Drag Shows and Freedom

In the last month or so, I have found myself at two different fundraisers for organizations important to SFBC. The first, was The People’s Breakfast fundraiser which happened in our own fellowship hall. The People’s Breakfast uses our kitchen every Sunday morning to make about 120 meals to take over to the U-District to serve folks who need them. The second fundraiser, was the Church Council of Greater Seattle. We are one of founding churches of CCGS and we do a good bit of advocacy and organizing around the city with them.

I typically don’t enjoy fundraisers. In all honesty, most organizations put on pretty boring fundraisers. But, The People’s Breakfast and CCGS put on the two best fundraisers I have ever been to. Both fundraisers were drag shows. These shows were joyful and fun acts of resistance that have me reflecting on freedom.

At church, we often talk about our collective liberation—our lives being tied together. To paraphrase Audre Lorde, none of us are free while any of us are unfree, even if another person’s shackles look very different from our own. At both drag fundraisers, everyone there was given a glimpse into a world where we are all truly free.

The People’s Breakfast show closed with a roller-skating performance to Chappelle Roan’s “Pink Pony Club.” This song was on our Lent playlist this year because it is about an in-between. A young woman leaves her family in Tennessee to go and perform at a club in West Hollywood. The song presents her as being in-between both places. She holds Tennessee and her mother in her heart, but she is truly free to be her full self when she is dancing at the Pink Pony Club. As I watched the drag performer roller skate around our fellowship hall on Holy Saturday, I thought to myself, “This is it. This is resurrection.” Everyone was singing at the top of their lungs, and in those few minutes we were all free together.

I’ve been thinking that drag shows are one of the best representations of the kingdom of God. They represent the world God wants for us, and the world God calls us to work for. Drag shows are a safe space for people to be their true selves, for people to be who God created them to be. Drag performers invite everyone in the audience into the freedom and joy they experience when they perform. Drag shows allow for people to place the things that are holding them captive at the door for a couple hours, showing everyone what our collective freedom could and should look like.

I know the world is filled with pain right now. Empire is doing everything it can to oppress and even kill. It is hard to imagine a world where everyone is free. It is hard to know where to even start working for that world. But, maybe we start at a drag show. Maybe we start by singing our favorite song at the top of our lungs and joyfully dancing like no one is watching. Maybe we start by inviting each other into safe spaces to be who we truly are, who God created us to be, where we can leave the things that are holding us captive at the door for a while.

Peace,

Rev. Leigh