EP 6: HEELS & FEELS RESOURCES

LINKS & RESOURCES

 BORDERLAND RAINBOW CENTER: Click here for their website
The BRC works to create a community space in which lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex (LGBTQI) people and their allies can heal, grow, and empower themselves and others. This substance-free space is governed and run according to ethically sound standards and research-based best practices for (LGBTQI) people and their allies. The BRC connects LGBTQI people to resources for improved physical and mental health, economic stability, legal rights, education, spiritual and cultural enrichment.

TOUCH BAR & DRAG BRUNCH: Click here for their website

DRAG IN TEXAS NEWS

A brief history of drag queens in Texas

Drag queens across Texas have experienced increasing protests and threats from a small group of vocal opponents and their political allies. But where did drag come from, and how did it grow in popularity?
Men have played women’s roles on stage since Ancient Greece.
But drag as a performance art as we know it, often linked to cakewalks, minstrel and vaudeville shows, began to come into its own in the 19th century. Historians and queer scholars believe the moniker “drag” likely referred to the swishing effect of early performers’ petticoats and skirts.
Drag has deep roots in the Lone Star State.
More than a century ago, female impersonators got top billing at the State Fair of Texas. “Prof. Stewart, the Great Female Impersonator, in His Vocal Specialties at 1 P.M.,” read the lead story in the Oct. 20, 1890, edition of The Dallas Morning News. That day at the fair was specially set aside for kids, the banner headline noted, with “all schools attending in a body with their teachers admitted free.”
In 1910, The News wrote a glowing story about Elliott Stuart, renowned as “best in world.” Stuart, who the article reported had been decorated for his talents by European royalty, got his start as a chili stand worker who happened across an amateur night at a local variety theater. The headline read, “Dallas man achieves fame.”
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Federal judge declares Texas drag law unconstitutional

In a 56-page ruling, the judge said the law is an "unconstitutional restriction on speech."
A federal judge on Tuesday struck down a Texas law that LGBTQ advocates feared would ban drag shows in the state and imprison performers.
The law, which Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed in June, expanded existing state law to prevent children from exposure to sexually explicit performances. While the legislation, Senate Bill 12, does not cite drag specifically, drag performers feared that it was passed with the intention of criminalizing the art form, which has deep ties to the LGBTQ community, and that it would repress their freedom of expression.
Read the entire article here