Shannon Waters | Sad Mag

He's got the whole (gay) world in his hands. — He’s got the whole (gay) world in his hands.

We last spoke with Christepher Wee in February, shortly after he won Mr. Gay Canada.

Since, then Christepher has continued to focus on his activism, using his new title as a platform to reach a larger audience.

And reach he has! Christepher has been involved in Pride events across the country, from World Pride in Toronto to Jasper, and was a keynote speaker at Surrey’s Pride in July.

But it’s not all parties and parades: Christepher now serves as an ambassador for Rainbow Refugee Canada and the Men’s Heath Initiative. He’s also a resource for the Gay Straight Alliance and has been officially adopted by the Two Spirit First Nations community who have named him Sage Niis Miou.

Christepher sat down to chat with Sad Mag about the upcoming Mr. Gay World competition in Rome, Italy where he will be competing on the world stage.

Sad Mag: How was your Pride?

Mr. Gay Canada, Christepher Wee: It was excellent. I’ve been going to Pride since the end of March! Vancouver Pride was at the beginning of August and prior to that I was at Surrey Pride. I got back from World Pride in Toronto just the night before. It’s always great to be home.

SM: What’s your favourite thing about Pride events?

CW: All the community events. The family picnics and the seniors’ days—in Vancouver, we had Aging with Pride, the Pride Picnic at Brockton Oval, and the Pride Run and Walk. I don’t go to the party events at night so much. I may drop in for an hour or so, but I really love the community events. That’s when you get to talk to people, interact with people.

SM: What do you think is still important about Pride? It’s been around a long time—what is it that makes it relevant to us now?

CW: I think they’re still very relevant and important for a few reasons. There’s still a long ways to go in terms of equality so we need to keep at it and be visible and vocal.

Pride events are also a time to remember our ancestors, what they did and what they went through to get where we are today. There’s an element of remembrance.

It’s also a celebration of all the victories we’ve achieved this year. In Vancouver, we had the Parks Board initiative to provide gender-neutral bathrooms and the School Board’s revision of its LGBTQ policy. These things need to be celebrated with the whole community, not just the LGBTQ population but with our allies as well, who come together and join with us to show that we’re united in building a better tomorrow.

This year, Surrey City Hall refused to fly the rainbow flag so there’s a lot of work that still needs to be done. We’re not at the day where Pride Week or Pride celebration doesn’t need to happen because equality…we’re not there yet.

There’s still a long ways to go. Until everyone, everywhere can be free, I think we need to keep celebrating Pride and pushing for change.

SM: You’re headed to Mr. Gay World in Rome, Italy. What are you most excited about, heading into that competition?

CW: I think I’m most excited about meeting all of the delegates to see what kind of activism and community service actions they’re working on. I’d like to see if we can get something going globally. Imagine dozens of us from all parts of the world doing something at the same time – that could create a phenomenon!

SM: What kind of events will be happening in Rome? What will you be doing there?

CW: It’s a regular pageant so we have a lot of pageantry elements: the photoshoots, the Q&A session, the panel judging, and the talent portion. There’s also a city tour and a look at the LGBTQ services offered in the city. On the Mr. Gay World website, you can see our itinerary—it’s very detailed!

The other thing about the competition is that it gives competitors a worldwide platform to talk about what we’re doing and to bring our issues to the world press. One of the new components at the competition is a pop-speech. You’ll be given a word or topic and you’ll have a minute to talk about it. This is to see how articulate you are and how you can think on your feet.

We also write an exam when we arrive. You need to know your LGBTQ current affairs and history, and Pride history. It’s not just about your looks or how you strut your stuff on the runway.

There’s a sports element too. Last year they went to a police training camp and completed the course there. I’m quite interested to see what we’re doing this year.

We’ve already started our competition with a set of online challenges. Our first challenges was to pick an iconic place where we live and do a 60 second video, unedited and uncut, introducing our city and ourselves. I went to Stanley Park and stood where you could see Canada Place and the Vancouver skyline. We also have online quizzes and handbooks that we need to read. Our current challenge is to present a short documentary of our gay life in our city. This is great for me because I can use all of the video clips I’ve been shooting across Canada.

SM: How many countries compete at Mr. Gay World?

It’s different every year. This year there are 32, last year there were 25 so the numbers are definitely increasing. This year is the largest yet!

SM: What are you hoping for out of this competition?

CW: One, I’m hoping that the delegates can collaborate and do something globally. Even if I don’t win, that’s something I want to do. I’ve already started with my contacts in Asia, being a support for local groups. I definitely want to do something with the Mr. Gay World delegates, if possible.

I’m hoping to do really well in the compeition because of the platform the title provides. I’ve noticed that since I won the title of Mr. Gay Canada, it’s made a huge difference in terms of media coverage and profile. If you’re just Christepher Wee, well, you’re just Christepher Wee. But if you have a title behind your name, it gives you the opportunity to be a visible voice

What's next for this guy? Lots is our guess. Image courtesy: STUDIOZ QLIX — What’s next for this guy? Lots is our guess. Image courtesy: STUDIOZ QLIX

SM: You mentioned that being Mr. Gay Canada has given you a platform, a higher profile and more media access. We talked a bit about that in the last interview. Have you found you’ve been able to more your various goals forward?

CW: Definitely! I mentioned working with Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) last time and, before I became Mr. Gay Canada, there wasn’t a lot of interest. But now that I’m Mr. Gay Canada, I’ve become a national resource on the GSA Canada website. People from all over Canada can contact me and ask me to come to their school and speak, to write something or give advice. I don’t think that would have happened if I were just Christepher Wee. Mr. Gay Canada opened the doors to that.

I’ve also been approached by organizations to act as an ambassador. I’m an ambassador for the Rainbow Refugee society. I’m proud to speak out to help our brothers and sisters who live in countries that have anti-gay laws. I try to bring attention to the plight of these refugees who flee their home countries to avoid persecution.

