Panti's Noble Call

[Younger Brother]

Posted: 2/6/14 at 2:12pm

I see this is making the rounds but haven't seen it posted on here yet. It's basically a video done by an Irish drag queen (who I've seen perform many a time and is pretty spectacular) talking about homophobia. She's been in Irish media A LOT lately, the centre of controversy and this is essentially her speaking back. Inspiring.

The back story is: she appeared out of drag as Rory a few weeks ago on an Irish t.v show. While talking about homophobia, he was asked who he felt was homophobic in Irish media so he named some people to the applause of an audience, obviously agreeing with him. A day or so later, the named people came forward and threatened legal action against the t.v station and Rory.
His interview was quickly censored online and just last week there was was a debate on the same t.v show in which the term "freedom of speech" was used throughout. Comical really.

VIDEO

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 2/6/14 at 2:17pm

There's been a pretty fantastic conversation about this in another thread

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 2/6/14 at 5:05pm

Is the original tv interview online? I couldn't find it. It is, as mentioned in the other thread, a great speech. I did find out that she was on an episode of Maury Povich where her sister wanted to give her a makeover as Rory http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ro5z42Z79B4

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 2/6/14 at 5:55pm

Eric, not the whole interview but here's the part that caused all the kerfuffle. It's just plain common sense, of course.
Interview

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 2/6/14 at 6:15pm

Trying to get Daily Motion to work is often like cranking up an old jalopy, but I enjoyed that. His thing about owning the negative traits and working against them is exactly right, and it puts me in mind of a response from The Worst Troll BWW Ever Had many months back. I acknowledged that as a white person in the US of course I am racist but I try to be aware and work against it, and It posted "Speak for yourself Namo, I certainly am NOT."

And that's pretty much how you know you might be part of the problem.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 2/6/14 at 8:45pm

Thanks so much Jay! He sure is well spoken. I particularly agree with the point Namo mentions. It's too bad that that, and other points (like why these people spend so much of their time focusing on writing editorials, going on TV etc to speak against it -- particularly those less "extreme" homophobes who insist they aren't homophobic -- I mean I kinda get why a completely whacko group like Westboro does it as they see it as their mission from god do it.)

When he said John Waters (who I imagine is some sort of Irish media person) at first I thought "What? The director of Pink Flamingos?)

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 2/6/14 at 9:12pm

Ha, I thought there might be some confusion. John Waters writes a column in The Irish Times and is renowned for his offbeat opinions. Another of his claims to fame is writing Ireland's entry for the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest, which came last.

The other John Waters apparently knows all about him. "I get his Google Alerts!"

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 2/6/14 at 9:39pm

Was that the year Ireland entered a singing Turkey or something? (And really, he's homophobic but writes for Eurovision? Utterly amazing.)

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 2/6/14 at 10:04pm

No, it was the year before that atrocity.

Titled They Can't Stop The Spring, the lyrics included -

"They might scare the blackbird, but they'll never stop him sing/they may steal the honey but they'll never steal the sting/they may crush the flowers and trample every living thing/but they can't stop the spring"

It was inspired by the 1968 Czechoslovakian uprising, but I think Irish same-sex marriage activists should adopt it as an anthem out of spite.

He also has a child with Sinead O'Connor.

Um, this thread has gone weird. (My fault!)

Updated On: 2/6/14 at 10:04 PM

[HorseTears]

Posted: 2/7/14 at 1:40am

Was visiting my mum today and showed her the speech. She loved it. She also asked me a question that I'm embarrassed to say I don't know the answer to. It's a question of semantics, but I think it's an interesting and important one.

What would you say is the correct or preferred version of pronouns to use when referring to a drag queen like Panti? Would you say that [b]she[/b] gave a great speech or that [b]he[/b] did? There are so many things to consider. Firstly there's the conflation of transgendered individuals with drag queens. As we all know, not all drag queens are trans and, I would hope we all know, that most transgendered folks do not consider themselves drag queens/kings.

I have the good fortune of calling several transgender folks my friends -- most of them have a preference of using the pronouns for their true gender identity/expression -- whether they are pre or post-op. A couple of them use hybrid or gender-neutral pronouns, like Mx. Justin Vivian Bond does.

I'd also argue that a draq queen like Panti is a different kind of performer than a male actor who happens to portray female character(s) -- like Barry Humphrie's "Dame Edna". When I go see Dame Edna on stage, although I of course intellectually understand that Barry Humphries is under all those sequins and feather, he doesn't consciously make me aware that he's a man. I see a woman on that stage and would never refer to "Dame Edna" as a "he".

However, many -- perhaps most -- drag queens are portraying greatly exaggerated and garish (I mean garish in a very positive way) versions of "women". They are not expecting you to look at them and completely forget that there is a biological man -- usually a gay man -- behind this persona. That gender**** is part of what makes really talented drag queens so interesting, I think. And in this case, I'm not referring to two subsets of drag performers -- the female impersonators (portraying Cher, Babs etc.) nor the... service workers found in certain Manilla and Bangkok area clubs whose MO is to confuse and titillate.

In this particular case, I feel a bit like I'm watching Rory -- dressed in his drag persona -- give an impassioned speech. It doesn't have the artifice of a traditional drag performance. So is it fair to say I'm watching [b]him[/b] give a speech or do you think that's offensive? I suppose the short answer to my overly long post is that the answer will vary person-by-person and performer-by-performer. What do you think?

TL;DR, I know.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 2/7/14 at 2:28am

Jay--I youtubed it. I think I preferred the Turkey...

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 2/7/14 at 2:31am

Horse, aside from your amazing taste, you apparently have a great mom.

I dated a couple of drag queens in Montreal. In my experience when they are doing anything in their drag persona, you should refer to them in the feminine. Out of drag, masculine. The little I've read about Panti since the speech went viral, makes me think he would be OK with that. I think that's a safe way to go, either way, unless you're told else wise by themselves.

[jamiekennywicked]

Posted: 2/7/14 at 3:34am

I believe the full interview (excluding the comments on homophobia) is on the RTE player but I'm not sure if it's available outside of Ireland. I'll link it when I get home. The rest of the interview is great. He talks a lot about his supportive rural Irish family and how he went to a funeral once in a dress to which his mother just said "it should have been black".