Hello, all you gorgeous readers! It’s Ms. Madge Enthat — the drag queen with the big purple hairdo(n’t) which can often be seen scraping the sky in and around Peterborough.
As I’m writing this, Peterborough Pride’s 2020 virtual version has just begun. Writing as a contributor to kawarthaNOW, Sarah McNeilly asked recently if I had any plans for a digital online presence in relation to our annual LGBTQ+ festival. Especially since COVID-19 had postponed any immediate continuation of the wildly popular Drag Bingo & Comedy show hosted at Delta Bingo Peterborough by yours truly and my fabulous drag partner-in-crime, Miss Divalicious.
The short answer was, “No, not at this time.” Well, I wasn’t planning on any online video, but Sarah inspired me regardless.
(Full disclosure: I don’t have the set-up for an enjoyable video presentation. Me in my little home office/drag room with a desk lamp, overhead background lighting, and the ceiling fan for effect isn’t gonna cut it!)
The past number of months have literally been a waiting game to see what was going to be possible for live face-to-face performances with enthusiastic audiences, which is where I have always felt most comfortable.
Whether or not a successful return of students to a new school year was going to be possible felt like the go/no-go which may have given the rest of us permission to move forward with any plans we had in the following weeks.
Now that we’re seeing the difficulties of reviving in-class education during the viral pandemic, the thought of responsible indoor live drag entertainment seems like a bit of a far-off dream.
So here I am sharing a small release of pent-up thought and hopefully, inspiration now that Pride has rolled around again to provide a much-needed recharge of our rainbow.
In fact, this year’s Pride theme finds me celebrating in my own way while stationed in a distant place: Bruce Nuclear Power Generating Station — North America’s largest nuclear energy source. “Pride In Other Spaces” indeed!
But I’m not here as the bedazzled and sequinned Ms. Madge Enthat. I’m here out of drag as an employee contributing to regular component maintenance projects for these giant reactors. That may sound impressive, but I’m not the one actually splitting atoms. We leave that to the folk who get really aroused by the nuclear science chatter around the water cooler here.
No, my role is a small one out of thousands on-site which keep these huge machines running safely. I’ve been working various maintenance projects within the nuclear energy sector for a couple of years now and I find it to be incredibly interesting work. It’s necessary work that helps keep the lights for about 25 per cent of Ontario, when referring to Bruce Power. And of course, I’m thankful for the work.
Now, I’m not going to rainbow-wash the truth here: though I can hold my own in any awkward situation, as a drag queen with a gay man alter-ego it can be a tad daunting to rub shoulders with some very talented tradespeople in the industry.
Currently, many of these are folk who, in addition to being good at their craft, spend a lot of their time concerning themselves with methods of welding, equipment used in welding, off-road LED light bars for their pick-up trucks, industrial work opportunities, and topics of ‘locker room’ talk, as examples.
The awkwardness. It happens. And one of those situations inevitably occurs when, with almost every new introduction I get asked if I have a girlfriend/wife/kids back home. That default question containing a sizable chunk of assumption delivers a bit of a sting, to be honest.
Even in 2020, coming out to members of a new project crew requires some tact. If you’re asking “Why would you be outing yourself?”, trust that I’m not going out of my way to do so. Though I do appreciate demonstrating that my innate lifestyle can be discussed in the same cavalier way as anyone else asking about spouses and offspring when given the chance.
So, most often I decide (with a fit-for-a-queen, mildly sarcastic voice in my head), “Well, since you asked…” and proceed to deliver my truth with a breath deepened by my learned pride to the questioning party — about having a male partner of 20 years back home in Peterborough, about having come out some 24 years ago, in addition to any other details of my life which could be pertinent to the conversation.
More often than not, this leads to us discovering things in common as well as our differences, which reveal we are as unique and valid as one another.
This happened as recently as yesterday.
I’ve learned to be valid as-is, no longer molding to anyone’s preconceived idea of what I should be.
As Madge, I am fashioned to be a fantastic and humorous version of my male self when I wear all the colourful costuming, makeup and glittery drippings to be a larger-than-life drag queen. Altogether the spectacle becomes my own self-empowering character which I enjoy sharing whenever possible. The promise is to always use that resulting aura of energy to encourage others to live their unique truth in health and with pride.
As a gay man with an over-the-top drag queen alter-ego, you can bet a bag of hot-fix Swarovski’s that I’m proud of it.
My role in this world is only one-in-eight-billion who help keep Pride alive in other places.
Happy Pride, Peterborough.
Ms. Madge Enthat
