Letter to Lady MAGA

When  Lady MAGA first came out, it was under a thin veneer of wanting a civil dialogue about politics. However, it was clear from her first blog post, “Is the LGBT Community a Cult,” that she either completely misunderstands the positions she is against, or she is intent on wilfully misrepresenting them to her audience. The video she released as Justin Justice makes me think it is the latter, since it was a deliberate caricature. (Though I personally thought Justin sounded reasonable and made some good points.)

Now Lady MAGA had been my drag sister for a while (different mothers), so I’m giving her the slightest smallest benefit of the doubt. I want to give her one last chance to enter the realm of real political discourse.

Her original article presented a long list of strawmen positions. Either intentionally or unintentionally she misrepresented real arguments, so I tried to fix them.  I altered or replaced her strawmen with real positions that reasonable people actually hold. I didn’t argue for or against these positions, some of them are not my own, and I know there are stronger positions out there, but this was the best I could do. 

Here is my message to her 

Lady MAGA,

Girl, listen, your first attempt at political discourse completely missed the mark. The positions you attributed to your opponents were strawmen, they’re not real, girl. I hope this wasn’t dishonest on your part, like you deliberately wanted to make them look worse than they are so you can get your fans to hate them or laugh at them, but it kinda looked that way. It’s also completely ineffective. You’re never gonna get a person to change their position if you don’t address the position they actually hold. And if you misrepresent the argument to your followers, then when they meet with the actual arguments, they’ll be completely unarmed.

So to help you out, as a thanks for the Maleficent Doll you once gave me and that I still have,  I went through and steelmaned the arguments.  These are real positions real people have. If you can address these, instead of the ones you dreamed up, you’ll get a lot more respect and a lot less hate, and if you can refute them, then you have a chance of making actual converts to your cause. 

As a side note, these aren’t all positions I agree with and I don’t argue for or against them here. In fact after our failed first attempt on the Insta, I’m pretty sure I’m not the one to engage with you on these or any issues. This is just to get you started on the right foot, if you are sincere that is.

I took these word for word form your blog, I put your strawman first and then my revised steelman underneath. 


 LGBTQIA+ CULT GUIDELINES TO BE ENFORCED BY LGBTQIA+ VIRTUE-SIGNALERS:
(Positions held by many in the GRSM community that many avidly support on social media)

• You must hate President Trump!

(You should not support  President Trump because of his anti-HRSM rhetoric and because of the policies he supports explicitly and tacitly.  Policies he supports explicitly include, but are not limmited to,  a ban on transgender service members, blocking anti-discrimination legislation, denying legal status to the same sex partners of diplomants. Policies he tacitly endorses through appointments of anti-GRSM advocates to positions of authority range from a consitutional ban on gay marriage -supported by Mike Pence- to the funneling of funds from AIDS research into faith based reparative therapy -also supported by Mike Pence- to overturning Laurence Vs Texas, the court case that decriminalized homosexuality -supported by conservative and religious leaders in Trump’s circle-)  Trump is an evil homophobe!

(Trump’s personal feelings are hard to understand because his rhetoric is so inconsistent, but he is, at best, an enabler of an homophobes and homophobia)

• Republicans are racists!

(Many Republican policies adversely affect People of Color disproportionately, and republican rhetoric stokes and feeds off of racial animus)

• The LGBT Community is under attack!

Actually that one’s good, people do argue that.

• The greatest threat to us is White, Christian men!

(A person’s religion and race are unrelated to our community’s political support. For examples see Candace Owens -conservative woman of color we oppose- and Pete Buttigieg -white Christian man we support-.)

• Socialism is the answer! Capitalism is bad!

(While many on the left support social democracy, we recognize that homophobia and oppression of the GRSM community can and has taken place under all economic systems including capitalism and socialism. For examples see how socialist regimes in the Soviet Union and South America persecuted GRSM individuals and how capitalist pressure from advertisers and economic boycotts have been among are most used and most effective tools.)

• Gender does not exist! There are endless genders!

(Gender is a social construct that exists bimodally along a spectrum)

• We cant say “gay,” we must say LGBT! In fact, we have to say LGBTQIA+ or we’re not inclusive!

