Queerguru’s winter base is in Miami Beach, one of  the most inclusive and forward-thinking cities when it comes to the LGBTQ community.  Being a significant minority of the local population contributes to making it a happy and accepting environment for most of us across the queer spectrum.

45 minutes north is Fort Lauderdale when there is an even bigger LGBTQ community.  They include a many older gay men and women  who have  have taken advantage of all the facilities and chosen the city, and Wilton Manors, as a place to retire.

However  further north than that  the state of Florida doesn’t always open its arms quite so welcomingly .  In North Florida, many LGBTQ+ residents live in areas where other gay people are few and far between and where they are still aspiring for a better sense of equality.  In these towns and rural areas queer-friendly spaces continue to house a community that has challenged a conventional life with a more vibrant, exaggerated form of authenticity.

In this context the role of Drag Queens take on a different significance than they do in say Miami, as photographer  as ANDREW B. CARROLL when he undertook a project to document them for a rather excellent new  book KIND OF A DRAG.  The compelling images he captured  show a much more earthy (and dare one say authentic?) look to these performers who are at the center of these more fragmented  LGBTQ communuties.

He writes “In their early development, Drag Queens work to form their own persona as an extension of themselves and a creative outlet. Today, we see many more Drag Queens in the public eye, still in the forefront of Queer representation. However, what many people do not see is the ever-evolving work each performer puts into their image and their effect of their home communities. It was important for me to witness and capture these elements of Drag culture.”

Having been unlimited access to many of them in Northern Florida, Carroll  adds Drag Queens serve as social educators with lessons of living an authentic life by inviting vulnerability, and permitting you to become any kind of person you desire to be. This is done with the permission you give yourself, the unconditional support of others, and the willingness to evolve. Though, life can be kind of a drag, we have every right to live it glamorously. 

https://www.andrewbcarroll.com/kind-of-a-drag