Natasha’s a man on a mission to be Coast’s gay culture captain

Nelson Baker steps out from behind his drag queen persona to reveal the challenges faced by the LGBTI community and his determination to break down barriers to deliver understanding and a safe environment

Bulletin

SYDNEY has Oxford Street, New York has The Village … and the Gold Coast has an aged care facility at Parkwood. Yep, for all its fabulous nightlife, the city does not boast even one true gay club, let alone an entire gaybourhood.

While it is home to Queensland’s first residential home for LGBTI seniors – with Arcare opening 90 places catering for the unique challenges faced by gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans, and intersex people – it is the only recognised gay “club’’ on the Gold Coast. But that’s something Nelson Baker plans to change. Perhaps better known as his drag queen persona Natasha

St James, the almost 28-yearold has managed to carve a career out of gay culture in a city he says is still scared to come out of the closet.

With gay rights now increasingly accepted around the world and the popularity of shows like Queer Eye and the award-winning RuPaul’s Drag Race, the subversive drag culture is now hitting the mainstream – and it is reflected in Natasha’s work, with bookings across the city almost every night of every week.

There is the weekly Dragalicious at The Avenue, Drag Queen Bingo at Miami Marketta and Southport Sharks, Brisbane burlesque gigs and hosting events both day and night.

But Nelson says the fact that the Gold Coast is the only major Australian city without a dedicated LGBTI club means both gay and straight are missing out.

“Australia is about five years behind the rest of the world in terms of gay culture, and the Gold Coast is another five years behind that,” he says.

“We used to have two gay clubs here – the Meeting Place and Escape – but they were run into the ground, by the end they were out of touch with the gay community.

“People think that because society has changed, gay people don’t need their own space, that they are accepted

everywhere. But that’s far from true, and especially on the Gold Coast.

“Just like Christians have a church, gays need a place of their own – although we are always happy to share it. It doesn’t even need to be a nightclub but a recognised place that is our safe space. Right now we have no base, no home.

“That’s my ultimate mission, to be the social co-ordinator for gay culture on the Coast.

“The fact is that so much of straight culture comes from drag, and there is a real market there if you do it right. We should be chasing the pink dollar if we are serious about being a leading city for entertainment.”

But more importantly, Nelson says the lack of dedicated LGBTI spaces means the city has become more dangerous for gay members.

He says the community has withdrawn to online communication, leading to a lack of visibility and an increase in homophobic behaviour.

In fact, he says while the venues he works at are to be applauded for creating inclusive events, it’s not always a welcoming environment.

“LGBT people literally don’t want to come out here. It doesn’t feel safe so they just stick to online apps like Grindr to meet people.

“When they are out, especially the men, they feel like they need to look and act straight. The people you see walking around Oxford Street in Sydney would be verbally if not physically abused here.

“We need more visibility of same-sex couples here almost to desensitise people, to make it not ‘different’. Once you’re used to it, it’s not frightening anymore. You get rid of the fear and that means you get rid of the anger. It would make our society safer for everyone.

“Even at drag nights here right now, every now and then you’ll have a new security guard on who feels that he has to give you a hard time because you’re in drag. The staff and owners are fantastic, I cannot say enough good things about them, they shut that behaviour right down.

“Sometimes you get men in the audience who want to get threatening too. I try to respond with humour, or I give a quick and calm explanation of what I do and who I am. But sometimes you just have to walk away fast. And sometimes you worry when you leave at night.

“But most of the time if you can make them laugh, you can make a friend. I’ll walk over as an Amazonian woman with boobs and a bum and then just drop my voice right down and say ‘g’day fellas’. Underneath the make-up and wig and padding, I’m a 6ft3in (190cm) man with a mullet. And they relate to that.

“It takes a lot of balls to dress like a woman, although you’d be shocked at how many straight men have hit on me – knowing full well I’m a man in drag.”

Nelson says education is another key factor in making the Coast a kinder place.

He says school children don’t need explicit examples of LGBTI culture, but just an understanding that it too was “normal’’.

“I grew up on the Gold Coast. I moved here when I was two years old … and I’m not sure being gay at school is any easier now than it was then,” he says.

“I went to Coomera Anglican College and while all of my teachers were great, there was some bullying from other kids, even though I didn’t come out until I was 18.

“The funny thing is that I could tell you who each of ‘the’ gay kids were from all the private schools at that time. I’m sure there were more but we were the ones they talked about on the bus.

“Looking back on it now, when they used to ask me if I was gay, I should have just owned it, that would have shut them down. But you don’t have that headspace when you’re 15 years old. If they had been taught that ‘gay was OK’, even something that simple would have helped.

“When I look at certain churches in America now who preach that they love gay people – that actually makes