(The word “gay” has not always been used to include people of diverse identities within the GRSM community so while we occasionally use it as a catch all term, we prefer to use longer acronmys to highlight the diversity and increase representation. We are definitely aware that this expanding acronym is confusing. We also know that in conversation the acronym can be cumbersome. As a remedy, we usually shorten it to LGBTQ+, Queer, or GRSM -gender/romantic/sexual/minority. The use of these terms is under constant discussion. This represents one of the many ideological divisions in our community, which some claim do not exist, but we welcome civil dissent and sincere questioning.)

• Speech we don’t like is hate speech!

(We don’t like hate speech)

• White privilege entails being a racist even if you don’t think you’re racist!

I had to break this one into three

(White privilege has nothing to do with racism, so even non-racists can experience white privilege.)

 (You may be a racist even if you don’t think you’re racist)

(It is possible for a person to harbor no racial malice or overt prejudice and still support racist policies and structures. These people are often unaware that they are doing so, and so listening to and amplifying marginalized voices is the only way to raise awareness.)

• Transgender children under 18 have the right to take life-altering hormones!

Again I had to break this into two because there is a disagreement within the community

Some take the position:
 (All children go through significant life-altering changes due to hormones during puberty, well before they are 18.  If a child under the age of 18 experiences no gender dysphoria -the vast majority don’t-  it is perfectly reasonable to allow them to go through hormonal changes before the age of 18, but if a child experiences dysphoria, it makes sense to delay the choice, through puberty blockers, until the age of 18 so the child can make that important life-altering decision as an adult. In short, it is okay for Cis kids to undergo puberty before they are 18 even though it involves life-altering hormones, but Trans kids should probably wait.)

There are some who might take the position:
( If a Cis kid can descide to go through puberty before they are 18, then a Trans kid should be able to descide too. If a Cis boy can decide to go through male puberty before he is 18, perminately altering his body, then a Trans boy should have the same choice.)

• Parents who don’t allow their children to “transition” to another gender are abusive!

I see people arguing this at two different levels

(There are many documented cases where parents’ refusal to accept a child’s gender identity, cis or trans, has caused great harm to the child. Lack of acceptance by parents is a leading cause of homelessness, depression, and suicide among trans children.)

(Denying puberty blockers and forcing a trans boy to go through female puberty to develop female secondary sex charactaristics would be just as cruel as giving a cis boy HRT and forcing him to go through female puberty.)

• People who own guns are dangerous! Stop the NRA!

Again there is disagreement

(Many of us are opposed to the NRA for reasons that have nothing to do with our membership in the community)

(Many of us support gun rights and the NRA for reasons that have nothing to do with our membership in the community)

• Anyone who questions the consequences of taking hormone therapy is transphobic!

(We actively support all research into the effects of hormone therapy since we are the ones exclusively affected. We are opposed to pseudoscience.)

Children as young as three know who they are and can change their gender!

(Children as young as three already begin to identify with, and perform, their gender. This is well documented in both trans and cis children. Many people celebrate and support their cis child’s gender identity and performance from an early age, this is fine because most children are cis. We are asking parents to be equally supportive if, on the rare occasion, their child begins to identify and perform a trans identity.)

• America is founded on White supremacy!

(America was founded on many ideals and ideologies including White supremacy, but also including equality, democracy, and liberty. The story of America has been one of challenging our demons and encouraging our angels and we have come a long way, changing and even going directly against the vision of the founding fathers. We oppose any efforts to sweep shameful aspects of America’s past under the rug to promote unquestioned nationalism.)

• The rainbow flag without a black and brown stripe is racist!

Similar to the position on the word “gay” vs “the acronym”

(The rainbow flag has long been used as a signifier of safe spaces for gay individuals or as part of the public campain for gay rights. Those spaces were not always open to women, people of color, or transgender/non-bianary people, and the public campain often took deliberate efforts to hide members of those groups. As a result, many do not see the rainbow flag as inclusive of women, people of color, or transgender/non-bianary people. Since there has been some marked effort of reverse this, many have come to accept the rainbow flag as all inclusive, but a flag with a brown and black stripe and/or a blue/pink/white pennant are used to explicitly welcome people into spaces and movements they had been excluded from.

-Think of it like the Rainbow flag vs the American flag. The American flag is slowly coming to represent all Americans. However, many places and causes that waved the American flag were not always friendly to the gay community, so the gay community created the rainbow flag. That doesn’t mean they think the American flag can’t represent them, it just means that it doesn’t explicitly represent them. To you the rainbow flag may represent POC and trans individuals, but since it hasn’t always, a more explicitly inclusive emblem is often needed)
 

• Not using someone’s “preferred pronouns” is dangerous and incites violence!

