As bans on drag are being proposed in passed in states across the country, legendary drag queen Lady Bunny is calling out Republicans — but she has a bone to pick with Democrats, too.
The LGBTQ+ icon is currently hitting the road for a new holiday show, Lady Bunny: A Very Blue X-Mas. After several shows in NYC and California, the last stop on Bunny's tour will take her to Hamburger Mary's in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. — where a lawsuit from the restaurant led to a block on the state's attempted drag ban.
To perform there was a purposeful decision, Bunny shares. As 2024 approaches, 2023 has become a year with a record amount of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation proposed and passed, many of the laws targeting drag shows. Several states have attempted to classify drag as "adult entertainment," flatly deeming the art-form as inappropriate for children.
While Bunny's shows may not be family-friendly, she knows that they still have value.
"Sometimes I don't think that these Republicans even know that those juicy hips came off of the couch. I don't think that they know that cleavage is a push up bra and contour. So, they might want to educate themselves," she tells The Advocate Channel, adding, "If you come out and do a Whitney Houston lip sync, and you look beautiful in a gown, and there's no curse words in her music — that's not non-kid-friendly. Now, if you come out like I do and do a Whitney song with a crack pipe, that may be objectionable."
Bunny says that those who don't like drag "do have the right to protest what your tax dollars go to," but that they need to recognize freedom of speech goes both ways. As drag queens are not "mandating" anyone go to their shows, no one should have the right to tell them not to perform.
In fact, while exposure to drag queens definitively won't harm children, their visibility could instead end up helping those who are searching for a community, as Bunny says exposure to queer artists at a younger age might have been able to help her.
"I'm someone who probably would have gotten a benefit from seeing a drag queen or trans person reading a story to me, because we get negative messages from our church, from our family, from schoolmates that gay or drag or trans is bad," she shares. "So, [seeing a drag queen] would have made me think, 'Wow, so everyone else in my world has been telling me that I'm sick, and they don't understand me. And the school actually hired this person. Maybe I have a future. Maybe I don't consider suicide.'"
Image courtesy of Project Publicity
But it's not just Republicans who are to blame for this conservative cultural wave — Bunny also believes that Democrats have not done enough to support progressive causes, nor done enough to fight for LGBTQ+ rights. Even in cases where conservatives block laws from passing, she still believes Democrats could be much more vocally supportive of the policies they claim to back.
Bunny notes that it's ironic that legislation negatively impacting the LGBTQ+ community, such as Florida's "don't say gay" law, seems to draw more attention than proposed legislation that could actually benefit them, such as the Equality Act, which has continuously failed to pass.
"They didn't fight for us, and they expect our votes," Bunny explains. "[Almost] 80 percent of Democrats want a ceasefire [in Gaza], which we're not getting. Seventy to 80 percent have wanted Medicare for all, and Joe Biden said that he would veto it if it passed Congress."
"It's like, you've got to earn votes."
Lady Bunny: a Very Blue X-Masopens in New York City December 7 through the 15. She moves to Catalina Jazz Club in Los Angeles on December 20, with two shows at Oscars in Palm Springs on December 21, another in San Francisco's Oasis on December 23, and finally at Hamburger Mary's in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. December 30. All shows are 18+.
For Lady Bunny's full interview, visit The Advocate's new sibling outlet, The Advocate Channel.
