The aim ofzineistotalkaboutand celebrate queerness through the art ofphotography and drag.
"ItispainfultoadmitwhenIunderstoodthe useoftheworddragitwasdefinitelyRuPaul'sdragrace. ItinvadedPopCulture,itisdefinitelywhereIputthe wordtoit.IthenrealisedIhadalwaysbeendoingdrag. WhenIwas14to16meandmyfriendwerehugeLady Gagafansandweusedtoputonfull-productionLady Gagaconcertsineachother'sbedroomswithprojections dochangesandmixes.Ihadbeendoingstufflikethat sinceIwasateenagerbutInevercalleditdrag.Ialways thoughtIwasgoingtobeasingeroranactorandIwent tounitobeanactorandthenrealisedthat'snotwhatI wanttodo.AsIwatchedshows(dragshows)Irealised thisiswhoIamandwhatIdo. Draghelpedmeunderstandqueercultureandquestion whatismyhistory?"
DragonFruit:"Whendidyoufirstgetintodrag?"
YuGiHoe:
"Iidentifyasmaleoutofdrag.Iwillsayfor thelongesttimeI'vejustbeenassumingI'magaymale. That'sit,I'mjustgaybutthenrealisingthisumbrella termofqueerandqueernessbeingmorewhatIidentify with.IntermsofsexualidentitybutalsohowIlivemy life.Ifeellikequeernessisaniceumbrellatermtoputthe experiencesI'vehadasaqueerperson.Draghasalso unlockedmetothat.Meetingmoregender non-conformingpeopleandqueerindividualswhichis reallyfantasticbecausebeinggaywasonebigthingfor megrowingup.Inmyhometownitwaslikehowdare youhavedifferentpronouns.Istillthinkhe/him pronounscompletelyandutterlyalignwithhowI identify.Idon'twanttoconfirmanythingonitbecauseit couldchange.Inmylate20sIcouldgoforthey/them. I'mopenforthattohappenandifthatshowIfeelthen thatshowIfeel"
DragonFruit:"Whatisyourgenderidentity?"
YuGiHoe:
YuGiHoe: "Howdoyouidentify?"
YuGiHoe: "Iseethatyeah I'm saying this at the wiseageof 24 but there's somuchtimeto workthings out."
Dragon fruit: "Ifeellike itwas thesame forme when Istarted identifyingas queer because it'sthe label withthe leastamount of labels and that isthebestway todescribe it. I wouldevenuse it in terms of gender because even though Imostlypresent feminine Idon't really feellike a woman do you knowwhat I mean?"
Dragon Fruit: "The bestway todescribemyself is queer. Iam in a relationshipwith a non-binarypersonwhoisassigned male at birth andwe're bothnon-binary. Weare in a queerrelationship however I feel like people who don't understand queerness see us as a straight couple which is really frustrating."
YuGiHoe: "Ido think queererasureis a thing, my friends arebi and are inrelationships with people of the opposite gender; tothem, theydon'tfeel queer. I'm like no, you're so fucking validguys.Ijustwant bisexualsto feellike they can be part ofthe queer communitytooevenifthey areinarelationship with people of the opposite gender."
Dragon Fruit: "Ido feel like Bi erasureis a massive issue. WhenIhavebeeninheterosexual relationships Ifelt likemy queerness didn't count.Ihope all the queer people outtherewho are inopposite gender relationships nevereverletthatinvalidate them."
FUTURE DRAGONFRUIT:
"GoingbacktohowIidentifyIdothinkatthismomentin timeIhavecometotherealisationthatIamalesbian.Ithink nowthatIaminaqueerrelationshipIhaverealisedthisis thefirsttimeIamfullyinvestedinsomeonepurelyfor myselfwithoutcaringaboutanexteriorperspective.Beinga lesbianexcludestheattractiontomenwhichformetookme areallylongtimetoadmittomyselfbecausewedoliveina patriarchalsocietyandmyinternalisedmisogynydoeslook forvalidationinmenandIlookedforthatromanticallyand itneverworkedout.IamsogladIrealisedthatandworked throughthatandcanexpresswhoIamandeverydayIam learningtowearmyqueernessmoreandmoreproudly.I mostlyusethey/thempronounsbuthavekeptshe/her becauseformepersonally,ittookmealongtimetoever viewmyselfasfeminine.AswellasthatIgothroughmy day-todaylifelivingexperiencesasawomanofcolourasit ishowIamperceivedandthatdoesmeanalottomein regardstomyfeminineidentity."
YuGiHoe: "Itiseveryone's responsibility to unlearn all of thesebias andatthe end of the day we livein this shit, homophobic, racist society and we have all beeninthe dirt ofit andit's allon us tounlearn it. That's one thing for meespecially doingdrag. The misogyny in drag and howI have the responsibility as a gay man anda drag queenjust to be very hyperawareand vigilant and don'tbea misogynist doing drag. Alsoto remember thereason whyI'm doing this isto honor feminineidentitybecauseIlove itso much and findit beautiful and that'swhyI doit."
DragonFruit: "I thinkfor mepersonallyI have hada lotofissues with my own gender and tome, dragis a way to alleviate thatandplaywithgender.Atthe endof the day genderis a social construct.I also thinkit is important to remembersexualityand genderare fluidthings and nomatter what you identifyas andif that ever changesyou arealways valid."