(Not using someone’s pronouns can cause immediate and long term psychological harm and in many documented cases has incited or led to physical violence.)

• Places with no gender-neutral bathrooms are unsafe!

(Transgender people are not safe if there is no where for them to use the bathroom. Forcing them to use the wrong bathroom often puts them in danger.)

• Questioning homophobia within Islam is Islamophobic!

There is not a large enough consensus among the GRSM community on Islam and Islam is not a uniform  enogh ideology for any claim to be considered representative. You might as well ask what the Bronie community’s position on dessert is.

• Christianity is bad! Islam is a religion of peace not to be questioned!

See above

• The real terrorists are white Christians!

I wouldn’t say there is a large enough consensus on this issue to put a position down as at all representative or even common, but I have seen this one -

(Christians are capable of terrorism and white-right-wing-extremist terrorism is responsible for more domestic terror attacks since 9-11 than any other group)

• You cannot disagree with or attack the ideas of any person of color without being racist!

(Our community is generally anti-racist but we do not shy away from criticizing the ideas of POC. -See Canadace Owens or any conflict between the GRSM community and the “Black Church”)

• Anytime white people do anything that wasn’t created by white people it’s cultural appropriation!

Another example of acceptable dissent and disagreement.
(There is a difficult line to draw between cultural exchange, cultural appreciation, and cultural appropriation. As an historically oppressed group we are sensitive to the issue and many may view this as oversensitivity. We think any person using signifiers from an oppressed culture should seek out and be sensitive to the views of members of that culture. But since not all members of said culture might agree, the argument persists and artists, comedians, drag, filmographers, and writers, etc. including white artists continue to be at the forefront of cultural art, exchange, and appreciation.)

• Biological men who identify as women deserve to compete in women’s sports!

I had to break this up again because there’s nowhere near a consensus

Three positions I’ve run across
(Trans women should be allowed to compete in women’s sports)
(Trans women whose HRT has sufficiently erased any hormonal based advantage should be allowed to compete in women’s sports)
(Competitive leagues in sports should not be based on biological sex but on different levels of genetic and hormonal advantage/disadvantage. Thereby women with high testosterone or men with low testosterone -I’m oversimplifying the science here- could compete in different legues whether they are cis or trans.)

• Salons who won’t wax a transgender woman’s testicles deserve to be shut down!

First note - literally everyone hates Jessica Yaniv

(Salons should not be allowed to turn away a person based on the person’s gender or gender identity. If a business would provide a service to a cis person they must provide that same service to a trans person. Scrotal and vaginal waxings are two different services. If a company doesn’t provide scrotal waxing, they should not be forced to provide it. If a company offers vaginal waxing, they must offer it to anyone with a vagina, man or woman, cis or trans)

• There’s nothing wrong with child drag queens performing in adult environments!

(Parents should determine what environment is too adult for a child to be in. It makes no difference if the child is performing drag or any other type of dance or theatre. Young girls have been dancing in skimpy outfits with tons of makeup and fake eyelashes for years. There are literally international dance leagues for young girls. Some young boys want the same opportunity, unfortuantley gay bars are sometimes the only venue that will allow boys to express themselves in this way. A gay bar can be a perfectly safe place for a child to perform drag. Parents should accompany and supervise any child in any of these spaces)

• Men can have periods, too!

(Transmen are men and they often menstruate. Basic biology.)


 One final thought. There are people out there who will have much more solid positions and come up with way better arguments than I ever could. Don’t run from them, don’t caricature them. Don’t fight with strawmen. If you’re going to be sincere, you’ve got to seek out those people. Challenge yourself with the best arguments the other side has to offer. In your last video on Trump’s pro-Pride tweet, you stopped reading the news stories the moment they disagreed with you… If you do that get you’ll never get anywhere near understanding.

 Very Sincerely,

Roary Hollace

Five ways LDS church members accidentally tell gay people to kill themselves.

When I came out, I was treated very… gently. People smiled, hugged me, and told me they loved me. Like many gay Mormons, I did not separate from the LDS community, and as my friends, family, and church leaders became more comfortable talking with me about my “situation” many of them began to, accidentally, tell me to kill myself.

