, she replies without skipping a beat: “The King of Queens is dancing. She’s serving face,” she says. “She’s very feminine but at the same time weird.” King’s popularity has made her a target: Last month, an alt-right Twitter account called Libs of Tiktok got hold of a recording of The King of Queens performing at her local Hamburger Mary’s, a drag-themed diner chain, and posted it. Commenters harassed King and posted hurtful comments about her, says Amy. And Tiktok even took King’s account down after it was reported for “child safety.” They got it back “after several appeals,” says Amy, but “we’ve had to lay low because of that.”  ONLY THREE WORDS CAN EXPLAIN THIS: FAB. U. LOUS. AND MOM LOOKS GREAT TOO! (PHOTO COURTESY OF THE KING OF QUEENS) But even after having adults bully her on Twitter, The King of Queens is still incredibly grateful to have drag in her life—and says she uses it to soothe herself. “Drag is a way to express who I am and when I’m going through something emotionally, I will get in drag or do a weird look or something like that and it will kind of like calm me down and just put me in a place that is less aggressive.” To her—and to me—drag is a comforting, supportive space. “The community is great, amazing, loving,” she says. “I mean, everything about it is what a child like me should grow up in.”  Ellie Rudy was born and raised in Austin, Texas, and is the mother of a geriatric Chiweenie named Molly. She has written for LA Magazine, Teen Vogue, and more.  Before you sashay away, please consider forwarding this newsletter to a few friends. (Do it for the kids!) FOLLOW THE METEOR    Thank you for reading The Meteor! Got this from a friend? 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