Dina’s Diner 10/18/21

WHAT THEY DID AT SUMMER CAMP

The New York Times Sunday Magazine had an interesting article about a unique summer camp for trans and nonbinary children. The article appeared on August 10, 2021. It was headlined The Kids of Camp I Am – Ten Years Later.

The piece started off this way: “Fourteen years ago, the mother of a gender-nonconforming son organized a “summer camp” of sorts, where her child and others like him could wear frilly pastel nightgowns and tend to their My Little Ponies together. Only three other families showed up that first summer, but the camp grew quickly. It was called Camp I Am. In 2008, the photographer Lindsay Morris took her son there and began taking pictures of some of his fellow campers. More than a decade later, she asked many of them to be photographed again as they entered adulthood.”

Along with catching up on where some of the campers were today, the article included their impressions of what it was like to grow up as trans or nonbinary and how the camp experience aided their development. This is a special group of young people in that their parents were progressive enough to send their kids to Camp I Am in the first place.

For example, one of the subjects, Hannah, grew up in a liberal household, attended Camp I Am as well as a Hebrew camp where she was allowed to express herself at a young age, and a permissive private school. When she started attending a public middle school as an “out” trans student she said, “At that point, I was already so well-equipped from Camp I Am, the Jewish camp, elementary school and my whole extended family. For many trans people, if they were put in the same amazing environment I had–fully accepted as trans–there would be so much more joy.”

Former camper Nicole.

Former Nicole, camper who began attending at age 11, comes through as a confident kid interested in performing (she attends a music conservatory now) and became an activist at an early age. She asked her school to prep the staff and students about trans issues even before she began attending and later went on to work to fight anti-trans bills in the Massachusetts legislature.

Elias, now a college student at 19, went to the camp for four years beginning at age 5. His story is one crossdressers of any age can identify with. “I was two different Eliases: School/Outdoors Elias and Dress-Up Elias. But at camp, I could be Dress-Up Elias the whole time.” He purged when he entered middle school, saying “I figured if I was in middle school, I wasn’t a kid anymore. And dressing up is just for kids. I internalized the stigma about femininity.” Even as a young teen, he began doing drag, the Times reported: “When he performed, he called his character Veronica Tease, who expressed what he called his “feminine side.” The pandemic forced him to stop performing but offered him some perspective: “I realized I was compartmentalizing the ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ side of myself, partly because I had internalized homophobia. I decided to combine Veronica and Elias into one person.”” Sound like a familiar internal history?

There are several other former camp attendees profiled. There was a cute story of a straight brother dressing as a girl for Halloween one year just to support his gay brother who had attended the camp. Another told the Times that she had begun as a very “girly-girl” but the camp experience allowed her to be a more natural–still feminine–self. Zach, a former camper now 22, said, “The biggest thing I learned from camp was that I’m not alone. I’m not the only boy who likes girl stuff.”

WHO’S TALKING ABOUT JAMIE?

I came across a review of a new movie on the Amazon Prime service titled Everybody’s Talking About Jamie. The review that appeared in The New York Times on September 17, 2021 was subtitled Drag Queen Dreams.

The review wasn’t gushingly positive. Here is the first paragraph: “You have to credit “Everybody’s Talking About Jamie” for boldness: This new British musical is not afraid to be predictable. Characters who are all archetypes leave no cliché unturned as they navigate plot turns we have seen a hundred times before.” But the reviewer also wrote that “despite its cliches, this musical about an aspiring teenage drag queen is a charmer.”

Young actor Max Harwood plays Jamie, an effeminate pretty schoolboy with the dream of becoming a fully turned out drag queen. As the review points out, the plot places Jamie in the midst of familiar challenging settings for a teen who wants to be different. His male classmates, teachers, and a working class father all play antagonists. A nerdy female friend and a “drag mother” (played by veteran English actor Richard E. Grant) are Jamie’s confidants. The feature film is adapted from a London theater musical of the same name which in turn is based on a documentary from 2011 titled Jamie: Drag Queen at 16. The documentary film is also available on the Amazon Prime service.

I haven’t seen the film yet. I watched the trailer today. (It’s included in the Times review). I can imagine how it might play out. As the review points out, it’s all been put out there before in English teen films like Billy Elliott or Bend it Like Beckham or segments of Love Actually. I don’t know if it had any theatrical release in England. It was scheduled for release pre-pandemic and was pushed back like everything else.

It would be interesting to see how young audiences react to a story about a same-age gay character living his dream in the most outrageous fashion. No doubt it would be a target of derision by some young fellows. For others, though, it may be as inspirational as Jamie’s own storyline.

QUEENS IN QUEENS

Another article in the New York Times dealt with drag queens. An article headlined Bushwig Grows Up covered the tenth anniversary of the drag festival that was originated in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn but moved this year to Queens. Appropriate, yes, no?

Bushwig performers.

The Times article appeared on September 25, 2021 in the paper’s Style section. According to the article, Bushwig “has grown from a modest affair, held in someone’s backyard, to a two-day jamboree that draws all types of performance artists, singers, dancers and stylish queer people to one stage, for an audience of more than 5,000.” One of the co-founders, a drag queen named Horrorchata, told the Times, “It’s the gay Super Bowl, gay Christmas — a once-a-year event. This is basically the Met Gala for aliens.”

Drag may not have gone exactly mainstream over the past decade but the influence of RuPaul’s Drag Race, online male cosmetics divas, and the occasional celebrity doing drag or androgynous fashion has sort of re-marginalized some of the local queens and characters who don’t garner as much mainstream attention. The article pointed out some of those tensions at this year’s Bushwig event that was held on September 11 and 12.