I’m also an ambassador for Men’s Health Initiative. They’re a Vancouver-based organization that not only focuses on HIV awareness and education but also generally on men’s health – social health, physical health, mental health. We started a campaign together to raise the visibility of minorities. When you see a lot of MHI advertisements and education materials, you only see Caucasian men. I felt that we needed to increase the visibility of other demographics. So we just started a new campaign, Vancouver Fabulous, where I’m on the poster and the post card and there’s a second version coming out in the fall. We’re also launching a Chinese website – a replica of the MHI website but in Chinese with Chinese individuals pictured on the website. Moving on from that, we’re going to look at other demographic groups that need visibility.

SM: Aside from the networking and realizing how much of a platform you have as Mr. Gay Canada, What would you say you’ve learned in this role?

CW: I don’t think I realized the magnitude of impact that I can have with this title. Originally, I wanted to use the title to do good for my community, to have a voice and be visible. I didn’t realize the impact it would have on so many people. The Facebook messages I get, the emails I get, the thank yous from people that I meet at events—it just blows me away. I didn’t anticipate having that much of an impact. I’m really grateful for that.

I’ve also learned a lot about Canada and how wonderful everyone is. I sometimes sound like a broken record on my videos because I always say how proud I am to be Canadian and how proud I am of the community here. But it’s the truth. Everywhere I’ve gone, from Jasper to Toronto, it’s amazing the response you get from people. And the way you see people treat each other is amazing too.

At the Trans Pride event this year, I met three guys from Edmonton who had come out just to be allies, to be visible allies. They’d made up a bunch of T-shirts to hand out to people. I’m planning on working with them to help them develop their business so that their T-shirts with positive slogans can become more than that. Can become an educational medium. We’re going to do something that has an educational element with the message. Hopefully, we’ll be able to get something ready for the Mr. Gay World competition.

SM: What advice would you offer to those looking to be activists?

CW: I just want to say that everyone, everywhere should pitch in where they can. It doesn’t matter what community you belong to or how you identify yourself, it’s all about the entire community working together as one community. Working together so that our children and our nieces and nephews can have a better life than ours. So if everyone can pitch in and help out wherever they can and be a voice on a daily basis for activism – you know, activism is not just about Pride once a year. It’s about daily activism work, educating your friends and parents. For every person you educate, they can turn around and educate someone else. It’s a great way to give back to your and to move forward. It can totally change what our society will look like, 5 years from now, 10 years from now, 20 years from now.

You can follow Christepher Wee on Twitter (@ChristepherWee) and on Facebook. He also holds the Twitter handle @WeeChristepher as a platform for his hi5Diversity program.

Mr. Gay World will be crowned on August 31, 2014. You can check out the pageant’s program here. You can also vote for Christepher here – you can vote every day until August 31!

Christepher Wee, Mr. Gay Canada 2014 is an energetic and amazingly positive guy. He thinks of himself primarily as an educator and uses his success in modeling, acting and pageantry as a vehicle for his activism. Shannon Waters caught up with Christepher to talk about his new title, what he thinks about the Olympics and what he plans on doing next.

We'd be more than happy to high five Christepher for diversity! — We’d be more than happy to high five Christepher for diversity!

Sad Mag: Who are you?

Christepher Wee: I’m just a collective contribution of everything since my childhood—my parents, teachers, education, upbringing, the things I’ve learned. That’s who I am today. And every time I experience something, like this competition and the people I meet — well, you grow a little more every day. I live life just as a normal human being, doing the best I can, being a humanitarian. I’m going through life being the best human I can. Christepher Wee is a collective being of all of the positive things that have gone through my life.

SM: Tell me about the Mr. Gay Canada competition.

CW: I didn’t actually know there was a Mr. Gay Canada. Since I was young, I’ve always loved pageants. I always watched them with my mom—Ms. Universe, Ms. World, and all that. I was watching pageants on YouTube and I’d always known these ladies have a platform for charity and I wondered if I could do something like that. You see, as a teacher, I knew I could influence my students but the range kind of stops outside of your class or your school. I realized as an actor my voice was more powerful and I could influence more through my TV shows or as the spokesperson for a particular cause. I watched Ms. America and the winner, you know, was of East Indian descent and the runner up of Chinese descent, and I thought, wow, what a change! What a celebration of diversity! And then I watched Ms. World and I wondered…so I Googled Mr. World. And I found out they do have one and I was kind of blown away. So I wondered, do they have a Mr. Gay World? And they do. So I applied and the next thing I knew, I was in the Mr. Gay Canada pageant. I didn’t really expect anything of it—I thought I could use it as a platform to do what I wanted to do. I thought it would be a good place because the press would be there and lots of different organizations would be there and I could make connections and network within the community to do what I wanted to do.

SM: And you came out on top!

CW: I came out on top! I’m the first Asian winner of Mr. Gay Canada. I’m also the first competitor to win all of the accolades. I won Best National Costume—the winner wears their costume at the Mr. Gay World competition. I won with a Chief Justice costume (from the Supreme Court of Canada). I thought it would be a good costume because Canada is so progressive in its human rights; we’ve always been a leader in that, that it would be great. You know, instead of the usual, like a Mountie or a hockey player. The Supreme Court Justice costume speaks to a national philosophy, a belief behind what we’re striving for in the world. I didn’t expect to win—there were so many other amazing costumes—but I did.

I also won Mr. Congeniality. All of the guys were so great so the fact that I was voted Mr. Congeniality was really touching.

And then there was People’s Choice award. I was a bit worried about that because, having just come back to Canada, I didn’t think I would have Vancouver or BC voting for me. My group of friends is mainly in Asia so I messaged them to tell them I was a finalist in Mr. Gay Canada and asked them to vote for me and to get the word out and I was overwhelmed. My Facebook account had maybe 800 or 900 people on it and then every day it would increase by 100, 150. And I received messages and messages. I had so many messages from Asia, from strangers, from people I didn’t even know. And then I received messages from people in Saudia Arabia and Venezuela and all over the world—messages of support saying, “You represent us,” “You are our voice,” “You are our hope.”

Like I said before, I try to live my life just as a human being. I’m not doing this because I’m Asian, to benefit the Asian community, or even to benefit the LGBTQ community. I’m doing it because it will benefit all humankind. So it really hit me when I realized that I am a representative for people.

SM: So now that you’ve got the title and the platform, what are you looking to do with it?

