I Learned A Thing Last Night

I’ve always wondered if somebody gave such performances, but had never heard of them before I read this. It makes my equality-driven heart happy.

The First Reality Competition Series for Drag Kings Is Officially Seeking Audition Tapes

Comedian and drag king Murray Hill will host King of Drag, the first-of-its-kind series.

By Mathew Rodriguez December 17, 2024

Finally, some news that’s not a drag.

Somebody Somewhere actor and veteran comedian Murray Hill is set to host a drag king reality competition series, The King of Drag, which will air on the LGBTQ+ streaming service Revry this spring, Variety reports. Tucked into Variety’s announcement was the application to be on the show, for which the deadline is January 5.

The King of Drag bills itself as the first drag king competition series. Kings looking to earn a spot on the show’s inaugural cast will have to submit a wealth of material, all of which is outlined on the audition site. Potential cast must submit five photos of their top drag looks, videos of themselves in and out of drag, and a reel of previous drag performances. Finally, auditioning kings are asked to submit a resume of their performance work in drag and film themselves lip-syncing to a song or medley that shows off their “drag essence.”

King of Drag, according to the audition site, “will expansively represent drag while promoting inclusion, authentic self-expression, and diverse gender identities including trans masc, cisgender women, non-binary and more.”

Aside from the audition materials, kings who want to compete on the series must also answer a slate of questions that probe deeper into their drag personae, personal views, and craft, including whether they design their own costumes, how comfortable they would feel being open about themselves on national television, who they count among their entertainer inspirations, and — very practically — how long it takes them to get in drag.

Series host Hill just wrapped up his work on Somebody Somewhere, the acclaimed — and extremely queer — HBO series about friends as family. The six-episode series is looking to cast eight kings.

“I’m so excited to be working with Revry as the host of ‘King of Drag,’” Hill told Variety.” “I started performing in 1995, so it’s long overdue for the kings to take center stage. This vibrant community deserves to be in the spotlight, and I’ll be their biggest hype man.”

According to a press release from Revry, the show will incorporate challenges that are unlike other drag competition shows, including an emphasis on comedy, unconventional performances, and “timely commentary on masculinity. “

Drag kings have long fought for the same kind of cultural recognition that their queen counterparts enjoy; in today’s media landscape that does include time on a reality competition series. While the behemoth of the format — RuPaul’s Drag Race and its spin-offs — has started to incorporate a more diverse set of queens, including trans queens and cis female queens such as Victoria Scone and Maddy Morphosis, the show has always emphasized a feminine drag aesthetic. Other shows, such as The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula have welcomed drag kings, with Landon Cider triumphing in the show’s third season.

How To Make Your Yuletide Extremely Gay, For Jesus by Evan Hurst

It’s the reason for the season! Read on Substack

Snippet (this is so very good, and a bit long, with videos, etc. embedded as well. I know it has blue language; also, it skews Christian, but there’s a point-not proselytization, but Representation-it’s encouragement for all to be who we are):

Flamy Grant, Spencer LaJoye and Crys Matthews, three of the artists on the Make The Yuletide Gay tour. (Courtesy Flamy Grant’s Insta)

Is the world still burning down? Is President Elon Musk shutting down the government, and are his pets Donald Trump, J.D. Vance and Speaker Mike Johnson completely powerless to stop it?

Is this happening?

Oh dear God.

Who wants to take a well-deserved break from talking about all that shit because Christmas is in five days and fuck it?

Let’s shift gears.

In the wee few months since the inception of this right here Moral High Ground newsletter, we’ve talked about lots of things that fall within the site’s description, about white conservative right-wing Christian fascist men, the Phyllis Schlafly clones who support them, and the extremely weird fears, feelings, emotions and autoerotic Braveheart fantasies that make them The Way That They Are.

Obviously we’ve talked a lot in these weekly Friday newsletters about the election and its horrifying aftermath.

