STORYTELLER SPOTLIGHTS

THE VOICES OF DRAG STORY HOUR NYC

Each month, a member of the DSH NYC team will be featured here to share their experiences, art, thoughts and passions with all of you! Check back here every month for a brand new story!

Equity Within Drag Story Hour NYC
By: Oliver ThePlace

For many who are familiar with our organization, we used to be under “Drag Queen Story Hour NYC,” but we have renamed ourselves as “Drag Story Hour NYC” to better represent the whole drag community. NYC drag is super diverse and should be celebrated because no type of drag is better than the other! Drag, like people, is not binary as there are infinite ways to be a drag artist, regardless of gender, identity, age, style… you name it!

Drag things and kings have been here since the beginning, but are often left out of the mainstream idea of what drag is, when in reality, they should have the same platform as all drag artists. Not seeing artists like these represented in history, media, and even in our own community can be discouraging to those who do not identify as “a queen.” It is important to say things like “Drag Artists” or “Drag Entertainers,” instead of just “drag queens” or even “drag kings” to show how beautiful and expansive our drag community can be. Your identity is who you are and drag is what you do.

“Drag Story Hour NYC” suits our whole drag community to include drag creatures, kings, queens, things, and everyone in between! All kinds of drag artists deserve recognition, respect, and to be equal among all.

Thank you for your continued support throughout our shifts and changes!

Burning Bright with Flame
Turning Pain Into Creative Fire

Flame (they/them) has been a storyteller with Drag Story Hour NYC since 2018, but has enjoyed the art of drag their entire life. As a self-aware, nonbinary adolescent they began to do drag to express their gender identity.

When they reached adulthood, they were asked by a friend to host a drag show at Stonewall to help raise money for homeless LGBTQ+ youth. That’s when Flame realized they wanted to use drag to bring awareness to and help stigmatized members of the community.

Twenty years later, when DSH NYC was born, Flame knew they had to be a part of it! What better way to spread the message of love, joy, respect, and to raise awareness of gender non-conforming people, while also healing from their own rocky journey towards acceptance?

Aside from their work with Drag Story Hour NYC, Flame has also spent the last ten years working with a Queens-based organization whose goal is to help people living with HIV by providing free healthcare and other services. Flame also does volunteer work with Love Wins Food Pantry, an LGBTQ+ run food pantry, and founded Free Clothing Queens where they go out in drag, distributing free clothing to people who need it.

Recently, they have spent some time working with LGBTQ+ seniors and would love to pursue that further. Flame is always looking for ways to help better the community and are on a constant mission to be the change they want to see in life.

Outside of their drag life, Flame is also a professional hair colorist and stylist in the state of New York. Their love for hair, makeup, and fashion stems from early childhood and coexisted with their desire to express their own fluid gender identity. Their talent for hair coloring and cutting also serves as a form of affirming self-care, which they are happy to share with others. For the last twenty years they have used their creativity to help make people look and feel beautiful; making New York City more fashionable one person at a time!

Book-Spiration with Bella Noche

Hi guppies! I’m Bella Noche, The Mermaid of New York. Ever since I discovered reading and the magic books can bring, I’ve added many fabulous stories to my library that remind me to stay creative, use my imagination and be the most unique version of myself. I’d like to share with you a few that really speak to me and my drag.

One of my all-time favorite books is Julian Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love, a book about a little Latin boy who loves mermaids and dreams of becoming one. With a bit of imagination and some help from his abuela, Julian gets to become a mermaid like he’s always dreamed of becoming. (Sound familiar?) He even gets to join in the legendary Mermaid Parade at Coney Island, celebrating along with others in fabulous nautical costumes.

Another book I truly adore is Just Add Glitter by Angela DiTerlizzi. From its rhyming storytelling, to its message of using what you have to make your world sparkle, to having some pages with ACTUAL glitter on it, this book is a joy from beginning to end. The heart of it reminds us that you shine the brightest when you use your creativity to invite beauty into the world.

There are times in life when you feel like you don’t belong, like you haven’t found your place yet. Neither by Airlie Anderson invites you into a world of colorful animals that seem to all have their place…. Until Neither shows up. Though Neither feels lost and pushed away at first, they venture out and find a land where all are equal and their differences are celebrated. There’s even a moment of forgiveness that shows people can learn and change if they open their minds.

These three books have spoken not just to my drag, but to me as a person. They continue to inspire me to live a more authentic and colorful life, no matter where I am. The individuality that comes from imagination, the inspiration to find your sparkle and the reminder that being different is a good thing are three of the core beliefs that I try to bring to my life every day, whether I’m in drag or not. Never underestimate the power that a single book can have on your life. Now go out and find your own book-spiration!