“Audiences think the queens are great performers first and foremost, with an interesting way of playing with gender, identity and sexuality. Through drag they can be fierce, sexual, wild, and they can express their ideas… For the audience to see a performer playing with gender, some people can feel uncomfortable because they don’t see people with Down Syndrome as sexual beings or someone who is connected to gender of sexual desire.”
(Pulpit & Pen) This must be an all-time cultural low. We are now encouraging those with special needs to imitate the sexual provocations of deluded same-sex impersonators—and calling it “art.”
That is exactly what the organizers of the Grand Rapids, Michigan art fair, Project 1, are attempting to do. This upcoming event, scheduled for September 7, will feature the London-based Drag Syndrome troop perform alongside local disabled drag queens. Drag Syndrome advertises itself as “Freshly Fierce! The world’s first drag troop featuring highly addictive drag queens and kings with Down’s Syndrome!”
Jill Vyn and Christopher Schmidt are the co-founders of the organization Dis-art which is promoting Drag Syndrome. In a recent indoctrination session cleverly disguised as an interview, the woefully confused and patronizing event organizers defended their choice as follows: “The founders of the event understand that some people may be concerned because people with Down’s Syndrome have a limited mental capacity, and may not have the capacity to understand what they are taking part in,” she noted. “Not everyone thinks it’s for them, and that’s okay.”
Research