But there’s another element here that I said I wanted to be present in this newsletter from the very first post, no matter if it’s just a little Substack or if it somehow grows into a great big media network.

I said this place is called “The Moral High Ground” because the bigoted, misogynistic assholes standing in the way of everything that’s good and holy are 100 percent certain they are the sole possessors of that high ground. I said that’s a toxic tumor of an idea that is unfortunately still given a shameful amount of weight in our society. You see this any time a corporate media source feels the need to host a hate-mongering bigot from a right-wing Christian group, to give “both sides” of whether LGBTQ+ kids should be allowed to live with dignity, or whether people should be forced to submit their bodies to the state for regular uterus inspections.

And I said that toxic tumor of an idea unfortunately still survives within far too many of us who have personally been abused by the conservative Christian church, or who are still currently enduring its abuse. It can be subconscious, like a vicious disease you think is gone, but then it rears its ugly head when something triggers it, telling LGBTQ people they’re not good enough, that maybe they really are going to hell, telling closeted LGBTQ kids in homeschooling households in East Cowfucker, Kansas, that they will never be able to get out, that Jesus really couldn’t ever love them.

And I said fuck that shit.

I said this isn’t a support group, and it isn’t a Christian website, but it’s a safe place for literally whoever you are, and I want the negation of the toxic messages I was just talking about to be loud and clear, front and center at The Moral High Ground at all fucking times.

And I want to showcase and bring together other people who are doing that work in their own brilliant ways.

So let’s talk about Christmas, Christian music, Christian drag queens, lesbians, non-binary people, and just generally ridiculously brilliant Christian and Christian-adjacent artists who, number one, EXIST — that’s right, LGBTQ kids living in right-wing Christian hell, they EXIST! — and who are out there this holiday season making the yuletide extremely totally fuckin’ gay.

I’m talking about Flamy Grant, Crys Matthews, Jennifer Knapp, Spencer LaJoye and Heather Mae, who have been out on tour this month that’s literally called Make The Yuletide Gay. I got to see them — well, three of them — last Friday night in Memphis, and it was so good, y’all.

If you read Wonkette AKA my day job where I am the managing editor, you may have heard of Flamy Grant. I posted the video above in 2022 in a piece about how a gay wedding was happening at Amy Grant’s house, and how it was pissing off pigfucks like Franklin Graham, AKA the ickiest byproduct of Billy Graham’s participation in the human reproductive process.

I mentioned in my post that my own personal first concert was in Little Rock, Arkansas, 1991, Amy Grant, on the Heart In Motion tour, front row, Baby Baby! (My church youth group really had the hookup on that one, I guess.)

Then in 2023, Flamy Grant started taking over the Gospel and Christian charts, for the best, funniest reason. You see, this dildo-witted MAGA preacher named Sean Feucht was birthing entire full-grown cows because Grant — a Christian drag queen for whom listening to Amy Grant was also quite formative — had collaborated with Derek Webb, who had huge success in the Christian music world back in the day with a band called Caedmon’s Call. (Webb, you might deduce, is also in a bit of a different place these days.)

This was obviously a sign of The Last Days to excitable types like Sean Feucht. Also that loud flamboyant Greg Locke creep. He’s real exercised about Flamy Grant.

So God, being the way God is, thought it’d be funny to use that moment to make sure Grant’s song with Webb and the album it came from went straight to the top of the charts. The Gospel and Christian charts.

AND WHY SHOULDN’T THEY HAVE?

(snip-go read it!)

Finally Friday!

Have a poem. As always, the title is a link to learn more.