CW: My platform has always been with youth because I teach. In Canada, we have the Gay/Straight Alliance and in BC, we have Out in Schools. But I’d like to build on that—I think we need support programs in every school. I bet every school has an annual club and every school has a student council and now, pretty much every school has an anti-bullying campaign with the pink T-shirt day. So why not make a club in every school that celebrates diversity?

I would like to start High Five Diversity. Little kids are taught to high five when they do something good—it has a positive association. The word diversity also has positive associations and lacks the stigma of, say, tolerance or inclusiveness. Instead of saying, ‘Let’s be inclusive,’ let’s celebrate our diversity. Let’s learn from our diversity, let’s educate each other on our differences and let’s celebrate them. Diversity should be a part of everyday life. And I think we’re at the point where we can make that shift and make diversity a part of education and let kids feel safe and secure and be who they are.

I’ve started Hi5Diversity on Twitter—@WeeChristepher and #hi5diversity—but I want to see it in schools. I’d like to create a Facebook page as well, where people, especially kids, can upload artwork or poems or whatever that celebrate diversity.

In the meantime, I’m in touch with GSA and Pride Education and Out in Schools, to see how they can use my sash for their cause. Because this is something that I want to do long term and a year is just going to fly by. After a year, when you’re no longer Mr. Gay Canada, how loud is your voice? I want to spend this year being very active.

Being a role model is top on Christepher's list. — Being a role model is top on Christepher’s list.

As soon as I got back from Whistler, I emailed Tim Stevenson (Vancouver City Council member) in Sochi and told him, “I’m the new Mr. Gay Canada, I want to see how I can contribute.” I didn’t think he would respond. But within hours, Maureen Douglas responded and said, “Tim got your email, he’s really busy right now but he’s interested in getting in touch with you when he gets back from Sochi.” So I’m really excited about that!

SM: Let’s talk about the Olympics. Have you been watching them?

CW: I watched a bit of the opening ceremony yesterday with friends. One of my friends asked me a really good question. He asked me if I support the Olympics. I said I do support the Olympics and the athletes, especially the athletes. Because they have worked so hard and this is a time for them to show their excellence, their unity and what they’ve worked so hard for. This is something we need to celebrate. But I don’t support what’s going on in Russia. Those are two different things. I actually think the fact that the Olympics are being held there is fantastic as previously there was talk of a boycott. I don’t think boycotting is the right route, necessarily, especially in this case. Here you have the global media on site at the location of horrible repression. What better way to draw attention, to get it out into the world, than to have the world’s athletes there and the press that goes with that? Maybe the world unified and all of those voices unified can change a few politicians’ minds, can change the country. Maybe. But at least it’s better than having a boycott. I think when we have social issues, they need to be addressed and out there. We need to build awareness for it and build a discourse in every country for it.

Sometimes I think we kind of forget that our pioneers got us where we are today. That’s why I can sit here and have that freedom to say what I want and to wear a sash that says Mr. Gay Canada. We’ve moved a long ways but that doesn’t mean we can take it for granted. Depending on who is in power, things can regress very quickly. I don’t think we can take it for granted at all, that freedom, and I think we need to be very aware of what is happening with our global neighbours because what’s happening to them could come around and affect us. And these days, with social media, we are so interconnected that we can make a difference in each other’s countries.

SM: Have you seen some of the athletes at the Olympics sporting LGBTW supportive gear?

CW: It gives me goosebumps, all the way to my head. It’s exciting. That’s why I said; we need to have presence there. Those rainbows—the world knows what the rainbow means, what it represents. And they know what pink represents and what the red ribbon represents. We all know those symbols and when they see them, people make that connection. That’s why I think it’s great that we’re not boycotting the Olympics. We should celebrate what these athletes are doing. We shouldn’t condone what’s going on in Russia—we need to speak up—but the athletes are there to show their dedication and their excellence. They’re great ambassadors. It just goes to show that we can be united and maybe we can get a few politicians to change their mindsets so that our brothers and sisters in Russia can have the freedom to live. Just the right to live and not be beaten up or spat on. I think it’s about more than just the LGBTQ community. It’s also about bullying. Because if it can happen to the LGBTQ community, it can happen to other communities too. Whoever is living in a country and is identified as not belonging or fitting in. specific criteria.

SM: You’ve moved around a lot—tell me about your travels and your time in Asia.

CW: I traveled a lot as a kid. My parents made a point of taking us on a trip pretty much every summer. It ‘s something I’ve always been interested in: traveling and seeing different cultures. When I left Vancouver and went to Asia, I was teaching International Baccalaureate Art and I wanted to go and study Asian art to be able to incorporate Asian art and art history into my program. So I took a leave of 6 months…that then turned into years. While I was in Asia, I was discovered for modeling. And then the modeling took off and led to TV. TV took off and led to film and I found a whole new existence I’d never thought about it. I found that what I could do with it was amazing. As an educator, you always have that inner drive to influence and have an impact. I know that kind of sounds cliché, like world peace, but I think that’s the way I was brought up. It’s been my mentality since I was young: to make a positive difference and to be a role model. So when I found a bit of fame and found that I could use my voice to impact so many, it drove me to become even more involved.

SM: It sounds a bit as if you saw modeling and acting as a means to an end, so to speak. Was that always how you saw it or did that change over time?

CW: It was that way from the start. At first, I was doing my art research and doing a bit of modeling and it was good, the money was good. But when you’re modeling, people don’t really know your name—they associate you with a brand. I knew people recognized me and there was an element of celebrity there but it wasn’t until film, when my name was out there and people started saying, “That’s Christepher Wee,” that’s when I realized that they really knew me. That’s when I started to do a lot of interviews. I’d done interviews before as a model, but these were much more intimate and I realized that I had a lot of options. Then I started to be approached by local newspapers to write as a guest journalist about social issues. I was approached by Teen Magazine! Charities would ask me to just show up to their events. Some people would get really excited about going to the fancy parties and stuff but to me it’s just a job. I go to the shoot because that’s my job. I’m in a TV show because that’s my job and I want to do the best I can at every job I have. I don’t think, “Oh, I’m famous, I’m better than you,” because I’m still Christepher Wee. Before I started doing any of this and who I am now, it’s still Christepher Wee. Nothing has changed in the core. But now I have the ability to use my name to do something and so I’m going to use it.

We wish Christepher luck in the future! With a smile like that, how could he lose?

