Izzy Ahee Tells Story

Izzy Ahee is a drag king and gender activist. Izzy brings alternative entertainment, music, and dance to the LGBTQ community as a Drag King and DJ. Izzy Ahee is a Drag King played by Hollis Taylor whom is a Gender Activist. Hollis uses Izzy as a masculine expression of nemself. Hollis is a naturally transitioned TransMasculine person whom identifies as a GenderQueer

Activism & Drag

So I been working hard recently to get the message of drag out there! Drag is ONLY garb deep! This message is what all of us in the drag community know as fact but we are still busy convincing the general public. Many of us love to express parts of us in drag and it…

Pronouns

Pronouns are interesting because we only really have binary pronouns. Without pronouns people have to repeat your name over and over again. Its awkward speech without pronouns and its awkward with pronouns. I started noticing that I was bothered by strangers using female pronouns all the time. I was refreshed when people have to look at me a couple of times to determine if I am female or if I am male. I found myself hurt that almost no one uses male pronouns with me. I almost never hear male pronouns. With my lovers I ask that they try to mix up my pronouns, although that’s hard for them. Even as Izzy they both struggle with using male pronouns. They don’t impose gender roles but for sure they struggle with using male pronouns. Maybe its their own struggle with understanding sexuality and gender….what lesbian loves men?  I know that they try to balance the two with me but I realize our culture doesn’t support people like me.

State Street 2014

There were many reasons I chose to enter the State Street contest . First of all it was for a good cause, Black & White Party, which helps people with AIDS with living expenses. Second of all the rules were loose and sometimes I think rules are created in order to control people. I’m not always behind control. Also, it seems to be a place that drag queens and kings could express some of their deepest darkest ideas without being shunned or punished for them.

Queer History

By Hollis Taylor Sometimes when I think about queer history I realize how old I am, what I have seen and witnessed unfold. As a young child I remember my mother’s best friend got a divorce. I was close friends with her son and we were very close while his parents divorced. I remember him…

Its Just a Drag Show?!

Drag Queens and Kings bend gender all over the place. Many of us in the drag community disregard gender roles of all sorts. We lack the vocabulary but its really always been there. On my journey I have encountered many veterans in the drag community and again you find the same theme. Gender is pushed, its bent…. on purpose. Most of us in drag are behind the idea that gender is fluid, not binary.

Ryder Nightly

So we talked about our emotional experiences related to the song and we brought that to the stage here, at the Foundation for Hope fundraiser show.

Perspective

So I dressed like a bum, someone often ignored. I put him in the spotlight. I don’t know if it shed the light on perspective for anyone that watched it….but for me – it reminded me….perspective is the key to compassion. Consider other people’s journeys, choose to be part of it or not, that’s your journey. This is my journey.

Gender is only Garb Deep

Gender is only garb deep. This leads me to separate gender from sex (n). Your sex is indicated by your genitalia, I will not argue with you nor deny that I have a vagina and I am female. But as far as my gender goes….well its flexible. Gender Flexible!

A Very Drag Christmas!

Because of my value system I sometimes struggle with Christmas. In years past I wish I could just ignore it and let it pass by. Other years I wish for a less commercial Christian based holiday and instead an honor of the season in order to celebrate the diversity of our world which desperately needs ideas about COEXIST. In the past I have worked hard to reclaim the holiday, in my own ways. This year has been a completely different experience.

Male Impersonator

But as performers if someone lives as a man, regardless of his orientation, but performs as a woman… she is a female impersonator. She could also be a Fishy Drag Queen. Well it appears as though I am a male impersonator. I have been explaining what I do to conservative people this way and the more I thought about it the more it made sense.

It’s more than just Drag….

There is a portion of the book in which she talks about drag. She talks about how a lot of trans people end up in drag at some point…she was saying that it makes it okay for us to crossdress, it publicly removes the gender roles for all to see and be entertained by. Doing Drag is not just about entertaining an audience, its about being a Gender outlaw. She was saying that Drag is like the jester that made fun of the king, and he didn’t know it. Drag is mostly entertaining because it pushes the boundaries of gender for all of us….its different for all of us, just like gender is.