‘Drag is just living my life to the fullest’
Drag kings are women dressed as men; group prepares to perform at weekend events
JoAnna Montoya inched close to the mirror, using a paintbrush to maneuver small pieces of gray hair on glue. Within minutes, a fine line of facial hair emerged, crowning Montoya’s face and transforming the 65-year-old’s reflection into the alter ego Damien Del Amor.
Del Amor smiled as he looped his belt through his suit pants and knotted a tie around his dress shirt. Flourishing his hands to show off his look, Montoya embraced his drag king persona.
“Drag is just living my life to the fullest,” Montoya said. “We’re just able to express how we feel inside.”
Drag kings, usually women, dress as men and take on exaggerated masculine personas in staged performances, reversing the cross-dressing culture of drag queens. This lesserknown drag style is seeing a revival in Santa Fe, bringing bushy sideburns and boyish charm to this weekend’s Pride festivities, when the NM Drag Kings will present a mixture of live and lip-synced performances.
Montoya is one of six drag kings who will take the stage Saturday at the Santa Fe Plaza. The group is a mixture of performers from Albuquerque and Santa Fe who all find pride, joy and healing in their crossdressing.
“It gives me a safe space to explore my masculinity,” said Pam Scissom, whose drag king persona is Adam Bomb. “In embracing the whole of myself, it’s a way I don’t have to compartmentalize as much.”
The 50-year-old started performing in drag in November but has always had an interest in theater and cosplay, both female and male characters.
“They are still me,” Scissom said. “They’re parts of me I’m expressing on a daily basis.”
Another drag king hopes to use the Santa Fe Pride platform to encourage a more prominent place in the community for these cross-dressing shows.
“It brings the community together,” said Tia Reece, whose drag king persona is Rusty Nutz. “You inspire them to just be themselves.”
Though Rusty has taken to the stage for 13 years, Reece, who prefers to use the pronouns they and them, said the Rusty persona has long
been a part of them.
“I’ve always had a 14-year-old boy inside of me,” Reece, 38, said with a smile. “For me, it was already an extension of who I was.”
While growing up in Albuquerque, Reece, who then identified as a girl, performed for young crushes but never considered delving into theatrics. While Reece knew early on they were gay, Reece added, cross-dressing didn’t seem like something to do.
Trauma, however, drove Reece in search of an escape and a release. In the early 2000s, Reece was raped by a friend. For months, Reece stumbled through depression, recovery and entanglement in an unhealthy relationship.
Then, a couple of years after the assault, a drag king friend asked Reece to help with a show. Reece volunteered as a spotlight operator for the drag performance, as well as selling tickets. Eventually, the stage beckoned Reece, who had become adopted by this drag king community, and Reece debuted Rusty Nutz to AC/DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long.”
“It just kind of happens,” Reece said about creating a drag king persona. “I don’t think it should be forced.”
As a sexual assault survivor, Reece said, “I processed my rape, my awful relationship and so much on stage. … It’s a way for us to express and process and let go of all these things we want to find and explore on stage.”
While Reece is gender fluid, Reece said anyone can be a drag king — whether exploring transgender identities or not. Reece has met people who perform in drag for all kinds of reasons. Some drag kings transition between genders, but many are women who enjoy the opportunity to be someone they’re not in front of an audience.
“We all have a balance of male and female,” Reece said.
As they rehearsed for their
show Thursday, a few members of the NM Drag Kings donned their makeup, wrapped bandages around their torsos and used saved hair to create beards and mustaches. Music played, and they laughed together, often joking about one another’s manhood and laughing when someone asked if they were straight, referring to their sideburns.
“It’s a total rush,” said Brooke Fair, whose drag king persona is Porkchop Brooks. “It’s addicting.”
Fair said being able to perform in drag is an empowering opportunity for people in the gay community.
“There’s so much constraint gay people live under,” Fair said. “Drag can really be an outlet.”
Fair’s friend, Isela Imai, said it’s admirable to see Fair and the others explore themselves as drag kings.
“I like to see them comfortable in their skins and tapping into their alter egos,” Imai said. “It gives them the opportunity to be their true selves and confident without judgment.”
In the end, Reece said, they’re excited to share their pride and the pride of the drag king community.
“Not everyone likes us,” Reece said. “It’s not about them liking what I’m doing but appreciating that I’m up here doing it.”