SM: Do you have any particular role models for your activism?

CW: So many! So many people have gotten us to where we are today. People in science and arts and languages and technology, humanitarianism and social work—it’s taken people in all of those areas to get us to where we are today.

I love quotes. When I find a quote that really speaks to me, I Google who wrote it or said it to learn about them. I find out about their contributions and so I’m always finding new role models.

Chris Morrissey of the Rainbow Refugee Association, was at the Mr. Gay Canada Competition. She spoke to us about refugee issues and international LGBTQ issues. That’s someone who has done amazing work! And Ellen DeGeneres or even Obama, those are the people that I hope to emulate. They’re my ah-ha! moments. I’m hoping that soon I will be able to be someone’s ah-ha! moment. I think I’m getting there, some of my former students have told me I’ve inspired them. I told my students that I was a finalist in Mr. Gay Canada. At first, I didn’t but eventually it got out – and they all gave me their support!

I think if I can leave some kind of impression on people, they way that all of these other people have left an impression on me, that’s a worthy goal. If everyone can leave ah-ha! moments for others, instead of negative impacts, I think our world would be so different. In terms of what’s going on in Russia right now, people are spreading these videos of violence against LGBTQ people around, trying to raise awareness. But some people who see those videos won’t be educated – they may go the opposite way and think, if others are doing it, why can’t I? I think there are two sides to the activism coin – why not be on the positive side?

SM: So it sounds like you’ve got a lot on your plate as Mr. Gay Canada this year. Do you know what comes next?

CW: Well, Mr. Gay World is coming up in August so I have to prepare for that. It’s not just about your good looks or nice body—it’s about what you bring to the organization and what you can do. The past Mr. Gay World’s have been amazing ambassadors for their platforms—they’re inspirations. The winner for this year will have big shoes to fill so I’m working towards that, towards making the judges know that I’m doing this for more than glamour. I’ve done that, I know what it’s like to have celebrity and to be in the papers. It’s irrelevant to me. It’s what you do behind the name and the title that matters. So I want to be really prepared for that and, regardless of the results, I know that, being on the world stage, my voice will be bigger. And if I win? Wow, that’s another sash that will launch me to a different level in terms of what I can do. I’m excited! I’m not getting my hopes up that I can win because, regardless, just making it there to the world stage is a win and it already gives what I want to do a bigger platform.

You can follow Christepher Wee on Twitter (@ChristepherWee) and on Facebook. He also holds the Twitter handle @WeeChristepher as a platform for his hi5Diversity program.

On a crisp and sunny Sunday afternoon, I sat down with Anthony Casey and Shayan Naziripour. We talked about their drag alter egos, Shanda Leer and Veronica Vamp. They were gearing up for the Sad Mag Madonna Tribute at The Cobalt. We talked about the challenges of being a man in a dress and how one gets there, as well as the evolution of performance personas, and the queer camaraderie of The Cobalt.

If you’re looking to see the ladies on stage, Shanda Leer will be at Oasis for Jerk It! on December 20^th. If you’re keen to see Veronica Vamp…well, patience is a virtue! I can assure you—she’s well worth the wait!

Sad Mag: Who are you?

Veronica Vamp is always serving up the best drag.

Shanda Leer: I am Shanda Leer, your tipsy aunt at a wedding. That’s my self-appointed title.

Veronic Vamp: Very nice. Very nice indeed. I am Veronica Vamp, lady of the night, mistress, working girl. All of the above.

SM: How did you get into drag? How did it become a thing that you do?

VV: I’m the newbie here. I started doing cosplay—that’s how I got into drag. I really enjoy anime characters and the ones I really like are the strong ladies. So I started cosplaying them. I started out with Faye Valentine from Cowboy BeBop—that was my first cosplay. I also Love Sailor Mercury from Sailor Moon. She loves romance novels, she’s got blue hair…dirty romance novels and who doesn’t love blue hair?

SL: I started at the Cobalt as a dare from Peach Cobblah. It was the Pride Ball in 2012. I had hinted at it for a while. But there’s some exposition to this and I’ll keep it short: I’m from Nova Scotia. Growing up there, I think I was 19 and I went to my first gay bar, by myself, I had no idea what I was doing. I went to this place; I think it was called Vortex. I was there and I was terrified and there were these three old queens who just kind of descended on me. They were chatting with me and asking me all of these questions. I was still doing that thing where I was saying, “Oh yah, I’m kind of gay but not really, hahaha.” I was young, what’re you gonna do? At the end of the conversation, one of them said, “Are we the first drag queens you’ve ever met?” and I said yes. They asked me if I thought I’d like to do drag sometime and I said, “Oh, I don’t think so.” And one of them leaned over, right in my face and said, “Listen, honey, when you do drag—and you will do drag—use the name Shanda Leer and don’t forget it.” And so I’ve always had this amazing drag name that I’m in love with and I told Peach that story and she said, “Just get on stage at the Pride Ball.” And I did. And, actually, a couple of weeks ago we were talking about when I’d started and she said, “You know, I honestly thought it was just going to be a one time thing. I thought it was just going to be a joke. And look at you now.” I’ve blossomed!

SM: That is an awesome story! Tell me about the Madonna Tribute show.

SL: Miss Vamp here was co-hosting.

VV: I co-hosted with Isolde N. Barron. She’s lovely, she’s always hilarious.

SL: She-larious!

VV: Oh, I love puns! Well, the night was a competition with a bunch of other queens. Shanda Leer included. I co-hosted, held the trophy, and made sure those queens worked for it!

SL: I’m excited because, you know, most gay men, they love Madonna. At least one song, if not completely. In the last Sad Mag show, the Mariah tribute, I think I was the only one who genuinely liked Mariah.

VV: I won!

SL: She won. Whatever! That’s cause you stripped off on stage!

VV: That’s cause I was a dirty, dirty whore! (laughs)

SL: I try to keep Mimi classy, but whatever. I was excited for this one because it was fun to do a Madonna number. Normally, Shanda’s whole thing is kind of campy and silly, lots of Broadway. You know, the classic old lady standards. So when I have the chance to do a full-on Madonna number with dancing and everything…I’m excited!

SM: What do you find to be the most challenging aspect of doing drag?

