The board of the Southeast Alaska State Fair in Haines has recently come under local scrutiny because of an act that has been booked for this summer’s event. Juneau Drag has been scheduled to perform on the main stage in the early evening. Some residents do not think this is appropriate.
What had started as an online ripple materialized as a wave of public comments at the last borough assembly meeting in Haines. At issue is the planned performance of the troupe Juneau Drag. The performers act out songs and dances using costumes that impersonate the opposite gender. Many residents voiced either support or opposition to the troupe performing at the fair.
Spencer Douthit is chair of the fair board. He started receiving e-mails after posting the lineup on the fair’s website. As of Wednesday, he had received 95 emails. He said a slight majority are in support of hosting Juneau Drag.
Douthit estimates he has spent more than 25 hours dealing with the communications over the past week. He hadn’t expected such a reaction.
Douthit: “Juneau Drag has done many public performances over the course of many years, and what they are going to present at the fair would be the same performance you would see in Skagway or Juneau at a public venue.”
Douthit says some of the comments he received were worrying. One sender fantasized about an ideal world where violence would prevent such shows from being staged. Douthit says he forwarded the email to the police department, where it is now on file.
The comments during the borough assembly meeting were respectful. Representatives of the ministerial association voiced their opposition to the show.
Resident Courtney Kelly said she objected to the sexual nature of the show.
Kelly: “For me, this is not an issue when it comes down to religion or any of those things. The fair has an opportunity to put forth an event that everyone can enjoy. We are talking about something that is sexual whether we want to say it is or not. It doesn’t matter if someone else says it is not sexual, or someone else says ‘Well that’s just how they express themselves.’”
Resident Ali Zeiger spoke in support of the show.
Zeiger: “One of the reasons I go to the fair is to see other parts of Southeast Alaska, parts that I can’t necessarily go to to see myself. And for that reason, I support bringing the drag show to town. One of the problems I have, when I’m at the fair, is choosing which event to see, because there are multiple events happening at the same time. There is a lot to see at the fair, you don’t have to go to the shows you don’t like.”
Assemblymember Gabe Thomas spoke about finding a middle ground.
Thomas: “I don’t see why we just can’t ask the fair to be humble and to move it to a time frame where the kids aren’t going to be there. Everybody exits out, like they do the shows, comes back in. Let the parents let the families have their choice. It’s kind of a middle ground, I think it’s an easy way to deal with it. It’s not saying we don’t want it, we don’t support it, it’s just saying let the families have their choice. It’s as simple as that.”
Many people opposed to bringing Juneau Drag to Haines said the show would not be family-friendly.
Gigi Monroe describes herself as the Drag Mother of the troupe. She says each performance is adapted to its audience.
Monroe: “I would say Drag is an art form like any other art form and it can be family-friendly, or it can be adult only. Just like music, like painting, just like dance performance, there is a range. So when we look at attending an art event, we look at who is going to be there. And we tailor the performance to that audience.”
Monroe says over the last eight years, the shows have been adapted to fit a variety of venues.
Monroe: “We started out at some of the local bars, but then we started getting requests to perform outside of the bars. So we started doing one-off events, whether they were block parties or performances at the university. And we had a huge call to have family-friendly offerings so that parents and kids could enjoy the shows as well.”
One thing leading to another, the troupe started doing an annual Drag Story Hour, at the Juneau library.
Monroe: “We show up at the library, and they have selected a pile of books that would be good options for us to read, and so each of the performers selects a book, and there is three or four of us, and we show up in drag, and we perform a short song that is kid-oriented. And then we read the book. And then it’s three or four songs and three or four books, and then we just have a group dance party at the end, and it’s a lot of fun.”
Monroe says the Drag Story Hour is now the second most popular event at the Juneau library, just behind the day when the fire department gives kids tours of their trucks.
As for the controversy in Haines, the fair board is looking into rescheduling the Drag show for later in the evening. There are plans to host a meeting to give community members a chance to voice their concerns.
A member of the ministerial association says they have reached out to the fair board to discuss the matter. Until then, they have chosen not to comment further.
You can find the full recording of our conversation with Gigi Monroe below.
