Drag artists at Donald Trump Kennedy Center performance speak out

The band of drag artists who united to attend the same John F. Kennedy Center performance of Les Misérables as President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump is speaking out against the conservative administration’s controversial handling of LGBTQ+ issues.

In association with the drag activism collective Qommittee, drag queens Vagenesis, Mari Con Carne, Tara Hoot, and drag king Ricky Rosé attended the Wednesday evening performance in full drag, and were captured on video eliciting cheers from the same audience that would later greet President Trump and his wife with loud boos and a smattering of supportive chants.

When reached for comment, a Qommittee representative echoes the group’s ongoing petition against Trump’s Kennedy Center takeover, telling Entertainment Weekly via email that the move was intentional, and that “this is about who gets to exist in public spaces and whose stories get to be told on America’s stage” after “drag performers have been attacked directly” by conservative politics.

“We’re not going anywhere. Americans don’t have to agree on everything, but we should be able to speak our minds and perform our art without bans, retaliation, or intimidation,” the representative’s statement continues.

Adds Vagenesis, “Hopefully this lets that fool and his whole administration know that we will always exist no matter what kind of narrative he wants to spin. And we aren’t here to hurt or groom or manipulate anybody. We just wanna enjoy art.”

Mari says that “knowing he would be there” made her attendance “more crucial,” and that she “wanted it to be known that you can prevent us from performing on your stages, but you can’t erase us from your presence.” Mari also says she’s an immigrant, and further “wanted it to be known that we aren’t going anywhere and we will face you head on with every ounce of courage that we have” amid protests against ICE deportations in Los Angeles.

The drag artists’ attendance at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. comes after Trump’s sustained attempts to reimagine the historic performing arts center, after naming himself as the chairman, dismissing Joe Biden-era appointees, and instilling a plan to give himself power and oversight over Kennedy Center Honors recipients, per the New York Times.

“Beyond politics, the Kennedy Center was founded more than 50 years ago as a place meant to celebrate the arts in its truest, most extraordinary form, after even President Kennedy, himself, argued that culture had great practical value in an age of conflict,” Ricky explains in an email statement.

“As someone who has had the distinct honor of sharing their artistic expression in the form of drag at the Kennedy Center more than once, it was an honor to support the cast of Les Misérables on their incredible opening night and take up space despite this administration’s attempt to erase us, especially after drawing a much more welcoming response than they did upon arrival,” Ricky continued.

Finally, Tara, who participates in story time events with children and their families, says that “I often read books about being brave, being strong, and being true to who you are,” and “showing up to the Kennedy Center with my fellow drag stars allowed me to live those words and lessons for all to see. Here’s to being brave, strong, and gorgeous.”

The drag entertainers’ move follows other public outcries against Trump and his administration, including the crew of Hamilton canceling their planned visit to the Kennedy Center as well as actress Issa Rae nixing her sold-out show at the venue over an “infringement on the values of an institution that has faithfully celebrated artists of all backgrounds.”

Other prominent drag entertainers have also spoken out against the conservative government’s approach to LGBTQ+ policies.

Current RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 10 contestant Aja, who is trans, posted an Instagram photo in May outlining her attempt to get a passport, indicating “the U.S. government handed me a passport that says ‘M’ — even though my previous one said ‘F’ and every document I’ve submitted says female,” and that she didn’t request the change, but simply wanted to replace a lost document.

“Now I’m being forced to choose between my safety and my career — between flying with a passport that outs me at every checkpoint, or canceling tens of thousands of dollars in international work I’m booked for,” Aja later wrote. “This is what transphobia in policy looks like. Quiet. Calculated. And deadly.”

In her season 17 elimination interview earlier this year, Tennessee queen Hormona Lisa told EW she was dismayed at the Trump administration’s fixation on banning trans women from women’s sports.

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“It’s hard to find the words to describe how I feel, because I didn’t think I’d have to feel like this in my lifetime,” Hormona said at the time. “I thought fighting to be valued as a person and seen as a person was over with. From here, more visibility but now we’re going backwards with how these people don’t see us as human. It’s crazy and hard to find words.”

Watch video from Trump’s appearance at the Kennedy Center in the clip above.