How these Latine drag kings took center stage

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Backstage at the Barnsdall Gallery Theatre in East Hollywood, drag kings and queens bustled inside the dressing room, making their transformations into glittering stars ahead of an April 22 revue titled “Living Legends of Drag: Stories of LGBTQ+ Artistry & Culture.”“Five minutes to showtime,” said Lil Miss Hot Mess, drag queen and hostess, as Latine drag kings El Daña and Manny Oakley readied themselves for the spotlight.Elsie Saldaña — who goes by El Daña onstage — prays before every show she has performed since 1965.That day, El Daña said she was grateful to be sharing the stage with iconic legends of drag in Los Angeles.But no matter how long it has been, El Daña and Oakley both agreed: the nerves never go away.“I’m 81.

I hope my knees don’t [give] up,” said El Daña, clad in black from head to toe.Last year, she was recognized as the world’s oldest performing drag king by the Guinness World Records.“I’m 31 and I’m also afraid of my knees,” said Oakley, right on cue.For drag kings, who are usually assigned female at birth but play masculine characters, the art form is more than just a performance; it’s how they defy gender and cultural norms.

Once El Daña and Oakley step on stage for the show, drag allows them to be their freest selves.“[Drag] is my escape,” said El Daña, a Mexican American daughter of farmers, who is now based in the city of Clovis, Calif.“When I’m onstage, I forget everything else.

I feel I’m a star and I kill it every time.”In a world where mainstream audiences seem more captivated by the glitz and glam of drag queens — take, for instance, the enduring popularity of the reality TV show “RuPaul’s Drag Race” — as a more masculine performer, El Daña has often felt pushed to the sidelines.Within the queer performance scene, she said, drag kings have often received little recognition, fewer opp...