Back in the day, the only performances you really saw were for competitions or pageants.
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Now, Philadelphia’s Gayborhood is bright, active and full of life.Īnother change-which came directly from Lynn-came out of working conditions for drag queens in the community.
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She grew up in a time where some gay venues had darkened windows and bars on the windows out of fear. Lynn recently turned 50, and as she says, there has been a lot of change in terms of perception of the community (“Although some people still hate us,” she laughs), and the Storytime events prove it. So it’s really these kind of events, the Storytimes, and the school appearances that is my new motivation and what keeps me going.” Drag Queen Storytime. “Different cultures different lifestyles are accepting of us and want to learn more about us and what we do as our art. “Which I never thought was going to be able to happen, but it’s amazing,” says Lynn. Now, the activation is also in some schools-including Northeast High School, Kensington CAPA, some colleges, and hopefully, will be picked up at elementary schools as part of their curriculum.
That kind of led me to doing Drag Queen Storytime,” she remembers.ĭrag Queen Storytime began in 2015 with the Philadelphia Public Library System, and then it moved on to museums and then Parks and Rec. “Now, I’m kind of that lady that a lot of places come to when they need to have a hostess or are putting together some charity event.
Giving back led to working with every gay charity that was around, and at one point, she was working with at least 15 to 16 charities in Philly alone. And when you get to reach a certain age-you have to give back.” “All of my jobs were with this community, everybody I know is in this community. “For a big chunk of my life, I made all of my money from the LGBTQ community,” says Lynn. While working, she got to meet big producers and anyone who worked in nightclubs-and it really brought her up not just professionally, but also as Brittany. While there, her job was to go to cities and set up parties and events for LGBT visibility, representation and things of that nature. One was as Editor at Philly Gay News (which she landed right out of college after doing a book review for the publication), and the other was becoming the PR and Advertising Director for 1-800-Gay-Live. “You have the drag as a protective barrier and layer that gives you a little more ability to say your real thoughts and feelings.” ProvidedĪt Temple University, the drag queen studied Journalism and PR, and that led her to land a few gigs which ultimately helped launch her career. I can voice my opinion on anything, not only as a drag queen but as a comedian. There is the fun of being in front of an audience, and when you’re in drag, you really get to show your true self. I wanted to stand up at the time, and 27 years later, here we are,” she explains. It also gave me an outlet to perform and do comedy. “It was kind of born out of the necessity of money, and also being a struggling college student. While out and still in costume, Lynn was called on stage by Tinsel Garland (a Philly icon) who was performing at 12th Air Command (now Tabu.) Garland motivated Lynn to try out a drag competition, which she did. That gig led to a stint as Alice in a musical based on ‘The Brady Bunch’, which played in Philly that same year, which then eventually led to a night out with the cast.
That was the first time my mom, dad and grandparents saw me in drag,” Lynn recalls. And in the 90s, being gay and body-conscious, it was a lot to take in.
I had to walk in heels obviously, wear corsets, fishnets, the bustier-the whole thing. “Playing that was kind of boot camp for drag.