Here’s what I was told-

1.      Dying is better than living in sin.

“You young people, may I directly entreat you to be chaste. Please believe me when I say that chastity is worth more than life itself. This is the doctrine my parents taught me; it is truth. It is better to die chaste than to live unchaste.”

-LDS First Presidency Message "We Believe in Being Chaste," Ensign, Sept. 1981, 3. Quotes like this didn’t exactly tell me that suicide was okay, but it did tell me that that I’d be better off shooting myself than holding hands with my boyfriend.  

2.      It is virtually impossible to live a chaste life if you are gay.

- “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” Mark 7:20-23 Gay members are told, at least today, that their attraction alone is not a sin. But since thoughts are a sin, it is virtually impossible for a gay person to stop sinning. And I’m not just talking about sexual thoughts. Because love and romance go far beyond sex. Every time a gay member longs for a romantic relationship with someone of the same sex, or every time they fail to feel a desire for a romantic relationship with someone of the opposite sex, they are sinning.

3.      Even if you can live a “chaste life,” it is hollow and meaningless.

- Ask any Mormon what the two most important things in their lives are, the answer will be “church and family,” or possibly “family and church.”  A few years ago the church stopped recommending heterosexual marriage as a treatment for homosexuals, so a righteous gay Mormon cannot have a family. They also began allowing openly gay members to serve in the church as long as they didn’t act on their gay impulses, but they can serve only minor callings in a ward. (Single women can serve in almost any calling, but men must be married to serve in high priest callings or with the youth.) Mormons are told that a man’s greatest calling is to be a father, a woman’s greatest joy is her children. But gay people are told that their desire to have children is selfish. If a man marries a woman, he is exploiting her feelings for her uterus. If two women marry and birth children, they are selfishly bringing fatherless children into the word. If two men marry an adopt children, even from the most awful dregs of the foster care system, they are still selfishly denying them a “real” family. Week after week, lesson after lesson, testimony after testimony, reaffirms to the gay member, that all of life’s greatest joys are impossible for them to obtain. 

 

4.      Death is the cure for gayness.

“Gratefully, the answer is that same-gender attraction did not exist in the pre-earth life and neither will it exist in the next life. It is a circumstance that for whatever reason or reasons seems to apply right now in mortality, in this nano-second of our eternal existence.” –Dallin H. Oaks.

I find the idea that one day God will rob me of my love for my husband and give our children back to their parents who abused and abandoned them in life terrifying, but to a gay teenager lying awake in bed night after night desperately trying to not be in love with his best friend, death is a welcomed release. To a desperately lonely middle aged lesbian working in the nursery and longing for a family of her own, death is her only opportunity.

5.      Yes, suicide is a sin, but not as bad as gayness. And sacrificing your life for righteousness’s sake is the noblest action.  

-We’ve already talked about how death is preferable to uncleanliness. Consider also that suicide is kinder to those around you. While suicide hurts more than just the victim, the effects are shorter lived and smaller in scope than the effects of homosexuality. Remember Mormons are taught that to take someone else’s chastity, even with their consent, is an act of violence against them, and that bringing children into a “gay” family is violence against children. If a woman falls in love with another woman, she could easily believe that by killing herself, she is saving the woman she loves and her future children. Such a sacrifice seems noble, and in the next life, free from her homosexuality, she can marry a man and raise children up unto the lord.

I know neither the LDS church or its members want gay people to kill themselves. This message is sent and received accidentally.   My intention is not to criticize church doctrine, but to warn parents and church leaders that this is the message many gay people are receiving.

The Daughter of Mormon Parents Speaks Out Against Mormon Marriage

Dear Mormon Community: Your Kids Are Hurting

I loved my mom’s husband, but another Mormon could never have replaced the Christian father I lost.

By Female American 

MARCH 17, 2015

Mormon community, I am your daughter. My mom raised me with her Mormon husband back in the ’80s and ’90s. She and my Christian dad were married for a little while. She knew she was Mormon before they got married, but things were different back then. That’s how I got here. It was complicated as you can imagine. She left him when I was two or three because she wanted a chance to be happy with someone she really loved: a Mormon.

My dad wasn't a great guy, and after she left him he didn't bother coming around anymore.

Do you remember that book, “Heather Has Mormon Parents”? That was my life. My mom, her husband, and I lived in a cozy little house in the ‘burbs of a very conservative and open-minded area. Her husband treated me as if I was her own daughter. Along with my mom’s husband, I also inherited her tight-knit community of Mormon friends. Or maybe they inherited me?