The article reported, “While TV about drag often celebrates polish — perfectly painted makeup, flawlessly tailored gowns and stunt-laden lip-syncs — Bushwig is a festival that also celebrates the alternative and messier sides of the art form. This year, there were performances that included a disheveled siren crooning to imaginary seamen and a queen death-dropping to the Super Mario theme song. Ostrich-feathered gloves and long bejeweled acrylic nails flew into the air to applaud queens as they performed original songs; duckwalked down the runway; and delivered a dramatic re-creation of Lady Gaga’s 2009 VMA performance of “Paparazzi,” complete with fake blood.”

The Times had about a dozen portrait photos of some performers that pointed out quite clearly that Bushwig is not all about polished appearances. It seems that is part of its appeal to the many people who come to perform and to watch. It quoted one of the queens, “What’s so incredible about this thing is that it’s an equal platform for all of these performers. Whether or not you just started doing drag, whether or not you’re a veteran, whether or not you’re on TV, you have five minutes on the stage and you’re just bringing your full self to that moment.”

Some of the performers were disappointed that the festival only paid non-headlining queens $60 for their efforts. One young queen complained about “getting a measly $60 — which doesn’t even pay for safe transportation to and from the event.” This is New York. Some of the queens need to take taxis or even public transport to get to the festival in full drag ready to go on.

I guess it wouldn’t be a bona fide drag event if there wasn’t some bitchiness and kvetching. But as one queen told the Times after complaining about the pay, “Bushwig is a place for unbridled expression, and whether that expression be artistic, emotional or mechanical, people have decided to express themselves in whatever way suits them.”

HOMECOMING QUEEN: NOW AND AT FIRST

Evan Bialosuknia

The CNN.com website had a story about a trans homecoming queen on October 5, 2021. Seventeen-year-old Evan Bialosuknia was nominated into her high school’s homecoming court and was crowned as queen at a ceremony before a football game earlier this month.

The CNN article online also included an interview clip with Evan. She told CNN, “I was pretty excited to walk on homecoming court and to be a part of it, but I was also nervous even if I were to win, what if people were doing it to make fun of me. People are cruel these days. You never know what could happen.” She also spoke about transitioning from a young boy and man who played on the football team to take her first steps toward transitioning while still in high school.

She said that not everyone accepts her transitioning but enough people do that it makes her feel positive and the school’s LGBTQ organization helped her campaign for the homecoming honor. The school administration said Evan won by the largest margin in their history. She told another interviewer, “I was just in utter shock and it made me feel like maybe people do like me and maybe are not doing this to laugh at me or make fun of me. It just felt amazing to know that people are actually there for you and support you.”

Cassidy Lynn

Homecoming season at high schools and colleges during the football season made me think of the first recorded trans homecoming queen, Cassidy Lynn Campbell. She was crowned at her southern California high school in October 2013. She became quite the sensation in those not-so-long-ago days when boys crossdressing or transitioning in high schools was still unheard of

When I went online to see whatever became of her, Cassidy Lynn’s online presence seems to have vanished. The only references I could find were the original reports of her 2013 crowning. Her many YouTube videos where she did makeup tutorials and showed her fashion sense have disappeared. One of the only references on Reddit.com favored by youthful trans people was someone asking “Whatever happened to Cassidy Lynn Campbell?”

I hope it isn’t anything tragic. Cassidy Lynn was a great makeup talent, a natural beauty, and seemed like a magnetic personality. She was the first in what has become a long line of trans teens taking a very public step forward. Best wishes to you, wherever you may be, Cassidy Lynn Campbell.

WHAT ARE YOU GOING AS?

With Halloween fast approaching that question may be running through your mind. Might it involve women’s clothing? Ah, I thought so. Well, there are always the usual choices: french maid, female superhero, sexy nurse, sexy witch, sexy librarian…well you get the idea.
If you’re still at sixes and sevens as to your 2021 costume, I went back through the Diner columns of the past nine months to offer up some suggestions based on some topics I covered. Call it the Diner’s Halloween Menu.

We had an item featuring MaryAnn from Gilligan’s Island and Fran from The Nanny. Iconic costume ideas both. The unique singer Bjork from Iceland was mentioned twice in separate items. Remember her daffy swan dress at the Oscars? Maybe retro pinup model Betty Brosmer and her missile shaped bustline is more to your taste. I had a piece about the actress who played the 50-foot Woman in the 50’s film if you’re one of those statuesque types topping out over 6 feet. If you’re a little more serious minded, early aviation pioneer Bessie Coleman was written up with a photo in her uniform and cap.

It’s always fun to go with some friends dressed in a group theme. If that works for you and some dressing sisters, I might suggest an homage to the European soccer match “stretcher girls.” No one will know what the hell it all means but it would be a great conversation starter. How about a high-heeled parade line inspired by the Ukrainian female military cadets. Don’t forget their tight khaki t-shirts and form fitting camo slacks. Less exacting costume requirements would be needed to re-enact the Bristol strippers’ strike I wrote up a couple months ago. Pip, pip, there, lassies. Or look to the east and flout the Chinese government’s disdain for effeminate boy band singers.

A typical server down at Dina’s Diner.

For the exhibitionists out there, you could dress up by dressing down as beautiful porn performer Daisy Taylor. Or promote one of our TGF advertisers by showing off your titanic breast forms from The Breast Form Store. Speaking of breasts (one of my favorite topics), there were items about old school bust improvement ad models, and glammed up, corseted, and busty singer Billie Eilish. Bringing up the rear, there was that item about a former Miss Bum Bum titleist.

Look, if you’re still undecided, come down to the Diner where I can fit you up in a white uniform, conch cap, a small order pad and teach you how to say “What’re ya havin’, doll?” We can always use the help.

Tags: crossdressing, featured, opinion, Transgender

Category: Transgender Fun & Entertainment, Transgender Opinion