![]() She stayed home to fight for her spot centre stage. Most of the people don’t really appreciate us.”īut Tyff didn’t leave. He eventually returned, but he’ll never forget why he left: “Living in Saskatchewan, our government doesn’t like us here. Ryan Young, who performs in drag as China White, moved from Saskatoon to New York City in the early 2000s. Many drag artists who start off in smaller centres across Canada opt to move to bigger, more supportive markets with established queer scenes, such as Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. ![]() Outside of drag, Tyffanie Morgan is named Jim Puckalo. For nearly two decades, few bars would host her shows since most didn’t want to be known as a gay bar if they did, they often wouldn’t pay her, though sometimes Tyffanie would charge a cover fee. In the early 2000s, before RuPaul’s Drag Race would help turn a queer community staple into a pop culture phenomenon, Tyffanie, who is 43, was virtually the only queen in Kingston. Jas had no idea at the time, but the phrase would sustain Tyff through some tough years. She recognized that the salty phrase was rooted in friendship, support and trust, and her witty resilience was one of the many things she passed on to her protegé, Tyffanie. Jas immediately took to the playful heckle and turned it into a tradition to empower the drag community in this city of 132,000. After she asked a packed bar how everyone was doing, a friend cheekily shouted these words. It started when Jas Morgan, Tyffanie’s drag mother (the loving term given to older queens who mentor the next generation), was performing in the 1990s. This response is a regional quirk, and while seemingly crass, it represents an important piece of the city’s drag history. Others giggle and whisper to their friends. Some new attendees of the event, held in August 2022, look around bewildered. Sporting a blue wig and a flowing cream-coloured Grecian dress, the drag queen asks, “How are we doing tonight, Kingston?” Most of the 60 or so people in the room yell back: “F*** you, b****!” Tyffanie Morgan stands onstage in a dimly lit craft brewery in downtown Kingston, Ont.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |