A few weeks ago, prior to the pandemic outbreak in Mexico, my husband was a drag queen for a night. Since moving to Mexico we have had more time to get involved in community outreach and fundraising events. The first year here, I jumped head first into running a preschool English program at a local orphanage. It was important for me to be involved because we live in a very touristy area of Mexico and if the nationals are bilingual they have a better chance to get a job in hospitality, where the pay is better than the current minimum wage ($6.00 USD a day). That was the most challenging and rewarding year of my life. I really feel like I had an impact on these children, but unbeknownst to them, they had a far greater impact on me. Last March, Steve (my husband) and I attended a fundraising event to benefit a women's shelter in the area. We volunteered to pass out the ballots and programs prior to the show beginning and were given two tickets to attend the show after our duties were completed. The show was straight men performing drag! The production value was good, almost too good, half way through I said to Steve "These are straight men, right?". He was like "yeeeeeeah, I think so". The men performed a group number, Q & A session with the MC and finally a solo number. It was kind of set up like a beauty pageant. At the end the audience cast their ballots to see who the winner would be. We had so much fun that Steve signed up for the follow year to participate. We have always been costume loving people. Any chance to don a costume and take on an alter ego for a day, we rose to the occasion. We don't half ass our costumes either, we go all out. So the time came around for Steve to start figuring out what his solo act would be. He started to practice in November twice a week, three times a week a couple weeks prior to the event. Costume fittings, hair and makeup trials and dress rehearsal. We just had a good feeling about his hard work, that we were sure he was going to win. The night of event I was selling the drink tickets at the VIP party and in the theater, dressed like an old time cigarette girl, and of course I was so into it, I got to wear a costume too of sorts. The straight men in drag took to the stage and performed their asses off. The show was funny, dazzling and some acts were so damn creative and artistic. Steve was the grand finale. Marie Anne Twanet was his stage name, smoke filled the stage and a familiar tune started to play... my friends were like "Is he doing Vogue?!" We all giggled with excitement. Marie Anne Twanet and her 5 background dancers did the live version of Madonna's Vogue that was performed on MTV's Video Music Awards show. Marie even killed the fan flip! The crowd cheered so loudly and gave a standing ovation at the end of the performance, of course it helped that we had 35 of our friends in the audience of 700. I have never been so proud of him. Well I am sure you guessed it.... the votes came in and Steve won by 14 votes!!! He took to the stage and the crowd went wild once again as he was given a sash, a large bejeweled crown and a bouquet of roses. He sacrificed so much over the course of several months to ensure the safety, health and shelter of battered women and children in our community. There were so many volunteers that made this event happen and many facets of the show that go unseen behind the stage. The event raised well over a million pesos. 7 straight men stood up to domestic violence by performing a drag show. I am proud that my husband was one of them.
