The holiday season can be a tough time for many, but it’s especially hard for a lot of LGBTQ+ people who have been ostracized or not fully accepted by their families.
Two of drag’s biggest superstars are stepping in to save the day and rewriting the rules of Christmas.
“We’ve always been very mindful and conscious of the fact that people do come for some levity and a little bit of escapism. It’s like a joyful holiday tradition,” drag queen Jinkx Monsoon told Newsweek in an exclusive interview, adding that they’re often asked to speak on “heavy, heavy topics” affecting LGBTQ+ people, but that they understand their role in the community.
“We’re also drag queens and we also love making people laugh.”
Curtis Brown/Supplied
Monsoon stars alongside good friend and fellow breakout star of reality series RuPaul’s Drag Race, BenDeLaCreme, in a new iteration of their annual holiday romp, this year called The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show.
Why the Holidays Are Hard for LGBTQ+ People
Whether celebrating Christmas, Kwanzaa or Hannukah in December, LGBTQ+ people have reported feeling increased anxiety at having to visit family or crippling loneliness if they have been exiled by loved ones.
“While experiences vary by individual, most of my LGBTQ and non-binary identifying clients report similar feelings of tension and stress during the holiday season,” psychologist Logan Jones told NBC News’ Better by Today.
“Common struggles range from anxiety and depression, to feelings of rejection for freely expressing their authentic selves. For these clients, going home for the holidays is not always a time of bliss, but a painful reminder of moments of their ‘otherness’ within their families.”
LGBTQ+ people already experience higher rates of mental health issues than others, generally caused by societal attitudes towards them, but 2023 has been an especially tough year for the community. Human Rights Campaign even declared a “state of emergency” following the record-breaking number of anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced in state and federal legislatures.
There were also attempts to ban drag queen performances in various states, including Tennessee, but that is exactly the reason why Monsoon and DeLa understand their position as beloved entertainers and that makes this year’s show feel all the more critical.
“We are really responding to what’s happening in the world and people always want some sort of catharsis about that,” DeLa told Newsweek.
By Queer People, for Queer People
Monsoon added people want to see “authenticity,” and that the queens “look at what people might need this year,” but remain adamant that when writing the show the priority was making each other laugh which eventually would bring joy to their fans.
“The most effective way to talk about these heavy topics is through comedy and it makes you feel like comedy has a divine purpose in our society. It feels like an extreme privilege to be a comedian at this time,” she said.
On top of being ‘comedy queens,’ DeLa pointed out that the “sacred tradition” of drag has historically led “our community out of darkness.” The message is even more reassuring coming from Monsoon and DeLa who are arguably two of the biggest names to emerge from the Drag Race universe.
JiJi Lee/Supplied
The award-winning Monsoon this year broke Broadway records with a string of sold-out shows portraying Matron ‘Mama’ Morton in the musical Chicago. On top of that she’s a two-time winner of Drag Race, including taking the title ‘Queen of all Queens’ after winning the all-winners season of the All-Stars spinoff.
DeLa is no stranger to success either, having starred in multiple TV shows and films, and was even on track to win her own season of All-Stars, but voted herself off halfway through.
Let’s Get Weird
Their 30-date show opens in Detroit on November 7 and will tour across the country, with international dates scheduled in Canada and the U.K.
The queens have promised they’ve “doubled down on the weird” from last year’s show and audiences can expect an evening of hilarity.
“We’re moving into a supernatural bent that ranges from everything Looney Tunes to Twilight Zone in influence and Jinkx has been talking about poltergeist a lot, but also make it white Christmas,” DeLa teased.
Monsoon added: “We also want to make sure everyone’s entertained. We also want to make sure we’re taking down the politicians who need to be taken down a peg, but then we also make sure it’s fun with things like a sexy Krampus getting a lap dance number.”
Krampus is a figure popular in Eastern and Central Europe who appears on December 6 alongside St. Nicholas, otherwise known as Santa Claus to hand out terrible presents to naughty children.
Hope for the Future
Despite the tough year for LGBTQ+ people, the queens were not all doom and gloom.
“What gives me hope is that what we’re seeing now is not new hypocrisy, the so-called leaders are exploiting their privilege, power and being blatant hypocrites. Our community has always experienced this and dealt with it,” Monsoon explained, adding: “But what I appreciate about right now is that information is traveling so quickly and hypocrisy is being displayed immediately.”
“It gives me hope we are not wanting to turn a blind eye to this stuff.”
DeLa herself remained stoic on behalf of all LGBTQ+ people and said that the hate felt “familiar,” which meant they would survive this storm.
“We’ve been through it before and we can go through it again. We can handle this because we’ve seen it,” she said.
Tickets are available online for The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.