A Nanaimo drag performer is looking to combat transphobia, while educating an audience on gender identity and trans allyship.
Unboxing Bravery is a show by Lauren Semple, where she uses her drag character Andi Rogynous (he/they), to challenge perceptions and cultivate a greater understanding of the transgender community.
“It’s an advocacy piece, it’s an education piece and it’s also an entertainment piece, so the idea is to share my art form and share my love of drag and the power that I feel through that gender expression,” Semple said. “It’s got all those classic pillars of drag. It’s got the costumes and the gender-bending expression and it’s got the dance and the lip-syncing.”
During the 75-minute show, she shares some of her story of realizing her gender identity and explores what it takes to be an ally and stand up for trans rights.
“I have been doing drag for over seven years as Andi Rogynous and that in itself has always just been expression and art and enjoyment and sharing queer joy, but I have always had these sort of advocacy pieces,” Semple said.
The show is aimed at adults and Semple said she wants to fill an education gap, while demystifying drag as an art form and combating hateful rhetoric.
“It’s really about trans youths and the reason I target adults is in B.C., we already have SOGI 123 – we have this beautiful curriculum which has been proven now in studies that it reduces discrimination, not only for 2SLGBTQ kids, but for all kids. It’s a wonderful curriculum. The kids are learning this – the kids are going to be all right,” Semple said.
“What I speak of in the show is, I talk to trans suicide rates and I speak about the reduction in suicide attempts that we see when trans youths receive gender-affirming support from their family and friends. We talk about the impacts of transphobia on trans youths and then I call on the adults to do things that trans youths can’t, like vote.”
The show will be offered for six nights at Nanaimo's OV Arts Centre, starting on Friday, Nov. 15 and running until Nov. 23. More information is available here. It is not the first time Semple has performed it, but she said it will be the last after the final night.
“The feedback was really heartwarming. It was very uplifting,” she said. “It’s been called super powerful; it’s been called thought-provoking. I have been told I bring a lot of energy to the stage so the night does go by quite quickly. It’s a jam-packed 75 minutes.”
