Chicago Drag Scene Is Coming For New York And LA

By Matt Valdez

The art of Drag is on the tips of everyone’s tongue with the pop culture phenomenon that is “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” and now what was once an underground movement has hit the mainstream.

For decades New York and Los Angeles have been scene as the Meccas of drag culture, but it looks like the may have some competition brewing.

The Chicago drag scene is growing more and more with each death drop and soon it may be on par if not far surpassed the east and west coast hubs.

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Even some of the most successful queens to be featured on RuPaul’s Drag Race come from this scene, inclusing Trixie Mattel, Kim Chi, Shea Coulee and more!

The scene was once known almost exclusively for the female illusion pageant scene, but over time queens like Lucy Stoole (an African American bearded queen) and Trannika Rex (a soon to be guest on Hey Qween!) among others have revolutionized the community.

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The archaic beauty pageants and elegant lip syncs have been surpassed by a diverse and ever-growing mass of queens who range from ultra-polished to experimental and outrageous.

In this week’s Qweens Around The Country, Hey Qween’s spotlight on local drag talent, they head back to Chicago to showcase three exceptional queens that demonstrate a piece of what the community has to offer.

Through a fan voted competition, queens Gidget Von Addams, her partner Discord Addams and the gender non-binary performer Lucky Stiff, were all chosen and featured.

Even with a variety of talents, styles and qualities, these queens represent only a part of the wide array of drag in Chicago and it will be interesting to see how the community evolves.

Learn all about these fabulous Chicago Qweens below…

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