Being Queer in Quarantine

Surprise! Another piece about being locked up in quarantine! No one would have anticipated this.

Since the beginning of March, I’ve been quarantining at my parent’s house in central Pennsylvania. All my potential life plans were put on hold and while this wasn’t in my five year plan I’m trying to make the most of it.

While my parents are more than supportive, nothing can really replace the feeling of being around your community or chosen family. So naturally the most queer thing to do while stuck in your house is submerge yourself in every piece of queer content you can possibly find. The second most queer thing you can do is bake bread and make art but more on that later.

Since I had the time, I decided I’m going to watch the good, the bad, the ugly, and the iconic movies and tv series that have the gays buzzing and rolling their eyes. Of course I’m going to provide commentary because I love giving my unsolicited opinion. Besides, what else am I gonna do? I’m bored in the house and I’m in the house bored (That’s a tik tok reference for those of you not as hip as I am).

This will (hopefully) be a weekly installment.

For my first few weeks in quarantine, I decided to watch a lot of documentaries and historical fiction/could be true type films.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Available on Hulu with subscription and on Amazon for rent starting at $1.99.
Let me first start off by saying the yearning in this movie is UNBELIEVABLE! As a lesbian who is quarantining away from their girlfriend of five years, I have not felt this seen since Kristen Stewart infamously said, “I’m just like so gay dude.” on the SNL stage. Set in 1770, the plot follows Marianne, a painter, and Heloise, the lady in question, and their journey from cold acquaintances to the 18th century lesbians of our dreams. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry and you will sure as hell yearn for a woman you met on a French island who then left you because she had an arranged marriage to a member of the Italian nobility.

Secret Love

The Queen
Available on Netflix.
No, this isn’t a knockoff of The Crown. Filmed in 1967, The Queen is a documentary that follows drag queens from all across the U.S. through the rigorous process of winning the 1967 Miss All-America Camp Beauty Contest.

Before drag became the phenomenon it is today, Queens would participate in formal beauty pageants and fashions shows in the basements of bars and community centers. These events were often held in secret or only known to the queer community as a way to avoid persecution.

Throughout the film we get a first hand look at the queens getting ready and insight into what their lives are like. For some being gay is a secret and for others, they live out and proud and talk about how they interact with their families. Several topics of the era like the Vietnam War, Richard Nixon (gross) and the counter culture movement of that time are as common as Trump (also gross), e-boys and Drag Race are to us today. Although they lived in secret unlike so many of us do today, it reminds the viewer that the LGBTQ community has always been here and queer and not going anywhere.

Paris is Burning

Available on Netflix

Filmed in 1986–88, Paris is Burning is a documentary about the Harlem Ball Scene in the late 80’s. Much like The Queen, Paris is Burning gives us a glimpse into the lives of drag performers in the Harlem Ball Scene. However, Paris is Burning takes a look at the racial divide that has always been prevalent in the drag scene but rarely discussed.

If you’re a history nerd like myself you’ll appreciate that both The Queen and Paris is Burning have on major thing in common. Crystal LaBeija. At the end of The Queen, Crystal, a native New Yorker and a Person of Color, places third and is beaten out by The Flawless Sabrina, a white queen. While many are familiar with Crystal’s now famous rant at the end of the documentary, it inspired her to create a drag scene for Black and Latinx performers who were often slighted in competitions. Crystal also created the concept of “houses”, which were havens for queer youth who were disowned by their families or had no place to live. A house was comprised of a drag mother or father, usually an elder queer in the drag community and their children. They would perform together at weekly competitions for trophy, local fame and glory.

In Paris is Burning, we get to meet Pepper LaBeija, the second mother of the House of LaBeija (Crystal died in 1982). Pepper guides the viewer through the process of running a house and competing in these balls, which by then looked a lot different than the white drag queen competitions we often see.

In addition to The House of LaBeija, we get to meet other legendary performers such as Willie Ninja, Angie Xtravaganza, Hector Xtravaganza to name a few. we feta glimpse into their lives as performers but also how they navigate queer life in the late 1980’s.

The documentary also unpacks a lot of the discrimination, racism, and bigotry a lot of these people faced (and still do). Many of those who were interviewed were taken by the AIDS crisis or due to trans violence.

Paris is Burning is a deep dive into a facet of the LGBTQ community not often discussed. I can’t say enough about this film and how wonderful it is as a teaching tool for those looking to learn more about LGBTQ history.

All information in this piece was obtained through Wikipedia or the films themselves. I do not own any content pertaining to this article.

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