The British drag scene is famously diverse, from traditional end of the pier campy drag to the gender bending, progressive social commentary of underground drag, if dressing up silly is your bag, theres probably a place in the UK scene for you, and if not, theres always space to make your own performance style happen.
In 2008, Amy Redmond, POWs artistic director co-founded queer club collective Sink The Pink, which grew to become the UK's largest LGBTQ+ club night. The biggest difference to many clubs of its era was that everyone was welcome on their stage. "Where gender is not on the agenda" as Time Out once said about Sink The Pink. Amy speaks to many UK drag performers making new waves in the scene today.
In 2021, drag is still predominantly a mans game. But if drag is performing gender, then surely your actual gender doesn't matter? The beauty of the UK scene is that there is space for everyone, and with Victoria Scone entering Ru Pauls drag race UK, (the first female on the show), there has been much talk since of women doing drag. In last years POW! festival we spoke to Ginny Lemon about the misogyny they'd heard over the years within the scene, and decided that it was time we shone a light on the females, non binary and AFAB (assigned female at birth) kings and queens of the UK drag scene today.
We spoke to as many performers as we could, and Amy has saved a highlights on her instagram stories (@missamyzing) where she is gathering, saving, and asking to hear of more queens and kings, so please tag anyone we've missed. This is the beginning of the rise of this more gender diverse vision of drag, we want to nurture and celebrate the whole scene so lets keep the conversation going. There is space for everyone in drag, thats the point, so if its something you want to get into, these podcasts hold some fantastic tips of places to go, people to follow and ways to find your communities. Thank you to everyone that spoke to us, its utterly fascinating to find out about the power of drag, and the journey these performers have gone on to get to where they are today. Enjoy the ride!
Illustration by Jane Horgan
Producer Darryn de la Soul
