The uneasy etiquette of ‘Yas Queen’
VANCOUVER—“Yas Queen,” if you haven’t heard it by now, maybe you’re out of touch with the youth, maybe you don’t exchange gifs on social media very often, and you’ve probably never seen an episode of Rupaul’s Drag Race.
The phrase, which is a rallying cry of encouragement among Black women and queer people of colour, originates from Black vogue and drag scenes, and was likely first used by Black trans women.
But as with many other aspects of Black culture, the white mainstream has glommed onto it, without knowing its origin, causing frustration among many queer Black people.
For Vancouver musician Tonye Aganaba, hearing white people say “Yas Queen” is equally jarring as being called the N-word.
“As a Black person, when I hear white people say things like that it makes me feel wildly uncomfortable, and honestly it makes them look so stupid,” she said.
An artist trying to make ends meet, Aganaba recalls her young white colleagues bandying about the phrase at the cannabis dispensary where she worked last year.
“Every single person that worked there said it … it made my skin crawl every time just because, people don’t realize, that they are appropriating culture,” she said.
Aganaba describes the catchy phrase as a “big audible thumbs up.”
“When I am around women that are doing the work, whether that’s community and social justice work … or whether they’re musicians or artists or dancers or working at McDonald’s … when they are doing that work with pride and with excellence, that’s when I’m like ‘Yas Queen.’ ”
The Star interviewed four LGBTQ+ Black people who are leaders in community organizing and the arts. While they held differing opinions on whether it’s ever OK for non-Black people to use the term, they all said it’s particularly upsetting when people use it without knowing it originated from Black women and queer Black culture.
Osmel Guerra Maynes, executive director of the queer resource centre Qmunity, sees white queer people using “Yas Queen” as part of a larger pattern of ignoring the contributions and struggles of queer Black people and queer people of colour.
For example, he said, many white people have adopted the saying, while simultaneously failing to speak up when they hear a racist remark. And many remain ignorant to the fact that trans women of colour such as Marsha P. Johnson built the foundation of the queer liberation movement.
“Many folks in our queer community, especially the white folks, are not seeing what are the (achievements) … or the supports in our community, that were created by people of colour, or Black queer people,” he said.
Guerra Maynes said he won’t stop non-Black people from using the term.
“We’re not going to police the word because (we) racialized people have already been policed enough … (but) try to find out where you learn stuff from, not just say it.”
Twysted Miyake-Mugler, of the Toronto Kiki Ballroom Alliance, said it doesn’t upset him to hear non-Black people using the term, if they’re using it correctly.
“I have no problem with it, it’s not a Blackexclusive word, to me it’s like, just know where it came from,” he said.
Miyake-Mugler organizes balls in Toronto, which are parties rooted in queer Black culture and include competitive vogue dancing and drag performance. He sees his work as promoting and uplifting Black culture, and wants people of all backgrounds to participate. “Yas Queen” is sometimes yelled encouragingly at performers during competition.
“It’s not a word that comes from oppression like the N-word so to me it doesn’t have that ‘Oh my God, why are you using that word?’ feeling to me, it’s just like make sure you’re know you’re using it right, and know where it came from.” Yet again, others disagree. For Cicely-Belle Blain, a diversity and inclusion consultant in Vancouver (who uses they/them gender pronouns), there’s a double-standard when people who aren’t Black use language originating from Black communities.
“Black folks are sort of vilified for the way that they speak or the way that they dress, yet if a white person or a non-Black person does that or puts that on it’s cool and desirable,” they said.
It’s especially frustrating for Blain when people who aren’t Black use the term “Yas Queen” to try to connect with them.
“I think people assume that I want to hear that from them, or that I want them to sort of validate my Blackness by saying that.”
Blain thinks it’s inappropriate for non-Black people to use the phrase and that it’s stealing from Black culture. Although they recognize that non-Black people may attempt to use it in a celebratory way, Blain says intention isn’t enough.
“We just haven’t done enough work as a society to respect Black lives, to respect Black communities, in order for people to be granted that freedom to use those terms,” they said.
“I think when we reach a point in society where Black people are treated equally then we can start to have those conversations of like, ‘Yeah, let’s like share all these things.’ ”