When drag artist Lua witnessed an act of aggression on the streets of Windsor, she decided not to let it get the better of her.
However, with rising transphobia across North America, the incident reminded her of the stark reality of being openly LGBTQ+ in 2023.
Tearing down a poster for a Drag Lip Sync battle and tearing it up may not rise to the level of protests outside libraries hosting Drag Story Time or comments from mainly Republican politicians in the U.S., and Lua feels safe in her city. Still, she decided it could not go unanswered.
"It made me feel like I was very, very, very unsafe," she explained. "I don't know what's going to happen to me."
Pride Month is just weeks away, and this year, Pride flags won't fly in some communities in Ontario after their councils passed bylaws banning them on municipal property. Oxford Pride is challenging the decision in Norwich at the Ontario Human Rights Commission.
(A friend of Lua. Photo by Adelle Loiselle, May 19, 2023)
Lua and others in the LGBTQ+ community in Windsor responded to the local incident by creating a "Tenants of Drag" to demystify drag.
The nine points include statements like "Drag is an art form," "Drag is an expression of one's truest self," and "Drag is not a threat."
"We're not here to harm anyone. We're not here to make incendiary comments to try and rile people up. We're just here to spread the love, and spread the joy," said Lua.
Lua said the drag community in Windsor is empowered. However, "since we don't have our own safe space, like a gay club, we have to make our own spaces wherever we go."
Another Tenant of Drag is "Drag will continue to be here," a message to those who might attempt to intimidate the community to force it underground.
"Windsor definitely is an intersectional city -- It feels really, really good to have diversity," she said while urging others in the community to speak up.
