Brigitte Bandit is the stage name of Cheri Lake,[1] an American drag queen and activist based in Austin, Texas.
Early life
editBandit grew up in northwest Austin.[2] She was also interested in music from a young age, with the first two artists she saw in concert being Cher and Dolly Parton;[3] she later played flute in her school's marching band.[2] Bandit's mother was also an influence on Bandit's love of performance; she worked as a stripper, and later fought to be included in a Cher impersonation contest, in which she won second place.[3]
At age 15, Bandit began working with children, first as an art instructor, and later as a swim instructor.[4]
Drag career
editBandit, a flamboyant dresser, had long been interested in drag, but thought, as a person assigned female at birth, she would not be allowed to perform.[2][3] After watching a performance by Sin Wai Kin, she realized she had been wrong, and began pursuing drag.[3] She began performing in drag in the late 2010s, at age 26.[2][4]
Bandit has performed as Dolly Parton multiple times,[2][5] and has been called the "Dolly of Austin".[4] She has also addressed political and social issues in her shows, such as underfunded schools, poverty, policing, and laws related to abortion access and drag performance.[6] She has performed in shows at Oilcan Harry's[4] and at the Austin City Limits Music Festival.[7] During the COVID-19 pandemic, Bandit participated in Extragrams, a drag queen telegram service.[3]
She has also been involved with drag storytime events, during which she has dressed as Dolly Parton, as well as characters like Ariel (The Little Mermaid) and Jessie (Toy Story 2).[2][4] In 2023, one of Bandit's TikTok videos, in which she lip-syncs to Katy Perry's "Firework" alongside several children, received nearly 4 million views before it was removed by TikTok for "child safety purposes".[8]
Activism
editBandit has spoken against anti-drag bills in Texas since 2022, including Senate Bill 12 and Senate Bill 1601.[2][4]
Her first testimony against Senate Bill 12 went viral, both for her full drag look (the photo of which was named one of Time's Top 100 Photos of 2023)[9] and because she pointed out the "absurdity" of the bill because, as someone who was assigned female at birth and who performs a feminine character, Bandit would not be bound by the proposed laws.[2][4] During her second testimony against the bill, later in 2023, Bandit again appeared in drag, in a dress which featured the Texas flag and the names of the children killed in the 2022 Uvalde shooting and the 2023 Allen, Texas shooting, with the slogan "Defend our kids against gun violence. Restrict guns, not drag" on her back.[4][6] After the bill was passed, Bandit was one of five plaintiffs in the ACLU's lawsuit against it.[3]
Bandit has received online harassment for her visible opposition to the bills, including death threats and doxing.[3][4]
In December 2023, Dolly Parton gifted Bandit a custom guitar in honor of her activism.[10]
In June 2024, Bandit spoke at the 2024 Texas Democratic Convention. Clips of her speech, which focused on youth access to gender-affirming healthcare, were shared by Libs of TikTok, drawing online ire from many right-wing commentators, who claimed she was a man "promoting sex-change surgery for minors," although she did not mention surgery in her speech.[11][12] Later that month, she traveled to Washington, D.C. to lobby for the Equality Act, a proposed law which would include gender identity and sexual orientation in federal nondiscrimination policies.[13][14]
Personal life
editBandit is nonbinary and uses both she/her and they/them pronouns.[2][5][6]
References
edit- ^ Lewis, Ray (June 10, 2024). "Drag queen slams Texas ban on 'gender-affirming care' for minors at Dem convention". The National Desk. Retrieved September 4, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Solomon, Dan (2023-03-30). "How Texas Drag Queen Brigitte Bandit Exposed the Absurdity of Proposals to Criminalize Drag Performers and Shows". Texas Monthly. Retrieved 2023-12-11.
- ^ a b c d e f g Monroe, Rachel (2023-12-06). "The Drag Queens Fighting Performance Bans in Texas". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2023-12-11.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Bingamon, Brant (September 22, 2023). "How Austin Drag Icon Brigitte Bandit Became a Political Powerhouse". www.austinchronicle.com. Retrieved 2023-12-11.
- ^ a b Paulson, Stephen (February 17, 2023). "The makings of a Texas drag queen". Courthouse News Service. Retrieved December 11, 2023.
- ^ a b c McLean, Danielle (2023-06-14). "These Trans Drag Performers Continue to Do What They Love — Despite the Risks". Popsugar. Retrieved 2023-12-11.
- ^ "History-making queens: ACL Fest to feature live drag artists for the first time in 2021". kvue.com. September 30, 2021. Retrieved 2023-12-11.
- ^ Williams, Emma (2022-06-28). "The definition of drag has expanded – and so has the demand for performances". KUT Radio, Austin's NPR Station. Retrieved 2023-12-11.
- ^ "TIME's Top 100 Photos of 2023". TIME. 2023-11-21. Retrieved 2023-12-11.
- ^ DuPree, Will (2024-01-02). "Dolly Parton sends signed, bejeweled guitar to Austin drag performer Brigitte Bandit". KXAN Austin. Retrieved 2024-01-11.
- ^ Kushwaha, Brooke (2024-06-10). "Meet Brigitte Bandit, the Texas drag queen Republicans love to hate". Chron.
- ^ Lewis, Ray (2024-06-10). "Drag queen slams Texas ban on 'gender-affirming care' for minors at Dem convention". KEYE. Retrieved 2024-08-06.
- ^ Adamczeski, Ryan (2024-06-24). "These drag queens are meeting with Congress to lobby for LGBTQ+ protections". The Advocate.
- ^ Adamczeski, Ryan (2024-06-26). "Drag queen epically claps back against Marjorie Taylor Greene". www.advocate.com. Retrieved 2024-08-06.