SL: What’s RuPaul’s favourite quote? It takes a lot of balls to put on a dress and walk out the door. Right? So having the drive to do drag in general, you’re tapping into something that’s already, sort of, intrinsic to your personality. I don’t know. What are the difficulties? Starting off, doing my own make-up—that was hard. Finding clothes.

ShandaLeer1-AGoodBookDrivePhoto — Shanda Leer—classy and sassy.

VV: Especially for a man’s body.

SL: Exactly! That fit a man’s…generous body. Actually leaving the house and confidently.

VV: Oh yes, that’s the hardest part I think. Scaring people. Terrifying children.

SL: I think another, I guess, difficulty, is people…I don’t want to say taking it seriously because, in the end, it’s a fun drag show to have fun. But, I don’t want it to be some novelty, like people just truck us out every weekend so they can watch the cute ladies put on a show. I see a lot of history behind drag so I always want to represent that. I think that’s a bit of a challenge these days, even once you’ve worked up the balls to walk out the door.

SM: Kudos to that! How long have you been performing for?

VV: I first started at the Cobalt in 2012. I failed miserably. Ok, I didn’t fail miserably. I got to the second round.

SL: Second round’s great! When did I start? Oh right, Pride Ball, 2012.

SM: So you’re both fairly new to this. Tell me about a favourite performance.

SL: I’m a huge ham so I love all of them. Some go better than others. My favourite one…I don’t know. I love any time I get to do a Barbara Streisand number. The most recent one was at Jerk It last weekend at Oasis. “Don’t Rain on my Parade” is my favourite one to do. Of course—every girl loves Funny Girl.

VV: Any one where I get an injury of some sort. If I’m wondering where that bruise came from the morning after, that was a good night. My favourite performance…I would say I don’t really have one. Any time when I can shake my pussy in front of a crowded stage is great!

SM: Have you ever had a major stage disaster where something goes really wrong?

VV: Like when you fuck up a lip synch?

SL: Oh yah. It always happens. I did a show one time and my CD was misplaced. I didn’t know what to do but I had kind of a back-up track so I said I could do that one instead. But I didn’t really remember all of the words and I didn’t have the proper clothes to go with it. You just gotta roll with it. Shit can go wrong at any time. Thankfully, I haven’t fallen. And my dress hasn’t fallen off…oh wait. No. I play in Out for Kicks, which is a queer soccer league, and at the awards ceremony that we have at the end of every season, they asked me to perform, so I did. I had this really cute floral romper as my costume, except I hadn’t tried it on in a really long time and I don’t know if I just grew or if my boobs got bigger but it kept falling down.

VV: You were growing into your womanhood!

SL: I was blossoming! On stage! My nipples kept showing so I finally just yanked it down and did a topless performance. It was so tight that I couldn’t wear bra so in the end I had this really crazy, genderfuck thing going on. They loved it!

VV: Yah, you make it work!

SL: You gotta keep it real.

SM: Do you have any goals for your performance?

VV: Fame! I want my pussy to be on every cover!

S:L Money! No, seriously. For each performance? I just want people to enjoy themselves and to think that I’m the best queen they’ve ever seen. That’s it—it’s as simple as that.

VV: Ditto! I think the goal is just to make people happy. I love to entertain people.

SM: Do you find that different audiences attend different shows?

VV: I don’t remember their faces by the end of the night….

SL: The last couple of months, I’ve been really lucky and I’ve been booked a lot. And I’ve noticed that the crowds definitely change depending on the party but, in the end, they know what they’re in for. The Oasis has been the most interesting, especially for Jerk It on Fridays. Cause Friday’s a hard night on Davie St.—there’s a lot going on. So some nights, the crowds have come in and it’s been a lot of familiar faces, which has been super nice. Other nights, it’s been different people, which is also exciting because then it’s a different crowd to perform for. But, occasionally you’ll get people coming in and they think they know what a drag show is but they’re still not really quite sure what to expect and then it’s funny to see their reactions. And it changes on a weekly basis too. But if you go to the Cobalt, girl, that’s family!

SM: Do you ever find that your performances create tension for your personal life? Or is there a disconnect?

VV: I don’t feel that, no.

SL: Well, you’re not Veronica all the time.

VV: True. I’m more mean when I’m in drag. All that make-up…it just brings the bitch in me. I’ve definitely noticed that. But I’m the sweetest bitch you’ll ever meet.

SL: I’ve heard that before! Shanda for me is very much a character and I think that, in my personal life, Anthony is….well, I think I’m more introverted than I give myself credit for. A great night in for me is being completely alone and not texting or calling anybody and watching Dr. Who. And eating pizza. But Shanda—she works the room. She’s kind of maternal, makes sure everyone has a good time. She’s got time for everybody and I enjoy that because I get to meet people. But if it’s me at a club, I am not going to go around and say hi to everybody and see how their night is going. I’m there to just enjoy myself and my friends. And even then, I’ll probably stay for 10 minutes and then leave because…girl’s tired!

SM: Have you found that your drag personas have evolved as you’ve been performing?

SL: Oh yah, definitely. She’s a little more busted and drunk than she first started off but now I think, any transformative thing that you do, has to always be in flux because you’re not going to settle on it right away. And it’s bringing out parts of me that I kind of knew where there but had never really tapped into so watching that evolve has been interesting. And now I think she’s a bit more of a lady, definitely still the tipsy aunt though. She’ll crack the weird jokes. She’ll think she’s the best dancer in the world and really, she’s just doing the cabbage patch. Poorly. I’ve seen it evolve and I want to keep seeing it evolve.

VV: I do feel like I’ve progressed and I feel like I’ve gone from, “Oooh, that’s a man!” to “That’s a…man??” So that’s my journey so far and I’m still developing the character. I’m a graphic designer, that’s my day job, so what I really love to do is create characters, drawing them. And I feel like Veronica is my cartoon character—all myself, but just drawn with huge hair and big-ass lips, lots of eyes, lots of lashes. An extreme character. Drag queens feel a bit like cartoon characters—fun and out there. I’m slowly getting better at drawing her. At first, it was just like crayon and not really colouring between the lines. But you get better and you, maybe, use a different brush or something. Or you actually find the right colour. More is more, more is better. Slap on some glitter. I learned about glue and then glitter on top—it solves everything.

