From Drags To Riches

“The last time I was here must have been ten years ago, and nothing’s changed: the scenery’s the same, and so is the music…”, I said to my friend, as we entered Sydney’s Arq nightclub, late tonight to the sounds of Kylie Minogue.

“The last time I was here was two weeks ago…” she replied. An answer which would surprise a lot of people, given my friend (like me) is in her fifties and is fairly straight-laced. However, she works with young people, and over the last few months has been supporting a young man she works with, who has been participating in the “From Drags To Riches” drag queen contest. I felt a bit of a connection with him, as he grew up in a small country town where I had once lived. I can only begin to imagine his journey as a gender-fluid young person.

From Drags To Riches
From Drags To Riches

Tonight was the Grand Final, with $2000 in prize money for the winning contestant. It was down to the final five, and each had to perform both a ballad and up-tempo number. In some ways, we both became drag queen judges in our own right, whispering phrases to each other such as “that one’s too dramatic” , or “that one missed her queue” etc.

From Drags To Riches
From Drags To Riches

The young guy we were supporting performed well, was popular with the audience, and was most definitely “our favourite”. And, he won!!!!!

PS: Please forgive my use/misuse of the personal pronouns, but I believe the young person I’ve been talking about identifies as male, though has been somewhat gender-fluid over the years. I apologise if I’ve messed the pronouns up.

2 Replies to “From Drags To Riches”

  1. Thank you so much!!! This means a lot to me and I am so happy to be on the stage creating not only performances but art!!

    P.s. The photos are amazing!! Thank you again
    Lots of love Bailey Legal ❤️

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