Re: "Who wants to be a drag queen?" by David Webb, Dallas Voice, April 16.
I’m sitting at my day job, working so I can pay for food, rent, clothes and other essentials necessary to live. Tonight, I’ll go through that very transformation from man to woman and take the stage — for the sixth time in the past nine days.
I sometimes feel as though I’ve lost my identity as a man while making a career of the art form we now call female illusion. But as I wipe my eyes after reading this column in the Dallas Voice, I realize that maybe it’s not my identity which is lost, but rather that it is the perception and appreciation of what we do that is lost among our own community.
In the past week I’ve made those statements referred to in the column about being treated as a thorn in the side of the community, anti-masculine — everything gay men should not be.
I’ve also made note about how the audience that once worshipped its entertainers has left and we’re now transforming for bachelorette parties.
I work very hard to bring back the love for this art form within our community, but often wonder if it’s a wasted effort. And then I read David Webb’s comments — and maybe it’s not. Thank you — for getting it, for speaking out about it and for reminding me that I’m not just a drag queen. I’m a person.
I needed this. Thank you.
Joe S. Hoselton, aka Jenna Skyy
Dallas
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