Blues Franchise David Henderson

^{Line from a letter, “Blues Franchise.” I believe it is a motif language rather than thought—intimately}

Blues as art as theme as exhibition

Up on a midtown metropolis edifice

Billboard façade 50 feet tall thirty feet wide: BLUE SMOKE

Of a black femme-like face framed by her fingers tapered upward in the V of her palms

Looking off, her eyes below her painted on eyebrows

And Caucasoid wig solid black

touching off of a violet plunging deeper into the decorated pigment

A frame furls hints of blue in a spectral geometry

Framing tightly the face, reposed

A white strap over one deep ochre shoulder as background

Could be trans-shim or a delightful Caledonia,

red skein of a lipstick kiss imprinted invisibly in a nano dimension

Replications across the marquees of legions of subway cars

Her face on the mini billboard above the seat next to

The moving doors

Always looking somewhere else as the

Masses travel to all destinations

Blues smoke surrounding whatever stage as forum

For the franchise

Forever after for as far as the past goes.

Entering the negative space of a corporate behemoth

A lobby of the skyscraper museum or loft like enclosures

interlocking directorates of high art residencies.

Consumer beware of what you purchase with your eyes,

The presence of your body

Out of the blue

You

Out of the blue

And into the blues

You

Out of the blue

You

Out of the blue

Vanish into the blue

you

I Think I’m Gonna Hate It Here – A Randy Rainbow Song Parody

Wed.AM Poem

As always, please click through to learn more about the poem, and the poet.

The Talking Coconut by Ed Morales

Sunset at Luquillo wetlands
Brings the biting flies
As night sky caresses
The murmuring sand

El coco que habla
Me preguntó, cowrie eyes smiled
About the twilight Idlewild
Donde llegó mi papá

He said he was Elegguá
But was wise to front Changó
At parties, in the bodega
Where he had to let go

And declaim the colonial critique
Of privatized electric chic
The long hours spent sweating
The centuries of remembering

Surplus avionetas in northward flow
Slow danced mainland passage
Loss of original language
Nostrand is no place to go

When the jíbaro dance
In the Caborrojeño
Spelled the death of the docile
Somnambulant bugaloo

The coco could only
Speak in tongues freely
The babble of the balneario
Espíritu of the coíony

The décima ringing
Spirit called Lavoe
Alchemical singing
Breaking bad flow

Changó outside,
Elegguá down low
The crossed flag of Lares
Always lets you know

Double Reblog!

This came from Jill Dennison’s music post.

My Christmas Wish

Some listening and gifting resources-

=========================

Listening:

Trans Artists Have Always Shaped Music. TRANSA Pays Tribute to Their Power

Perfume Genius, Yaeji, Teddy Geiger, and more on the power of the compilation album.

BY JUAN VELASQUEZ

Queer artists have always subverted musical boundaries, shaping the sound of culture itself. That truth is the guiding ethos behind TRANSA, an astounding new compilation from the nonprofit production company Red Hot that puts a spotlight on trans, nonbinary, and queer artists, celebrating the unique gifts they have brought to the world. Artist, model, and trans activist Massima Bell, who produced this compilation alongside senior Red Hot producer Dust Reid, puts it best. “I see in the quality of music trans people make this ability to create a portal out of their music and take you to a different place in a way that is really powerful,” Bell tells me.

TRANSA provides precisely that kind of transporting experience. Featuring 46 collaborative tracks with over 100 contributing artists, the compilation was inspired by Bell and Reid’s love of the music of Beverly Glenn-Copeland and the natural world. The passing of trans musical visionary SOPHIE in 2021 prompted the pair to focus on a project which they now describe as a “spiritual journey in eight chapters.” Individual chapters with titles like “Womb Of The Soul,” “Awakening,” and “Reinvention” serve as a blueprint for a winding musical narrative with multiple missions, one of which is to be a living document of contemporary music by trans and nonbinary artists. “We often don’t get to understand our history and the long legacy of trans people,” Bell says, “both in music, but throughout time and human culture.”

(snip-MORE)

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Gifting:

Queer Handmade Home Decor Gifts for Everyone on Your List

These queer creators make the kinds of artful, colorful, and unique gifts you won’t find at big stores.

BY MANDY SHUNNARAH

Queer artists and makers work hard all year long, but due to the seasonality of product sales, many only make the majority of their income during the final three months of the year. So this holiday season, instead of buying from mega-retailers who love to slap rainbows on their merchandise for Pride month, you can put your dollar to better use by shopping small and buying direct from LGBTQ+ sellers.

