Last weekend saw the second Queer Expo take place! After
having a positive experience at the first one, the Afflatus team were excited
to see how the event had changed and grown.
Prozac and Minnietaur
The first big change was the venue, last year’s had taken
place at the Melbourne Showgrounds, a bold move for a new convention that
didn’t pay off as so few attendees didn’t fill all that space. This year’s took
place at St Kilda Town Hall, the venue M.A.D had used in its first two years. The
smaller venue is much more suited to a new convention or show, however I don’t
believe Queer Expo utilized it to its full advantage. When M.A.D had used this
venue they had split it into two parts, with the runway on one end and the markets
on the other, Queer Expo had done a similar split (more literally with large
curtains dividing the stage and market), but I felt the ratio was off. M.A.D
always managed to comfortably fit 10-20 stall holders in the market, whereas
Queer Expo had 2 ½ rows of stall holders which felt cramped and was difficult
to maneuver. Whilst I understand why the large curtain was up, as it blocked
the sound (an issue they had last year), it made the trader’s area smaller and
felt much more cramped. Later on the Sunday they opened it and it made the hall
feel much more open and welcoming. Perhaps if they could have moved it closer
to the stage and made that area smaller, as it was never full, the trader’s
area would have been easier to move in and much more comfortable.
Cryptika
The convention didn’t get off to a good start on the
Saturday. Advertising the opening ceremony for 11:00am, many people assumed it
would open at 10:30am (giving time for wristbands to be given and people to
find their seats for the ceremony). People were lined up, but weren’t let in
until about 11:15am, with the ceremony not starting until approximately 11:45.
This meant that panels were pushed back and felt rushed through, but within an
hour things were back on schedule.
I also felt underwhelmed by the panels, with all of them revolving around the special guests, and a lot about their time on Drag Race. BenDeLaCreme seemed exhausted about explaining her choice to leave from All Stars 3, and a lot of what was told about the show has been said in previous interviews and online. I loved the diversity of panels from last year’s expo; there was wig styling, drag kings, and queer representation in video games; it wasn’t all about Ru Paul and drag. Last year’s prompted learning and further thought.
Though it was still great to listen to the guests talk about their experiences. In Herstory of Drag, Vivacious, Mayhem Miller and, Mariah Balenciaga, spoke about the drag culture when they began and how different it is nowadays (you never just did drag, you had to be invited in). And whilst Vivacious spoke of club kids and that culture, Maria talked about the Ballroom scene. I loved learning about some of the history of drag. And listening the Drag without the Race with Hungry, FKA, and Bible Girl, really helped speaking about the ‘stigma’ that Drag Race is the pinnacle of drag, that it is what everyone should be judged against. It was a great sentiment because, as much as RuPaul’s Drag Race has brought attention and acceptance to drag, it has unintentionally created a view that if you don’t fit into what the show has displayed then your drag is illegitimate.
Is She Hungry
I also felt underwhelmed by the panels, with all of them revolving around the special guests, and a lot about their time on Drag Race. BenDeLaCreme seemed exhausted about explaining her choice to leave from All Stars 3, and a lot of what was told about the show has been said in previous interviews and online. I loved the diversity of panels from last year’s expo; there was wig styling, drag kings, and queer representation in video games; it wasn’t all about Ru Paul and drag. Last year’s prompted learning and further thought.
Mayhem Miller, Mariah Balenciaga, Vivacious
Though it was still great to listen to the guests talk about their experiences. In Herstory of Drag, Vivacious, Mayhem Miller and, Mariah Balenciaga, spoke about the drag culture when they began and how different it is nowadays (you never just did drag, you had to be invited in). And whilst Vivacious spoke of club kids and that culture, Maria talked about the Ballroom scene. I loved learning about some of the history of drag. And listening the Drag without the Race with Hungry, FKA, and Bible Girl, really helped speaking about the ‘stigma’ that Drag Race is the pinnacle of drag, that it is what everyone should be judged against. It was a great sentiment because, as much as RuPaul’s Drag Race has brought attention and acceptance to drag, it has unintentionally created a view that if you don’t fit into what the show has displayed then your drag is illegitimate.
BenDeLaCreme
The special guests were a mixture of Ru girls and other
famous drag queens, and the small event allowed for more intimate interactions
with them. And whilst it is fantastic that Queer Expo can get these guests
down, especially someone like Hungry, it is a bit disappointing that even
though their motto last year was “Support local drag” there wasn’t much promotion
for local drag.
Pink Sass
Last year there were several shows throughout the event,
from Philmah Bocks and Art Simone’s Star
Queens, and Glitter Galz ending the event in the closing ceremony, there
were even local artists performing between panels. This year we had no
performances (beyond Pink Sass in the opening ceremony), and only music between
panels. It meant local performers didn’t have a platform this year (which is
especially disappointing as the event kept promising applications would open
online), and it felt that local drag wasn’t as supported.