Either way, I still feel like Mormon people are my people. I’ve learned so much from you. You taught me how to be brave, especially when it is hard. You taught me empathy. You taught me how to listen. And how to dance. You taught me not be afraid of things that are different. And you taught me how to stand up for myself, even if that means I stand alone.

I’m writing to you because I’m letting myself out of the closet: I don’t support Mormon marriage. But it might not be for the reasons that you think.

Children Need a Christian Mother and Father

It’s not because you’re Mormon. I love you, so much. It’s because of the nature of the Mormon relationship itself.

Growing up, and even into my 20s, I supported and advocated for Mormon marriage. It’s only with some time and distance from my childhood that I’m able to reflect on my experiences and recognize the long-term consequences that Mormon parenting had on me. And it’s only now, as I watch my children loving and being loved by their Christian father each day, that I can see the beauty and wisdom in traditional Christian marriage and parenting.

Mormon marriage and parenting withholds a Christian parent from a child while telling him or her that it doesn’t matter. That it’s all the same. But it’s not. A lot of us, a lot of your kids, are hurting. My Christian father’s absence created a huge hole in me, and I ached every day for a Christian dad. I loved my mom’s husband, but another Mormon could never have replaced the Christian father I lost.

I grew up surrounded by Mormons who said they didn't need or want another religion. Yet, as a little girl, I so desperately wanted a Christian daddy. It is a strange and confusing thing to walk around with this deep-down unquenchable ache for a Christian father, for a Christian man, in a community that says that Christians are unnecessary. There were times I felt so angry with my dad for not being there for me, and then times I felt angry with myself for even wanting a Christian father to begin with. There are parts of me that still grieve over that loss today.

I’m not saying that you can’t be good parents. You can. I had one of the best. I’m also not saying that being raised by Christian parents means everything will turn out okay. We know there are so many different ways that the family unit can break down and cause kids to suffer: divorce, abandonment, infidelity, abuse, death, etc. But by and large, the best and most successful family structure is one in which kids are being raised by Christian parents.

Why Can’t Mormon People’s Kids Be Honest?

Mormon marriage doesn't just redefine marriage, but also parenting. It promotes and normalizes a family structure that necessarily denies us something precious and foundational. It denies us something we need and long for, while at the same time tells us that we don’t need what we naturally crave. That we will be okay. But we’re not. We’re hurting.

If anyone can talk about hard things, it’s us.

Kids of divorced parents are allowed to say, “Hey, mom and dad, I love you, but the divorce crushed me and has been so hard. It shattered my trust and made me feel like it was my fault. It is so hard living in two different houses.” Kids of adoption are allowed to say, “Hey, adoptive parents, I love you. But this is really hard for me. I suffer because my relationship with my first parents was broken. I’m confused and I miss them even though I've never met them.”

But children of Mormon parents haven’t been given the same voice. It’s not just me. There are so many of us. Many of us are too scared to speak up and tell you about our hurt and pain, because for whatever reason it feels like you’re not listening. That you don’t want to hear. If we say we are hurting because we were raised by Mormon parents, we are either ignored or labeled a hater.

This isn’t about hate at all. I know you understand the pain of a label that doesn’t fit and the pain of a label that is used to malign or silence you. And I know that you really have been hated and that you really have been hurt. I was there, at the marches, when they held up signs that said, “God hates Mormons.”  I cried and turned hot with anger right there in the street with you. But that’s not me. That’s not us.

I know this is a hard conversation. But we need to talk about it. If anyone can talk about hard things, it’s us. You taught me that.

Female American was raised by her mother and her mother's Mormon father. She is a former Mormon marriage advocate turned children's rights activist. She is a wife and mother of four rambunctious kids.

Satirical response to http://thefederalist.com/2015/03/17/dear-gay-community-your-kids-are-hurting/

Ryan T. Anderson Defender of Marriage: Episode 2 - Best outcomes for kids.

Ryan T. Anderson Defender of Marriage Episode 1. The selfish needs of adults.

If you want to stop people from getting married for selfish reasons, make laws against selfish marriage. Gay does not equal selfish.

