Lipstick and Leather

In a buttoned-up city like DC, what happens when drag queens go rogue? LIPSTICK AND LEATHER explores the “alt-drag” community in the nation’s capital, and across the east coast.

Drag is currently having a cultural “moment”, and looking at an underrepresented community within this larger artistic practice sheds light on power and hierarchy within the community. This project represents and validates the lives of LGBTQIA individuals in the DC and Baltimore area, and explores their identities, traditions, community, and relationships. Drag has been performed for centuries, but what are newer “alt-drag” performers expressing? Mixing art, gender, sexuality, race, and subcultural influence, LIPSTICK AND LEATHER looks at the nuanced answer to this question, teasing out larger themes and reflections.