Matte Finish
Where locals were supported was in the Drag competition;
which was amazing. This year’s format was changed up, which I feel allowed the
contestants to really showcase their own skills and personality. Last year’s
took place on the Sunday with a lipsync battle, where winners from each round
would move on to the next round, until finally a winner remained. This year’s
took place over both days, with Saturday having a fashion parade (the theme
being Pride), followed by a lipsync battle, with the songs chosen for the
contestants. What was fantastic was the amount of diversity in drag artists,
from queens, to kings, to bio queens and kings, and all in between. And they
all brought so much into the performances, with heaps of reveals and gimmicks
done to make them stand out against their competitors; it was so fun and
entertaining.
The judges seemed to work on a point system (taking the fashion parade into account), which determined who would continue onto the next stage.
The contestants who went through then performed at The 86 that night. Which whilst it allowed them opportunity to perform more, it was disappointing that more of the competition took place outside of the expo, and with $20 for entry, it’s a lot of extra money when you’ve already spent $80+ to have both days at the expo.
The Sunday saw the remaining contestants answer questions, ranging from if they were in the Spice Girls what would their name be, to what issues they would address if they won, to what has been the toughest professional issue they’ve overcome. This allowed us to get to know the contestants more, and to understand their stances on topics and beliefs. This was followed by more performances, this time the song was chosen by the contestants and let us see who they were, and their style. My highlight for this round was Ginava providing a lipsync to “The God Warrior” Christian from an episode of Trading Spouses; the facial expressions they pulled, and lipsyncing to spoken dialogue was amazing.
Justin
Teliqure
The judges seemed to work on a point system (taking the fashion parade into account), which determined who would continue onto the next stage.
The contestants who went through then performed at The 86 that night. Which whilst it allowed them opportunity to perform more, it was disappointing that more of the competition took place outside of the expo, and with $20 for entry, it’s a lot of extra money when you’ve already spent $80+ to have both days at the expo.
Ginava (Gendermess)
The Sunday saw the remaining contestants answer questions, ranging from if they were in the Spice Girls what would their name be, to what issues they would address if they won, to what has been the toughest professional issue they’ve overcome. This allowed us to get to know the contestants more, and to understand their stances on topics and beliefs. This was followed by more performances, this time the song was chosen by the contestants and let us see who they were, and their style. My highlight for this round was Ginava providing a lipsync to “The God Warrior” Christian from an episode of Trading Spouses; the facial expressions they pulled, and lipsyncing to spoken dialogue was amazing.
Bella Nitrate
From this a final five were chosen, where they had voting
lines for the audience to vote for their favourites. I’m not a fan of public
votes in competitions; I feel it turns thing into a popularity contest rather
than one about skill, and the out of state competitors would automatically have
a disadvantage.
From the voting, a final 3 were chosen where they all did
a final lipsync battle together. And the winner was Justin Teliqure, a
Melbourne based king known for his smooth dance moves.
The competition was definitely the highlight of the expo.
It supported our local drag, along with many different types of drag artists.
It was the moment that the stage area was full, and every contestant received
so much support from the crowd.
It’s a shame there wasn’t more of this support for local
drag throughout the expo.
Fitheach Prionnsa and Eloquent Mx Loki
Similar to last year, there were not many attendees, and
I believe it was a lack of advertising. Afterwards, people were not aware it
was on, whether they be in the drag or queer community. Whilst I did see it
advertise a lot on its own facebook and Instagram, I never saw it on outside
platforms.
The Expo also needs to decide if it wants to be family friendly. Last year’s they were quite strict on keeping language friendly for the kids, and had kids activity space set up. This year the guests did let many curse words slip, but never seemed to be brought up on it, and even the music the expo played contained curses. I also believe if you are going to have a family event, you should not have alcohol available. I saw several people drunk by early afternoon, which made me uncomfortable, I don’t know how a parent or child would feel about it.
The Expo also needs to decide if it wants to be family friendly. Last year’s they were quite strict on keeping language friendly for the kids, and had kids activity space set up. This year the guests did let many curse words slip, but never seemed to be brought up on it, and even the music the expo played contained curses. I also believe if you are going to have a family event, you should not have alcohol available. I saw several people drunk by early afternoon, which made me uncomfortable, I don’t know how a parent or child would feel about it.
Esther Rix
Queer Expo has such potential to be an event that brings
the drag and queer community together to celebrate. So it’s such a shame to see
it focus more on Ru girls and international guests, than celebrating Melbourne
and Australian drag and queer communities. It had such big dreams for its first
year, but this year’s took such a big step backwards that it was a bit lacklustre.
Every event will have kinks to iron out, and Queer Expo needs to figure out
what it wants to do in order to move ahead.
I hope that for next year’s they can celebrate local drag more, celebrate queer organizations and culture more, and advertise to a wider audience to get more people in.
I hope that for next year’s they can celebrate local drag more, celebrate queer organizations and culture more, and advertise to a wider audience to get more people in.
Written by: Dezmin Humphryis
Photgraphy: Slippery Photography
View all of the photos from the event HERE
Photgraphy: Slippery Photography
View all of the photos from the event HERE
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