Plus, with your house being such an important space for relaxation and recharging, what could make a better gift for queer loved ones in your life than handmade home decor? It’s a win-win: Your friends and family will get quality things to beautify their abodes, and you’ll help pay a queer person’s bills.

If you want to help your friends and loved ones jazz up their space, here are some incredible options for handmade home decor made by queer artists. (Buy something for yourself, too. We won’t judge.)

For plant parents

The thing about adopting plants is that it’s too easy to go from having a few here and there to an apartment full of aloe, monstera, and pothos. If you know someone whose home is overrun with greenery, you can never go wrong with the gift of a new container, so get the plant parent in your life a bright, 3D-printed flower pot to really make those leaves look good.

Plum + Lime Wavy Planter

~~$36~~ $34

ETSY

Made by the completely queer-owned design shop Object Lover, these pots are constructed from recyclable, biodegradable corn-based plastic, so your eco-conscious friends can feel good knowing their plants are helping the planet.

For candle lovers

Nothing is more synonymous with the holidays than a good candle, especially as the days get shorter and darker during winter. But there’s no one-size-fits-all candle, so here are two very different options:

Queer Candle Co. is your go-to if you’re buying for someone whose style is a little more subtle. The glass jar and black-and-white label are both fairly nondescript, but the scents spill the tea. You’ll find blends like their astrological bundles for Fire Signs, Water Signs, and Air Signs as well as decadent scents like dark plum — all of which are tastefully designed by a queer-owned company who wanted to “promote visibility and amplify the voices of members of our community.” The company contributes 10% of their profits to the Sylvia Rivera Law Project.

Campfires & Carabiners Candle

$18

VIOLET&JADE

If you’re looking for another candle company with product names that elicit some queer rebellion and cheekiness, look no further than Violet&Jade. With scents like Leather Daddy, Campfires & Carabiners, and Drag Brunch, these candles will make a great addition to any queer person’s mantle or side table.

For people who like to burrow in a nest of blankets

(snip-MORE)

Needs No Intro

The Illustrated Version of “Alice’s Restaurant”: Watch Arlo Guthrie’s Thanksgiving Counterculture Classic

I hope each and every reader is having a fine day today! 🌞 ☮

“Delayza’s Necklace” by Max Early

(Tuesday’s poem.)

We enter to sounds of bells.
The hall’s warmth evokes
an imprint of my small self
standing by my grandparents.
Their presence I sense
in drums and singers’ voices.

Collective breath of all colors
hovers above the leaping herd.
Eagle and hawk feathers adorn
the deer dance’s rhythmic scent—
forest evergreen, damp earth.

Delayza puts her hand in mine.
The seated crowd hinders her view.
I lift her above the masses—
a butterfly beyond reach.

Her irises bloom to the choir
and drumbeats rumbling
nearby snowflakes.

I set her among the gold straw flecks
glistening on the mud plastered floor.
Her body sways back and forth,
she stands on tiptoe
to see over the crowd.

A charcoal faced hunter
in camouflage shirt and jeans
trots towards the small child.
He places a coral bead necklace
over her head as she smiles
at her new delight.

I’m Posting This for Fun.

Kirk Cameron Bringing The God Back To ‘Goddamn, This Is A Weird Children’s TV Show’ by Rebecca Schoenkopf

Next stop: anyplace but the Emmys. Read on Substack

*Just the weirdest-looking creature. Also there’s a puppet.*

Good news for all you people still disappointed that “Growing Pains” went off the air: Kirk Cameron is coming back to TV!

Sort of. By TV we mean more likely streaming services, and by streaming services we mean probably Christian-themed services like Minno and YippeeTV. But if you are someone still reeling from Cameron being denied his rightful Oscar nod for one of the “Left Behind” movies, here is your chance to ease some of your pain.