SM: What’s next for you both?

VV: Shanda’s the more professional one. I only perform every once in while—the lady doesn’t come out that often. So what’s next is…?

SL: Do you want to perform more?

VV: I do want to perform more, eventually. But it’s a lot of money!

SL: Yes, it’s expensive. On average, I’m probably on stage twice a month. This weekend, I haven’t done any shows. But on the last 5 weekends, I’ve had one or two. And it’s been really great because I love performing! I did musical theatre when I was younger. Shanda’s not going to make it to Broadway but if I can still entertain people, then that’s great. There are some shows of my own that I’d like to do. I would love to do some live singing because I’m not the best but I can carry a tune. And, to bring it down, I’d like to do some kind of history project. Peach and Isolde have this amazing show called Tucked and Plucked and I love what they do. They interview queens from Vancouver and get the history of drag in Vancouver. I like that too but I also like that drag has been a really strong piece of queer history. I feel like I kind of want to educate people on that. RuPaul’s Drag Race has been amazing and I’ve seen every season and I own every season to date but sometimes I almost feel like it’s diluting the whole legacy that drag has. It’s great that it brings it to the mainstream so more people know who drag queens are. But, you know, there have only been a few on the show who have actually talked about and appreciated the history. Jinx Monsoon being one of them, she’s everybody’s favourite right now. I love her to bits. So there are a lot of things! There are a lot of Christmas shows that are happening in the next month. There’s going to be Jerk It on Dec. 20^th at Oasis, which will be Christmas themed. I think January’s going to be a time where I figure out what I want to do for 2014. 2013 was the year where Shanda realized who she was. 2014 is what am I going to do with this?

Dave Deveau is an associate producer and playwright in residence at Zee Zee Theatre. Currently, he and his husband, Cameron Mackenzie, are co-curating Nyet: A Cabaret of Concerned Canadians, a showcase of 10 plays written in response to Russia’s new anti-gay legislation. Dave’s drag queen alter ego, Peach Cobblah, hosts Hustla: Homo Hip Hop at the Cobalt.

Sad Mag: Who are you?

Dave Deveau: My name is Dave Deveau, though people probably know me as Peach Cobblah. As a boy, I’m a playwright and teacher and I run Zee Zee Theatre with my husband, Cameron Mackenzie. As Peach, I’m a foul-mouthed hip-hop drag queen who runs events at the Cobalt.

SM: How did you start writing plays?

DD: What a good question. I actually grew up in film and TV, I was a child actor, which was great, and oddly enough, film introduced me to theatre, which is usually the opposite in terms of people’s trajectory. I went to a fine arts high school in a literary arts program where I sort of was trying out any form of writing – they were really great at introducing us to all sorts of genres and play writing, for whatever reason, [it] was a good fit.

Then I went and did two degrees in play writing, which is really hilarious because you don’t need a degree to write a play! You just need something to say and some basic ideas of structure. It’s wild to think that now I’m actually making a living doing what I wanted to do and it is sort of bizarre that it’s actually happened. It’s a lot of fun—it’s a lot of work but it’s a lot of fun. In order to make it financially worthwhile, you have to have, you know, five shows going on at the same tie.

SM: Yes, I noticed you seem to be involved in a bunch of stuff right now—there were many shows listed at the bottom of your email.

DD: That’s just the stuff that the theatre company (Zee Zee Theatre) is producing. I work with a bunch of other companies in town and I have four new plays in production this year and then two other shows that are happening again. Which is good, it keeps me out of trouble.

SM: And you’re still performing as Peach at the Cobalt?

DD: Oh yeah—all of the work that we do at the Cobalt raises money for the company. We just never say fundraiser because this is not the kind of city where you say the word fundraiser. People run for the hills. If you just say, “We’re having a really fun, gay dance party,” it’ll happen.

SM: What was the inspiration behind Nyet: A Political Cabaret?

DD: Nyet is based in large part on an event called Wrecking Ball, which started out in Toronto 10 years ago. A group of theatre-makers started it as a means to artistically discuss things that were happening politically, in the country and around the world at that time. Oddly enough in May when Putin’s new legislation came about, one of our board members said my next play should be about Russia and I said, “yeah, it should.” However, I was in the middle of writing 5 plays—it takes a couple of years to fully realize a play—and I thought, “2 years from now is too late to talk about this!” But then I thought maybe we could do something within the Wrecking Ball model and so we asked playwrights across the country, playwrights that we know and playwrights that we don’t know whose work we admire, to come on board and write 5-10 minute plays about Russia, about Putin’s new anti-gay legislation. They could really head in any direction with that, with a maximum of 4 characters. So now we have the 10 pieces that we’re presenting.

SM: How many people did you approach about the project?

DD: Well, nobody said no. We thought, “we’ll ask this list and then if they say no, we’ll ask this list,” and nobody said no, which was kind of amazing. It made us realize that people really do want to have their voices heard, there just hadn’t been a platform for people to talk about it artistically.

So we partnered with Qmunity, which is a local queer resource organization that we’ve worked with quite a bit in the past. So they’re co-presenting the event because we thought that we could have the artistic conversation but Qmunity is more equipped to actually have a conversation. They’re organizing a panel discussion that will happen directly after the show – it will have community leaders and politicians and others to actually talk about the nitty gritty of what’s going on and what we can do about it. If we can do anything about it.

SM: That actually sounds like a really great idea. Especially after people have just seen the various productions.

DD: Yes and that’s part of the joy of asking 10 writers to write from the same source material. Everyone has a very different angle and some people are tapping into material or arguments that I haven’t even considered so I think it’ll be a nice way to cap off the evening—to actually put all of those thoughts and arguments that we’ve taken in and wrap our heads around them and talk about them honestly.

Nyet is an upcoming work featuring 10 performances

SM: In terms of the formats of the various plays, what do they offer in terms of the conversation that there is to be had about what’s going on in Russia?

