Taiwanese indigenous drag queens fight stigma one wig at a time

At a rowdy homosexual bar in Taipei, 28-year outdated Vilian ends a Friday night time drag present by placing on a standard tribal tunic over his white silk negligee and dancing to an aboriginal track that has grow to be a rallying name for Taiwan’s indigenous minority.

An ethnic Bunun, Vilian is amongst a handful of indigenous drag queens who use their performances to combat in opposition to the double stigma of being a part of the LGBTQ+ group and of the island’s traditionally oppressed indigenous minority.

“As a drag queen, I am trying to speak out for the people of gender diversity in the indigenous community,” Vilian, who goes by one identify, advised Reuters.

Known as a beacon of liberalism within the area, Taiwan legalised same-sex marriage final yr – a primary in Asia – regardless of stiff opposition from some Christian and conservative teams.

On Saturday, tens of 1000’s of persons are anticipated to affix Taipei’s annual Pride parade, doubtless one of many largest globally this yr as a result of coronavirus restrictions elsewhere.

But Taiwan stays divided over different associated points resembling same-sex parenting.

Gender variety is an particularly delicate subject for a lot of indigenous communities, the place Christianity and conventional values play a significant position.

Taiwan has made enormous strides in defending and selling the cultures of the roughly 570,000 indigenous individuals who make up 2.4% of its inhabitants. President Tsai Ing-wen in 2016 provided a proper apology to aboriginal peoples for hundreds of years of “injustice and sufferings”.

But for many years they’ve confronted discrimination and been compelled to assimilate on an island the place many individuals have Chinese ancestry, by taking over Chinese names and talking Mandarin, their very own languages threatened with extinction.

Some indigenous rights activists have to cover their sexuality when holding occasions to lift variety consciousness in aboriginal villages, stated Ciwang Teyra, an instructional at National Taiwan University.

“Coming out of the closet to families is a great challenge,” she stated. “They have faced the interweaving discriminations against indigenous people and the homosexual community since they were little.”

Carefully adjusting an outsized wig earlier than the present in Taipei, drag queen Draggy Boo Boo, an ethnic Paiwan from southern Taiwan, stated he’s a part of “the minority of minorities”.

“Our existence itself is a defiance,” stated the 27-year outdated, whose father is a retired priest and opposes homosexuality.

“All we can do is to appear in front of everyone repeatedly so that people will see us and understand the world behind us.”

(This story has been revealed from a wire company feed with out modifications to the textual content.)

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