Cameron is teaming up with Brave Books, presumably to do to children’s television what they have tried to do to children’s literature and book fairs. Namely, they want to make it suck.

Cameron stars in and produces a new show called “Adventures with Iggy and Mr. Kirk,” which had its premiere in Nashville recently. He promises the show will “bring God into the forefront of children’s entertainment,” and will be a “tool” that can be used to “reach millions of children across America and spread the Gospel.” Just as soon as it finds distribution.

“Adventures with Iggy and Mr. Kirk” is set in a treehouse inhabited by Mr. Kirk and Iggy the Iguana, where they do stuff like read the anti-abortion book “Little Lives Matter” (subtle!) and listen to Kirk explain that Iggy is perfect the way God made him. No cross-dressing iguanas in this treehouse!

Possibly not coincidentally, Iggy looks like a cross between Pepe the Frog and the alien-human hybrid baby from the original “V” miniseries. Seriously, look at this thing. What is this abomination? Did they Island of Dr. Moreau him out of discarded Muppets?

We mean the one on the right, in case there’s any confusion.

Right Wing Watch captured a clip of Cameron explaining himself to “FlashPoint,” a right-wing themed show on the Victory Channel:

“For a couple of years I’ve been reading wholesome Christian children’s books, contra the drag queen story hours, and hearing from parents that they don’t want woke indoctrination for their kids. They don’t want gay dinosaurs and trans ducks teaching their children morality.”

Trans ducks? We haven’t been forced by a tiny person to watch “Daniel the Tiger” in a while but it sounds as if its makers might have been busy introducing some cool new characters.

“They want kids books and TV shows that are going to reinforce the stuff that parents are trying to teach their kids at home about the sanctity of life, about forgiveness, about family, about the dangers of socialism.”

Our experience is that most parents would like kids’ shows they can sit through without wanting to claw out their eyeballs and pour molten lead into their ears. They wouldn’t give a shit if Peppa Pig showed up dressed like Mao and hollering about the good of the collective so long as it shuts their kids up for half an hour.

Cameron and Iggy are joined on their adventures by a mailman, a vulture named Culture (again, subtle!), and Leigh-Allyn Baker, an actress with a legit career who became one of those anti-vax right-wingers who stands up at school board meetings to scream her opposition to mask mandates because … well, we’ll let her tell you:

“I would never put them in a mask because their brain needs oxygen to grow, which the neurologists can confirm.”

We’re not neurologists, but we’re pretty sure that’s … what’s the term? … batshit stupid.

The trailer makes “Adventures with Iggy and Mr. Kirk” sound like some sort of Bizarro Mr. Rogers that teaches about “wholesome values,” but Christianly. Cameron prefers to call it a “modernized Mr. Rogers,” which we take exception to. Mr. Rogers in this or any other era would preach tolerance and respect for everyone. He would reject demonizing anyone. Yes, even drag queens and liberals.

But what would Mr. Rogers know about Christianity, he was only an ordained Presbyterian minister.

The show is based off of Brave Books’ Freedom Island series. Like the company’s main catalogue, the Freedom Island books are written by such conservative luminaries as Ashley St. Clair, Dana Loesch, and Nazi Jack Posobiec. Loesch’s book is titled “Paws Off My Cannon,” and it not surprisingly preaches that everyone has the right to shoot things:

[F]ollow Bongo, a daring and hungry gorilla, who loves eating food, especially mushroom-shaped cupcakes. But one day, a villainous hyena shoots a coconut at Bongo and his friend Bonnie. Bonnie is so upset at this misuse of coconut cannons that she suggests the village ban all coconut cannons. Bongo thinks that the hyenas are the problem, not the coconut cannons.

We will very much look forward to the Very Special Episode of “Adventures with Iggy and Mr. Kirk” in which Iggy kills Culture the Vulture with a coconut cannon and Mr. Kirk explains that God wrote the Second Amendment to give all iguanas the right to self-defense.

Enjoy the show!