Many may know the Fredericton Member of Parliament as Jenica Atwin — however, for just one day, Atwin ditched her name and instead unveiled her drag persona: Miss Legi-slayyted.
On March 10, Atwin and local drag queen Mx Amour Love posted a video showcasing Atwin’s drag transformation in support of the Drag the Vote initiative, which urges Canadians to vote in support of 2SLGBTQ+ rights.
Amour Love, who goes by Mitchell Goodine outside of their drag persona, said the collaboration overall was a “wow moment,” but more important was the message they hoped to share: “we’re here, we’re queer and get used to it.”
The transformation process took about two and a half hours. While it was fun to give Atwin the drag experience and bounce ideas off each other, Amour Love said they also made space for reflection.
“We acknowledged what we were doing, why we were doing it and the purpose of this movement,” she said. “And everything that we were doing, every brush stroke, had a reason.”
After Amour Love turned Atwin into Miss Legi-slayyted, they made their way to the Legislative building for photos, which is where they filmed the video both Amour Love and Atwin posted on their social media accounts. The video has received mixed reactions online.
One Facebook comment left on Amour Love’s video read, “So sick. Stay away from our children. Susan, this is shameful. Stop pushing your filthy agenda,” while another comment asked, “Can you believe this is going on in our Legislative building?”
For Amour Love, comments like these have revealed the division and misinformation in the community.
“It has sparked a lot of interest in why we are doing this — why the Legislative Building?” they said. “We figured that it’s a place to call out bigotry and homophobia and misogyny.”
Overcoming bigotry, homophobia and misogyny is exactly what Drag the Vote is about. The national movement brings together drag artists across Canada to mobilize their supporters and encourage them to vote in support of queer rights.
With an election called by Prime Minister Mark Carney set for April 28 – along with increasing attacks on 2SLGTBQ+ rights and political targeting of trans rights in the United States – getting the vote out is more relevant than ever.
It was the current political climate, specifically for the queer community, that inspired Amour Love to become an ambassador for Drag the Vote.
“I tuned into the political climate, then looked back at [Drag the Vote], then looked back at the political climate and I’m like, ‘Oh my… oh we have work to do.”
“This movement just aligned so much in my heart as well — wanting to see change, wanting to be a part of that, not just simply look pretty.”
She said using their platform and drag character to spread positivity is something they hope heals others, as well as themself and wishes to “leave the community a little bit better than maybe when [they] found it.”
At the same time, Amour Love emphasized the importance of recognizing the queer activists of the past that fought for the liberation of the 2SLGBTQ+ community — prominent figures like trans drag-queen Marsha P. Johnson, who played an important role in the Stonewall uprising, or Silvia Riviera, a trans rights activist who founded the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries.
But Amour Love said it’s not just the recognizable names that have contributed to queer liberty, but many unnamed queer people and allies who have helped push back against bigotry for hundreds and thousands of years.
“You were never standing on solid ground of your own footing, of your own accolades, but you’ve stood on the years of fighting and effort put in by others, nameless, that we’ll never know or hear about because history wanted them repeatedly erased.”
This cycle of queer erasure is something that Amour Love said may be coming back around, especially considering the rise in anti-trans and 2SLGBTQ+ rhetoric from the Republican and Conservative parties.
“If they can convince the society to go against the trans community, then they can also convince it against the queer community, they’ll convince it against any other part of the community.”
This is why having Atwin participate in her drag transformation was so impactful for Amour Love and they hope that seeing a political leader stand up for the queer community in this way gives hope to other queer folks out there.
“For me to see a political leader do that, it just spoke so much to me as a queer kid in New Brunswick — that if I have to be stuck here, I want somebody to support me while being here. And she did that.”
While she has been performing less frequently as Amour Love, they said as long as the community is in need, they will keep creating moments like these.
“Canadians aren’t going to sit back quietly as hatemongers and power-hungry politicians demonize the queer community and try to roll back their freedom and rights,” they said.
“That’s why, as a drag performer, I’m proud to be joining with my fellow artists to speak up and take action.”
