KEEPING UP WITH Bob The Drag Queen Ahead of Positive Impact Show
Editor’s Note: Bob uses both he/him and she/her pronouns.
Caldwell Tidicue, known for his drag persona Bob The Drag Queen, returns to his home state as this year’s Party With Impact comic at the Atlanta Symphony Hall on December 30. Positive Impact Health Centers hosts the annual fundraiser to raise money for LGBTQ health care, HIV care and prevention, and supportive services in the ever-growing Atlanta metro area.
Bob grew up in Columbus, where her mother owned a drag bar, before moving to New York to pursue a career in entertainment at 18 years old. Starting in acting and stand-up, Bob found her outlet in drag after watching season one of RuPaul’s Drag Race in 2009. She won the title of “America’s Next Drag Superstar” on season eight of the show in 2016 after captivating fans and judges with her quick wit and iconic looks.
Living up to the title, Bob stays booked and busy. In 2020, Bob joined forces with fellow Drag Race alums Eureka O’Hara and Shangela for three seasons of HBO’s We’re Here in search of recruits for one-night-only drag shows across small-town America. This year, Bob released an EP titled Gay Barz and his “Woke Man in a Dress” stand-up special.
Bob also started BOMO Beauty, a cosmetics company with his “Sibling Rivalry” podcast co-host, Monét X Change. Bob’s clothing company, House of Bob, launched with a smallbatch collection of sustainable, gender-inclusive garments at the end of November.
“Someone is being paid a fair wage to make them, which is why the clothes are a little bit expensive, but each item is handmade by a person right here [in America],” the drag star said in an interview with Georgia Voice. Once an item is sold out, she says, it’s sold out for good.
Oh, and he’s been touring with Madonna.
Despite a personally successful year, Bob says the weight of the world’s tragedies is ever-present.
“It’s been trying, but also exciting for me personally,” Bob said. “I have achieved a lot of goals and milestones in terms of performance, audience, and reach, but it’s hard to juxtapose that when it feels like the world is burning down around you. It’s actually really kind of wild . ... You just find a way to navigate the world as the world is happening.”
Politicians across the world continue to disappoint, especially American voters, as Israel wages a one-sided war on Palestine. According to a recent poll by Reuters/Ipsos, less than one-third of Americans support the ongoing attacks.
Though the occupation of Palestine began in 1948, Western media has been especially instrumental in the misrepresentation of the events following an attack by Islamist group Hamas on October 7. Since that day, nearly 20,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israel Defense Forces, and another 2.2 million have been displaced.
Over a thousand people showed their support at the “Global Shutdown for Palestine” rally in Midtown on November 9, demanding a ceasefire and a redirection of military spending into public programs. Georgia activists have been especially outspoken about the connection
between the genocide in Palestine and Cop City, a proposed 85-acre police training facility in South DeKalb. In a testament to the strength of U.S.-Israel relations, the IDF and Georgia police would receive training at Cop City through the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange program.
“Anytime there is success or happiness or a moment of happiness, you’re still reminded that the world is full of injustice,” Bob said. “It’s your birthday, but also a bomb just landed on the Gaza Strip. It’s your birthday, but they’re mining cobalt in Congo. You just graduated college, but half a million people were killed during the destabilization of that whole area. Your nephew is getting baptized, but how many trans women were killed? It’s a real mindfuck.”
The pandemic ignited a stark increase in far-right conservatism that continues to attack LGBTQ rights across the country, including bans on gender-affirming care and drag shows. Since her win in 2016, Bob has used her platform to educate her audience on social issues, telling Out Front Magazine she always wanted to be a public speaker like Martin Luther King Jr. or a comedian like Chris Rock.
Throughout her career, Bob has been outspoken about politics and LGBTQ issues. Bob encouraged voters to “vote blue, no matter who” in a recent post on X, formerly Twitter. As we head into an election year, she says she is worried about what will happen next.
“I’m nervous about things. I’m nervous about the state of the world and nervous about the election. I’m nervous about voter apathy,” Bob said. “Those kinds of things make me nervous. Election years are always nerve-wracking.”
President Trump, alongside 18 others, was indicted in Fulton County on charges of election fraud earlier this year. In 2020, the former president colluded with lawyers and Georgia officials in an effort to overturn the results of the election.
Following the fraud investigation, a federal judge in Georgia determined congressional and legislative district maps were drawn to discriminate against Black voters, violating the Voting Rights Act. Earlier this month, the state Senate passed the redistricting with nine Republican-leaning and five Democratic-leaning districts.
Despite the record-high turnout in U.S. elections in 2018, 2020, and 2022, when compared against recent national elections in nearly 50 countries, the U.S. ranked 31st in voter turnout in the 2020 presidential election. Bob says immoral politicians, financial interests, and lobbyists deter eligible voters, “yet we pretend to be the leaders of democracy.”
Though he could never see himself as a politician, Bob believes in the power of the vote and regularly encourages those who can vote not to abstain.
“You can’t boycott democracy,” he said.
Bob’s activism extends beyond her drag career, dating back to her early years in New York. She says she was inspired by radical and politically charged friends, “dipping [her] toes” into civil disobedience and activism.
“Once you pull the curtain back, it doesn’t go back. It’s broken and falls down. You can’t readjust,” he said.
Though progress ebbs and flows, Bob says we’re still moving in the right direction. Social media allows communities to coordinate protests and boycotts on a large scale. As divisive and overwhelming as the world’s problems may feel, Bob says engaging with opposing sides is the best way to enact change.
“I like a good conversation. I like to talk to people, especially people whose opinions oppose mine. Maybe we can learn more about each other and move the process forward,” Bob said. “The moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice. It just feels insurmountable.”
As of 2021, nearly 60,000 people in Georgia are living with HIV, according to AIDSVu. Fulton, DeKalb and Clayton counties have among the highest rates of HIV/AIDS cases in the state, and Atlanta has the fourthhighest rate of HIV across major U.S. cities. The risk of resurgence is high due to trends in drug use, lack of access to HIV services, homophobia and transphobia, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
“Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S.” (EHE) plans to end the HIV epidemic by 2030 as HHS calls for significant advancements in prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and outbreak response with the existing infrastructure of several HHS agency offices. By 2025, EHE hopes to reduce new HIV infections by 75 percent and at least 90 percent by 2030.
Positive Impact Health Centers has provided comprehensive care for patients living with HIV in Atlanta and surrounding counties across four health centers, located in Chamblee, Decatur, Duluth, and Marietta since 2015. Conducting over 5,000 HIV tests and 7,500 STI screenings, 91 percent of PIHC patients achieved viral suppression in 2022. PIHC currently serves 20 counties in the metro Atlanta area to eliminate structural barriers for people living with HIV and access to prevention services, like PrEP. The AIDS service organization also has a gender-inclusive program, offering hormone replacement therapy to qualifying patients.
Since the inception of the Atlanta AIDS Fund, AID Gwinnett and Positive Impact have received a combined 64 grants totaling over $1.2 million, including 12 grants totaling nearly $500,000 after merging in 2015. In August, PIHC was recognized by the National Committee for Quality Assurance as a Patient-Centered Medical Home, the first AIDS service organization in Georgia to do so.
Join the humble and hilarious Bob The Drag Queen for a good cause at this year’s Party With Impact at Atlanta Symphony Hall on December 30 at 8pm. Tickets are available at aso.org, starting at $25.