Brut America
Brut America
  • 3 days ago
"Being openly, visibly queer is resistance in itself."

This year, at least 17 states have introduced bills restricting drag performances. For Brut, filmmaker Dallin Mello visits Tennessee, the first state to sign the ban into law and visit the drag queens at the center of the resistance.
Transcript
00:00It's unbelievable that they would try to censor art, and they just continue to attack
00:06the LGBTQ plus community constantly.
00:10I am not afraid of them.
00:11I'm not going to change the way I live my life.
00:14Being openly, visibly queer is resistance in itself.
00:18Come arrest me.
00:19Drag, for me, is literally just freedom.
00:312023 has become the year of restricting drag in the U.S., as at least 17 states have introduced
00:36bills to restrict drag performances.
00:38Tennessee is the first state to sign one into law.
00:41For Brew, I spent a weekend with drag artists in Nashville who were organizing the resistance.
00:47Last November, they began talking about wanting to have this drag ban.
00:55And I think we all thought, this is not going to happen.
00:58Like, oh my gosh, this is ridiculous, because it sounds ridiculous.
01:03And then January hit, and it was literally the first bill that they put up.
01:08It was like a reality check of, oh, we live in this state that really is trying to ban us.
01:15Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has just signed a bill that would restrict drag performances.
01:20Are you trying to send a signal that some types of communities, some types of people
01:24aren't welcome here in Tennessee?
01:26You shouldn't be simulating sex acts in front of children.
01:28Drag performances out in the open, like this one at Nashville Pride last year, will now
01:32be illegal in Tennessee.
01:34They're banning anything that's in public that could be seen by someone who is underage.
01:41The first offense is a misdemeanor.
01:44The second offense is a felony, which means that you would lose your right to vote.
01:50But at the end of the day, come arrest me.
01:54Come arrest me and tell me what I'm doing is wrong in a full-length gown that you like.
01:58Literally the skin you're seeing is my hands.
02:02This one is, like, completely made from scratch.
02:05It's beautiful, and it's just, like, awesome!
02:11Since it was the day after the ban, I wanted to really celebrate drag.
02:15So I booked 20 drag entertainers, and we're just going to put on a big show celebrating
02:21drag and art and just have a great time.
02:27Our relationship has definitely grown, and in the past six months, I would say it's grown
02:30a lot.
02:31I mean, I think everything that's been happening has just really kind of formed a really special
02:35sisterhood here.
02:38Community to me means a sisterhood, you know?
02:41I mean, that's really what it feels like.
02:43You know, we all call each other by our drag names, even when we're not in drag.
02:46It's how we know each other, you know?
02:48I mean, that's who we are to each other.
02:50We all really completely accept each other.
02:53So, Vag, when are you going to run for office?
02:57Girl, apparently sooner rather than later.
02:59I don't...
03:00Like...
03:01But I'm tired!
03:04I know everybody's tired.
03:06We're on alert right now, you know?
03:08We have to pay attention.
03:09I mean, we've been talking, you know, me and my friends, we have a group chat for the shows
03:13that we have, and we've all been talking about, like, don't let your guard down.
03:19In regards to this drag bill itself, we've really just kind of been focused on not really
03:25being distracted of what the real issues are here in Tennessee.
03:29I mean, we decided, like, from day one with all this happening, like, we're not going
03:32to, like, go in with anger and, like, malice.
03:35We're going to go in with kindness and love, because they want us to be mad.
03:38They want us to be angry.
03:39They want us to, like, throw a fit.
03:41It's like, no, we've got to go in with kindness to show them we're not these horrible monsters
03:45they're trying to make us out to be.
03:46So people are always like, are you scared?
03:48Yeah, we are so scared, like anyone else, but we can't operate off fear.
03:58I was going to UTC, University of Tennessee in Chattanooga.
04:02My dad called me and asked me if I would come to the house and come see him.
04:06In about a four-hour conversation, I finally was able to tell him that I was gay.
04:15It's so silly now, so long ago, but it was so hard.
04:20I never felt acceptance.
04:21I never felt support.
04:23I feel like everything really came together when I moved to Knoxville, and that's where
04:27I started doing drag.
04:28And, I mean, it was like everything just clicked.
04:37This morning, when Vivica showed up, she was on the phone with Alexia, and apparently there
04:44were five people that were posted up across the street from the local Nashville Drag Gay
04:53Club.
04:54And apparently they had guns and masks, and one of the young queens here went up to them
05:01and asked them what they were doing.
05:04And they told her to back the f*** up, just watch and see.
05:10So, yeah, that's what we're living with now.
05:40Somebody put alcohol in my water.
05:49Did they?
05:50Do you want more?
05:51Oh, thank you, baby.
05:52Thank you, sisters.
05:53Get out of here.
05:54This is sisterhood.
05:55Get out of here, girl.
05:56True sisterhood.
05:57Sisterhood at its finest.
05:58Clink, clink.
05:59Hey.
06:00Hi, clink, clink.
06:01Clink, clink.
06:02Drink, drink.
06:04The place isn't going anywhere now.
06:13Please welcome to the stage, it is Vidalia Ann Gentry and Brittany Banks!
06:27I would say Brittany Banks is a southern, Amazon, glamorous diva.
06:34Socialite.
06:35I mean, all the things.
06:37The big costumes, feathers, sequins, fringe.
06:40I just love it all.
06:41I'm very much a showgirl.
06:46I do shows that are for all ages.
06:48I do shows that have been for children.
06:50I've done shows that have been only for adults.
06:52And you just have to know your audience and know the venue you're going to be in, just
06:55like any other performance, right?
06:57Do you all know what that means?
06:59Yeah.
07:00I heard the sopranos.
07:01We're going to record the bass.
07:02This is one of my former students.
07:03Wait, I forgot that you're a teacher.
07:04Oh my God.
07:05Can I use the teacher?
07:06This is one of my former students!
07:07Here, here, here.
07:08Everybody give it up for...
07:09I was her teacher, and she's here, and she supports us, and she's loving, and we love
07:10everybody for being here.
07:11Thank you so much!
07:12It's a lot of fun.
07:13It's a lot of fun.
07:14It's a lot of fun.
07:15It's a lot of fun.
07:16It's a lot of fun.
07:17It's a lot of fun.
07:18It's a lot of fun.
07:19It's a lot of fun.
07:21She's here, and she supports us, and she's loving, and we love everybody for being here.
07:24Thank you so much!
07:25It's a lot of fun.
07:26It's a lot of fun.
07:27It's a lot of fun.
07:28It's a lot of fun.
07:29Drag has really taught me about me, you know, and really accepting myself, and it's brought
07:36me so much happiness, and so much joy, and, I mean, I really don't know what I would do
07:41without it.
07:45Like I'm not going to cry, but like, this is f***ing amazing.
07:48I'm going to cry for just a moment, and then I'm going to build you back up.
07:51Just a minute.
07:52Like one time.
07:53There's like one tear.
07:54There's like one.
07:55The drug ban is yet to go into effect as a federal judge has placed a temporary restraining
07:59order on the law, claiming that it violates First Amendment rights.
08:03This restraining order will last until May 26th.
08:06Especially if you tap on it, it will stop.
08:09That's Davidson County tap water right there.