DD: What it will do is it will give more depth and more texture to the conversation that we’re having surrounding the legislation and also, in some capacity, a bit more context of where Putin’s legislation comes from—culturally what that legislation means but also trying to dissect the idea behind the legislation and where it comes from. I should say that everyone who is working on this project is working for free, which is something we don’t normally do, we don’t ask people to work for our company for free. It’s great for us to have this conversation and to raise awareness but we wanted to actually have direct impact so everyone’s working for free so that all the proceeds can be sent to the Russian LGBT Network, a community organization that is, nowadays anyways, mostly funding people’s legal battles as a result of the new legislation. I also called my theatre contacts in Toronto so Nyet is happening simultaneously there. Some of the same pieces as are being performed here and then they’ve asked some local playwrights to write some additional pieces.

SM: Are any of the playwrights going to be in attendance for next weekend’s show?

DD: A bunch of them will. Not all of them because some of them live in Toronto and elsewhere. It’s funny because October is always a really big theatre month in Canada. It’s when most theatre companies kick off their season, usually with a really big production. So, I would say 3/4 of the playwrights who wrote for our production, have plays opening somewhere in the country either this week or next week so they’re all busy. But they still found time to write the pieces, which is wonderful for us.

SM: How do you find it, trying to focus on so many different projects at once?

DD: Tricky. I think I need to plan my time more efficiently than I do. Even when you carve out a particular amount of time, say, “I have these four hours, I’m going to work on this play,” it takes at least the first hour to put my brain back into what that play looks like and what the structure and tone of the play is.

SM: Do you find there’s much of a difference writing for an adult audience, as opposed to the plays you’re writing for high school and even elementary school audiences?

DD: This is the first show for elementary schools that I’ve ever written the, third for high schools and it’s a very different form. It has a very rigid structure—I know that the show that I write has to fall within the period of a school day. It has to clock in at 42 minutes maximum which, when you’re conceiving of the structure of the play, is limiting in a sense. But limits are sometimes good things within the creative realm because it at least steers you in some direction. Writing for an adult audience, the world’s your oyster in a sense, it can be one act or two acts, it can be hour or two and a half hours, it can have five cast members. Wrapping my brain around theatre for young audiences, these are shows that are going to be on tour so you can’t really write in too many cast members because you’ll be sending them all on the road. When you’re considering that these shows could be playing in a gymnasium with 900 kids, it can’t be a show that’s too small and quiet. It has to have energy, it has to have movement. It’s been a lovely learning curve.

SM: I’m very interested in the 10 different takes on Russia’s legislation that Nyet is going to offer. I, and I think a lot of other people, felt really blindsided by the legislation—Russia’s never been a pinnacle of rights and freedoms but still. Do any of the performances in Nyet address this?

DD: That’s just it—when everything hit, it became a question of why now? Like, what’s going on, what are you prepping for, I don’t follow. Some of the pieces are set in contemporary Russia, some of the pieces are set in contemporary North America. Some of the pieces have a much more historical approach. There’s one piece that ‘s a card game between 3 dead Russians, Tchaikovsky being one of them. So it’s nice to see how people have interpreted the best way to have this conversation with the audience. A lot of them are really funny. Nobody wants to sit through an evening of really dark, bleak performances. We already know that this is a problem so let’s at least find ways to find the light. And I think the playwrights have been really successful in that way.

SM: What else is going on that’s exciting?

DD: This is a big season for Zee Zee Theatre. This is our 6th season and by far our biggest. We started out doing 1 show per year and we have 5 this season, which is a lot, especially for a company that has limited resources, like we do. But certainly, everything we do at the Cobalt helps keep us afloat.

Our main stage show is in March. It’s a play that I’ve written called Lowest Common Denominator and it looks at inter-generational relationships, something I’ve always been curious about and fascinated by. This particular relationship is between an 18-year old boy and a 47 year old man. We did a workshop of it last July and it was really exciting to watch the audience watch the show. They were there—they were there in a way that I did not even think possible for an audience in a reading. So we’re gearing up for that. But mostly our brains are just all Nyet, all the time right now. My husband is a drag queen as well, Isolde N. Barron—and Isolde and Peach will be hosting Nyet together, just to give it that extra sparkle. Why not? I wonder how President Putin would feel about Peach Cobblah. I don’t think they’d have much in common but you never know. He seems to like taking his shirt off in photos; Peach seems to like wearing very little.

SM: How did you get into drag?

Peach Cobblah serenades the crowd at The Cobalt

DD: Well, my husband and I have been together for just over eight years and neither of us were drag queens when we got together. I’ve always considered myself a drag hag—if I’m traveling to a city I’ve never been to, I have to go to a drag show. It grounds me.

So when my husband was living with me in Toronto, we used to go to this weekly drag show that no one went to. There’d be 10 people in the audience every week. But we loved it. We were able to see the artistry behind drag. When we moved here, we were watching a drag show one night and it was just sort of a bad, tired drag show. I turned to my husband and I said, “you can do better than this.”

And so Isolde was born.

At that time, my business partner, Brandon, and I ran a monthly event called Queer Bash and Isolde was our star. It was such a successful event! It was the first event that we brought to the Cobalt. Then we decided to step it up and also run a weekly drag show at the Cobalt called Apocalipstick, which Isolde was also the star of. During this time, Cameron (Isolde) was up at Studio58, directing a show in which the entire cast played drag queens and kings and he was teaching all of these theatre students about drag. We wanted to put them to the test because you can learn all you want about performance but until you’re actually in front of an audience, especially an audience in a bar setting, very different from a theatre – until you’ve done that, you know nothing. So we made them all perform in front of an audience at a public show, in a section called Mean Teen Queen, which was about introducing new, baby queens to the audience. What we soon realized was these mean teen queens were making amazing tips—they were cleaning up! And Brandon and I, at that time, had been running Apocalipstick for about 2 or 3 months and it wasn’t making any money and we knew that it would take time. But we thought, “why don’t we do a Mean Teen Queen once a month, just for fun, just to make some money for being at the bar?” So we did and the response was huge. Then I started getting gigs elsewhere and then we put Queer Bash to bed and started doing Hustla. Because Peach Cobblah does hip hop drag, it felt like a very appropriate outlet for her so I host the show with Brandon’s drag alter-ego, Bambi Bot, every other month and it’s become a very regular part of our lives. Which is weird.