Pageant Queens

Dear Drag World, 

Pageant contestants, both traditional and drag, often get pegged as beautiful shells, as artificial and vapid as the barbie dolls they seek to emulate. In season 1 and 2 of Drag Race, Rupaul crowned pageant queens. But in season 3, Mimi Imfurst then Raja, began to chanllenge the pageant princesses. After Sharon Needles shouted "tired ass show girl!!" at Phi Phi O'Hara in season 4, being pegged as a "pageant queen" pretty much meant you were gonna come in third.  

In light if the painful performance of Miss Utah at this year’s Miss America pageant, and the generally bad rap “pageant queens” get on Rupaul’s Drag Race, I’d like to show you my two favorite pageant performances.  These two examples should serve as stark rebuttal to anyone who says pageant girls are simply walking stereotypes, pretty drama queens with no real edge or talent.

First is Shangela Laquifa Wadley, competing for California Entertainer of the Year in 2010

This performance has a bit of everything I like about drag, the classic satire of popular culture, the caricature of pop iconography, as well as the big hair, high heels, and high energy. Shangela shows herself as a smart, funny, talented queen. 

Still, some might argue that her performance is too classic, simply too typical. They claim, with cause, that we've already seen queens in big wigs dancing to Britney Spears, backed up by shirtless men in tight shorts and eyeliner. They point out that pageant queens may be talented, but they never push the envelope. They are too main stream, too traditional. In fact, many claim that the pageant system itself perpetuates established standards and only rewards convention.  

In response, I submit this clip of the brilliant, cutting-edge pageant princess, Queen Bee Ho. 

 (Miss Continental Pageant 2012)

Queen Bee's performance is similar to Shangela's.  They both begin with pop culture references, Shangela to Twilight, Queen Bee to Saw.  But while Shangela's builds to a classical emotional climax, Queen Bee's performance is emotionally jarring. Her music and choreography shift dramatically from sharp and explosive to graceful and feminine. As she mixes beauty with horror, romance with addiction, and aggression with seduction, she speaks directly to the twisted duality at the heart of drag and contemporary culture.

While her style is distinctly her own, I think she at least matches, if not surpasses, the avant garde image of Raja and the shocking, cutting edge style of Sharon Needles, and she does it like a pageant queen.  

What do you think? Do you like pageant queens? Do you think they get a bad rap? Which ones? Do you think there is any chance a pageant queen will be crowned in season six? Thanks for reading, comment below.

Hugs n' Tugs,

Femalé Amerícän 

Potentially the Best Part of Pride

Dear Drag World,

Over the past few years my interest (borderline obsession) with drag has driven me to make pilgrimages to drag centers from West Hollywood to Miami, so I was ecstatic when I heard that some of the top drag queens in the country were coming to SLC pride.

I saw Chad Micheals preform alongside Nova Star, while Detox, Willam, and Vicky Vox put on a full concert at the Depot, and I swear I saw Yara Sofia and Shangela strolling through city creek. But potentially the best performance I saw was this little gem on Sunday afternoon. In her first time on a main stage, young Miss Augustine St. Lavon showed great potential, and her performance was potentially the best part of pride.


 

Now, when I say Augustine St. Lavon has potential, I don’t mean it in the snarky “well...she’s got potential” voice. I mean she’s brimming with young, vibrant, possibility. She’s nervous, you can tell by the way she flips her hair and paces the stage, but there are times when the music hits her and she starts to dance. At these moments she really starts to show her potential and perform. She’s on beat, she’s got great, sharp musicality, and she’s got attitude.

 Her look is subdued, she doesn’t even wear heels, but it’s fishy and clean. Far too many new queens come out looking like cheap Ga-Gas or a crusty Marilyn Mansons, it was nice to see a kid going after something beyond gritty-skanky-shock factor. I have also seen a few photos of Augustine in some really interesting avant-garde photo-shoots. I hope we get to see her working more intense looks soon.

Potentially the greatest things about Miss St. Lavon's  performance was how emblematic it was of Salt Lake City and the LGBT movement within it. The movement is young, but vibrant. It’s coming along, not violently or shockingly, but securely, confidently, almost sweetly. The culture in SLC, though reluctant to change, has great potential for love and acceptance.

 Nothing is better for this movement than brave, talented kids pushing through their nerves, facing down the crowd, and showing their potential.

What do you think of Augustine St. Lavon's Performance? What parts of SLC pride did you like?Comment below and check in for updates and insight into the SLC drag scene,

Hugs n' Tugs, 

Femalé Amerícän