Drag v. the Law

content warning: youth suicide and gun violence 

When I was reading to children in another city 

With my spiked-up hair and drawn-on beard, 

A group of fascists invaded my Gayborhood. 

They didn’t make it in, 

But now the same lawmakers who invaded our bodies 

Are trying to halt our joy and pride 

Because they don’t like rhinestones and wigs 

On men—and trans women and cis women 

And non-binary folk 

(Anyone can be a drag queen after all). 

Those politicians probably don’t like fake facial hair 

On femmes either. 

They would rather have kids stare down 

The barrel of an AR-15 

Than into thickly-lined eyes framed by false lashes. 

They would rather have kids put a hand on a Glock 

Than hand a dollar to a glittery glove 

That was voguing and tutting. 

They would rather have kids in a shroud 

Than with feather boas around their necks. 

For two weeks, the nation cried over innocent lives 

Taken in a senseless act of violence, 

But do the citizens realize the number of youth 

Who have already died senselessly 

Because they think the world will never love them? 

Because your parents can say they love you, 

But they’ll keep you from cutting your hair 

Even when you’re over 30 

And create a personal “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy 

For your partner of five years and counting. 

Because your roommates will celebrate your coming out 

But only with the caveat 

That you never make a move on them. 

Because you can ignore the names bullies call you, 

But you can’t ignore the name 

Your family and friends insist is yours 

But feels as much a prison as your body. 

Because doctors would rather you live body horror 

Than acknowledge that at eight years old, 

You know who you are. 

The drag of cisheteronormativity 

Is the most exhausting, joyless performance 

A person can give 

So if we are committing a crime  

When I share my love of skateboarding at storytime 

While my sibling struts in a pink bustle and mustache 

And my brother shakes his hips like Elvis 

While one sister does a jump split to Britney 

And the other pretends to sing like Whitney, 

Yet children who are part  

Of this giant rainbow alphabet soup 

Can finally have a place to feel free and loved, 

Then yes, we plead guilty. 

By Jennifer Elise Wang 

Tony Fo-Hawk Drag Storytime / 📷: Trisha Dash Photography {Image description: Asian drag king with red highlights in his hair and a drawn-on goatee and sideburns is reading from a picture book into a microphone on a carpeted stage. He is wearing a red jacket, white T-shirt, rolled-up jeans, a wallet chain, and Vans high-tops. Hanging behind him is a Progress Pride flag}

Bio: Jennifer Elise Wang (they/she) is a nonbinary femme in STEM and punk rock pretty boi poet from Dallas, Texas. When they’re not in the lab or writing, they enjoy action sports, aerials, and volunteering at the animal shelter, and they perform drag as Tony Fo-Hawk. They have been published in FERAL, just femme & dandy, Vocivia, and Exposed Brick Literary Magazine. Follow Jennifer at: 

Facebook: www.facebook.com/jeniversewritings 

Bluesky: @jeniverseabr.bsky.social