What’s exciting is that, through stuff like Nyet and another show we did for Zee Zee Theatre, we’ve been able to find some crossover between our drag world and our theatre world. We do a show called Tucked and Plucked: Vancouver’s Live Herstory, Live on Stage. We’ve done it twice and we’re doing it again in the new year. It’s sort of like a drag talk show, where we have some of the city’s most recognized queens and some of the oldest queens in town and we find out how the drag scene emerged in the city and why. A lot of people are like, “Ok great – men in dresses!” and its fun but when you look at its roots and why it started and what was happening within the city’s structures at the time, it lets you appreciate what the drag community is and what it can be a lot more. I never in my life thought I would be a drag queen, never, and I love watching drag shows. But never from the point of view that I would want to do that. But here we are, life’s full of surprises.

Nyet will be performed on the Granville Island Stage on Sunday, October 27 at 8pm. Tickets ON SALE NOW: $17 (including service charges. All proceeds to benefit the Russian Queer community. Available at www.vancouvertix.com or 604-629-VTIX. More information about Zee Zee Theatre can be found here.

44439_429138944839_6397836_n — photo c/o RACHEL GAMBOA

A couple of years back, at a charity show at The Cobalt to raise funds for a youth centre, Sad Mag writer Shannon Waters met a sparkly dynamo named LeRoy. Performing solo that evening, LeRoy’s energy and charisma lit up the stage. Since that night, LeRoy and the Lovebots have continued to take to stages around Vancouver, spreading sparkles and acceptance wherever they go. LeRoy answered some of Sad Mag’s questions about the Lovebots ‘ performance style, progress and their upcoming performance at the Ignite! Youth Festival.

Who are LeRoy and the Lovebots?
“Leroy + The Lovebots” [didn’t exist] before I experienced pain, and hurt. It was an idea that was born from years and years of being in school, being at work, being at a bar and just realizing how big of a part my sexuality will come into play for everything I do, like it or not.

It felt like, Leroy, this is who you were born as. You were kind of born with this “gay” molecule infused into your image. Employers, strangers, will take a first look at you and instantly they know. And I found out that it really hurts you, truly hurts you, if you hide who you are, be it a gay man or a rebellious burlesque dancer.

So, I decided to create something that—no matter how the outside world was, no matter how work or school was—I could throw myself into what I love doing and focus on that for the rest of the night.

And maybe, if I could create this show and rehearse my balls off and people could see the work and passion I have for the stage, maybe [they’ll see that] a man in a bra isn’t too scary.

Maybe Martha was right. It’s a gay thing.

31908_10151444519309840_1608129095_n — MUSEUM OF VANCOUVER - "Sex Talk in The City" Lovebots Live

You’ve been performing together for a while now—do you feel like your style or your goals have changed and grown during that time? If so, how?
Yes. Well, the thing I think we find the hardest is that sometimes when you grow up and you think life is going to give you a little off time to fuck around in your twenties, it reminds you time waits for no one.

We have had our share of difficulties over the past two years, from family being severely sick to now, never having time because we all work so much.

But it made “The Lovebots” more precious to us—almost a shelter from reality. Because when you are on stage, only the show is real. I can be whoever I want to be. And for us, that is soooo worth staying up till 2 in the morning and waking up at 7 to go to work. I am now a connoisseur of coffee.

How did you become involved with Ignite!?
All the “Lovebots” hail from East Vancouver and one of the opportunities for us to hone our art for free was at The Cultch. We got opportunities performing, working behind the scenes, even organizing the Ignite! Week with Youth Panel.

The Cultch popped my performance cherry when I belly-danced for a night called “GenderBent”.

I got to meet famous artists in the LGBTQ community [who] took me under their wing[s] to help me with my performances.

The Cultch I might say, was my first real boyfriend.

What are you most excited about in terms of participating in the Ignite! Youth Festival?
I’m excited to show the people that have supported us for four years how we have GROWN. We are more serious than ever. And it really does feel like a homecoming.

What are you hoping to convey to your audience with this performance? What feelings and thoughts do you hope to leave them with?
I want them to feel free. Free to ask out the girl you’ve been eyeing the whole night, or free to feel sexy. If I can, I want to inspire confidence and love in my favourite little “Historic Theatre.” I want to give them a GOOD show.

I want to leaving thinking “Leroy + The Lovebots” are the best band of the night, based solely on their own merit.

Performing, while rewarding, can be time consuming and draining as well. You are a particularly energetic performer – what inspires you to perform and what keeps you coming back?
I have to perform. I need to.

If this is getting a bit too BARE ALL, here: I actually get really depressed if I don’t make art. I have to.

When I’m drinking with my friends, if I have an idea, I’ll just start draping their tipsy bodies with fabric. If I hear a song idea I like, I have to run into the mall bathroom and record it in a stall.

I have to be on stage and feel the love of the audience to keep my alive. Some say it’s me being an “unlicked cub” and insecure. But because all the best artists are crazy, I like to think it’s because I’m crazy.

Do you feel like you have a signature performance style?
I think we definitely have a performance style. I try to make it more specifically unforgettably us, everyday.

One of my queer mentors, Rachel Devin.Bot, one of my inspirations, told me “Never try to be anyone else. Never try to recreate a show, be it yours or anyone else’s”.

And that STUCK with me and forced me to be the most original whip cracking relentless motherfucker with my show. So every show would be authentically “Leroy + The Lovebots”.

What comes next?
Well, I do have a book coming out that I am a part of—[I, along with Dan Savage and many other writers, have contributed to] The Radical Youth Handbook.

We have some really great music that we are going to perform and release soon as well as with music videos. We are working with a styling team called “HAUS OF EAST VAN” who have worked with the likes of Vancouver Fashion Week, Natalie Talson of Canada’s Next Top Model and many more. So I’m very excited for our future!

***

LeRoy and the Lovebots will be performing at Fruit Basket (A variety show about gender, sex and sexuality) on May 10^th, as part of Ignite! Youth-Drive Arts Festival, taking place at The Cultch. For tickets, visit The Cultch.

Author Archives: Shannon Waters

Interview / Mr. Gay Canada Does Italy (& activism)

Mr. Gay Canada chats with Sad Mag

Vancouver Notables // Shanda Leer & Veronica Vamp

Vancouver Notables // David Deveau

Ignite! Festival // LeRoy and the LoveBots