WATCH: How poetry brought Phoenix's queer community together
The group thems. started out as a weekend market and has since exploded by using poetry and other art to build up the community.
Republicans have long touted their position as helping small businesses. But their attacks on drag appear to do the opposite
A LOCAL BUSINESS BOOM: More restaurants and bars have started using drag shows as a driver for their daily revenue, with some saying its some of the busiest shifts they have.
But a continued push against the performance in public by conservative lawmakers in Arizona means that—if they were to ever be successful—the same businesses seeing a boom might very well go bust.
In a first-ever look at drag's impact on the local economy, our writer Geri Koeppel dug into the details on what drag performers and local business owners across the state are saying about the importance of using fabulousness for revenue:
LOOKOUT'S TAKE: For decades in modern culture, drag has been seen as an underground art defined more by personal expression and less about tax status. But with its soaring popularity because of TV shows like RuPaul's Drag Race or The Boulet Brothers' Dragula, drag is an opportunity to make some serious cash for performers.
It's also been an easy way for non-queer spaces to make a hefty amount of money every week.
Drag has become a popular mainstay for small businesses in areas that normally we wouldn't have seen before, especially in conservative places such as North Scottsdale, Prescott, Mesa, or Gilbert. It's not a coincidence that lawmakers in those districts are some of the most vocal against it. But with the G.O.P. being the party of limited government and pro-business, it would seem that LGBTQ+ people performing is where they draw the line on allowing Arizonans to conduct their own business how they see fit.
For the cover story of our magazine (which you can grab in October) we dove into how much local venues actually rely on drag to sustain their slow days, and what's at risk if Republicans were to shut down the art from public view.
*Hint: He is also the current executive director of Phoenix Pride
Submit your answer hereHi friends...
If you like independent and accountability-driven queer news, then you'll love LOOKOUT's weekly newsletter.
LOOKOUT Publications is a federally recognized nonprofit news outlet. EIN Number:92-3129757