Lavish & London Drag controversy
Pride Western USC, the LGBTQ+ leg of Western’s student council, was recently forced to postpone their Pride Ball because of the response their original venue, Lavish, had to an all-ages drag show being part of the Ball.
The Ball was initially scheduled for March 9th, 2023, with performers Sloppy Jo and Galaxy Rose lined up to perform. According to Galaxy Rose, the organizers asked two other London drag queens to perform for the event; however, they declined due to the backlash already happening with Lavish.
Pride Western USC posted on their story about a week before that they would cancel the drag show at Lavish as part of their Ball based on “rule changes at the venue”. They also stated that this was not something that the USC agreed with.
Galaxy Rose, who provided a statement for this article, said that the drag performers were removed from the event suddenly. “Without any warning, we were just removed from the event – no statement from the bar itself, and, upon further investigation, we found out the reason – because they did not want to have drag performers around minors (keeping in mind that the University Students were already booked to host their event at Lavish, knowing full well that there may be underage patrons at their establishment).”
Pride Western USC eventually postponed their event, wanting to support drag performers fully. The event moved to March 15th, 2023, at The Wave on campus, with the original two drag performers scheduled to perform, with a new call for speakers: “Given the unfortunate rise in hate directed at drag performers and the trans community, we will be taking some time at this event to show our support and speak on the issue.”
All this followed the recent anti-trans and anti-drag bans in the United States and anti-drag behaviour from Lavish. In the backlash that followed this event, the owner of Lavish declared that they would not be marketing themselves as an LGBTQ+ club anymore. According to London’s Queer and drag community, they have not been a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community of London even before this event happened but instead used the queer community to make money.
Galaxy Rose told the Buzz, “Following on the back of the toxic rhetoric which has pervaded its way across the border, we see Lavish actively regurgitating the same vitriol that the growing bans on drag in the states are touting. Couple that with the fact their social media accounts are inundated with comments of hatred, bigotry and ignorance including homophobic, transphobic and hate-motivated slurs, and that these voices are not being silenced, but in fact amplified on their platform.”
London needs to make itself a safe space for its Queer community. With Lavish backtracking and becoming just another club in London, there is no longer a space in London designated just for the Queer community. Further, there have been growing anti-trans, anti-drag, and homophobic sentiments from violently right-wing groups, such as the harassment at Wortley’s Pride Parade this past year. “These people do not listen, they do not reflect and they act on one impulse only – and that impulse is rooted in fear,” Galaxy Rose told us. With the anti-trans news constantly being fed from the States (such as the drag bans in Tennessee), Queer people in London need a safe space now more than ever.
The Brescia Buzz would like to thank Pride Western USC for responding to Lavish’s discrimination by postponing the event and amplifying Queer voices in London. We would also like to thank Galaxy Rose, who gave us a powerful and insightful statement.