Written: 28/03/2022
I arrive late. About ten minutes. Which was predictably caused by me trusting that I could easily finding my way to the Asian street food restaurant, Embargo, with ease. I could not. I did eventually get there though. I was quite awkward at this point I could still feel the anxiety coursing through my veins from the stress of trying to get here on time. I order a Pepsi. It arrives with a good amount of ice for hot day in Glasgow. I start to relax while sipping my pepsi. The men beside me are chatting. Something about: “Posh spice started singing…” then something about Celine Dion.
At this point I was a little concerned about the layout of the room. There was a dividing wall and a bar in the middle of said wall. There was a small opening where I presume there was once a door. How were we on the other side of wall supposed to see the action? I did not have time to ponder for too long however as our host one Lady Rampant took the mic and explained how the day would proceed from here on out.
As she made it clear that the entire restaurant would be entirely divided between the two rooms. Clever is the Queen who can make a venue work for her. We were thrust into teams. When prompted we would of course make a lot of loud noise. Not much prompting needed for a bunch of Glaswegians adult queer kids and their middle-aged mothers. Some of which were enjoying a few sensible alcoholic drinks in the afternoon. One such mother had to be lightly chastised by our host Lady Rampant, for swearing as she explained her plans for the day. Later this same woman also revealed herself to be a head teacher in a Primary School and declared that “School’s out tomorrow” through slurred speech.
Through the doorway I spy a small child I am not surprised but I know some more prudish types would be. This turned out to be the daughter of the Drag King Ziggy Battles who performed later some live signing later in the day. Both Lady Rampant and her Co – Host Latex, were great entertainers and deserve credit for their ability to convince people to participate. One stand-out moment came when they asked specifically mothers to get up and “Strut their stuff” in a catwalk. Some of the women were at first a bit reluctant but thanks to pleading from their children and the hosts they became very good sports indeed.
Something about Drag as an artform seems to have a transformative effect on even the most socially anxious of people. I witnessed four women all with grown kids take to the floor and positively stomp the imaginary runway like they owned it. Some more or less vogued the whole way. One misunderstood the assignment and used an old beam like it was a stripper pole. Another one apparently stole someone’s hat, but I did not have the privilege of sitting on the correct side of the wall to see it. I do not wish to over analyse anything from this experience. For the hosts, performers, and mothers it was probably just a good time. However, I think back to the sentiment of making these mothers in particular feel confident and joyful was important somehow. When Lady Rampant then said “thanks to all the mothers of the queer kids in here today…” it clicked in my head. These are the mothers who are not only accepting of their own queer kids but embracing them and the wider LGBT community. I talked to one of the participants of the catwalk after the event had ended and explained how I ended up alone at a drag show on Mother’s Day due to covid and she said: “Oh you should’ve come sit with us”. I smiled at this kind gesture and politely said that I probably would have been too shy, but I appreciated the kind gesture. It was a gesture emblematic of this event. In that way the event surprised me. There was a sense of joy, community, and unambiguous togetherness there. It feels honestly like a little oasis of fun in an often-miserable world and that too.
I discovered that one of the guys next to me had seen Cher in Las Vegas, was from Aberdeen, had been in Glasgow to see Sophie Ellis Bextor, he had studied politics. I might not have had much chance to talk to many strangers there but the little interactions I did have was like I was talking to distant family members. Personally, it has made me consider spending every Mother’s Day the same way.
Chloe McDermott 