Dragging Out Settler-Colonial Society: Exploring Gay and Queer Drag Scenes in Vancouver as (De)Colonial Spaces

Abstract

Over the past decade, drag has shifted from an underground art form for queer communities to being a mainstream attraction for heteronormative society. However, one's ability to become a drag performer depends on their personal identities and subjectivities, as exclusionary practices gatekeep the borders of drag communities and businesses in Canada, on the bases of Indigeneity, race, gender, and sexuality. To consider the ways that drag within Canada continues the settler logic of elimination and benefits the goals of heteropatriarchal white supremacy, I conducted interviews with drag performers in Vancouver, a major city for drag performances and performers. This thesis will consider the nuances of Vancouver's drag communities to understand how colonial and neoliberal logics have taken hold of drag spaces that perpetuate and uphold colonial violence, as well as how these logics are resisted through decolonial love and queer worldmaking. Key words: homonationalism, homonormativity, settler-colonialism, drag performance, Vancouver