Yes to Drag.

Like many gay men and, I imagine, like many people from marginalized communities trying to find their place in this world, I choose my battles. When I have the strength and mental space when the cause touches me deep inside, I take a stand and act. But sometimes it's true when I'm tired, when it's one more battle that I don't have the energy to fight, when I choose to let things happen, telling myself that after all, all this doesn't bother me. 'not reached; I move forward and ignore. I focus on what is going well.

The day when, with Ludo, my business partner, love of my life, husband, and father of my 2 children, we opened Brouillon , a café-bar held on the St Hubert Plaza , I naively thought that fully living our identities, letting them express themselves at Brouillon, would pose no problem. I am an entrepreneur, therefore, optimistic by nature. I sincerely believe that things can happen as I imagine them. Thus, with optimism, I settled in the Plaza; it is with a candor that we opened Brouillon.

Brouillon is not a gay bar. It's a bar whose owners are gay: it shows in the place’s culture, which wants to be inclusive, obviously LGBTQI+ friendly. However, it is not a place reserved for the community. On the contrary: just like our neighbor, the Librairie Racine , we dreamed up Brouillon as a place of meetings, mixing people of genders and identities. An environment where diverse cultures converge and are bound together by a shared thread of universality. Despite distinct life paths, two individuals with contrasting backgrounds can still comprehend one another. This universality also allows for the struggles of one group, such as women or vulnerable economic groups, to impact those in a different demographic, including men or the ultra-rich. It can also stir up emotions in those who may not directly experience those struggles, such as a white person in response to the challenges a black person faces.

The fact that the human experience is universal implies that a performance featuring men in drag has the potential to captivate, astonish, excite, and challenge both heterosexual individuals and those in the LGBT+ community.

It is in this spirit that during the summer, we launched the Drag Brunches at Brouillon. In 2022, Miss Butterfly and Emma Dejavu came to host our Saturday lunchtimes for 3 months. All summer, I saw straight guys discovering drag culture. I heard acquaintances, employees, or friends tell me that it was their first time, that this funny and subversive way of questioning binarity and gender expression had made progress. That felt good. I saw community members happy and proud that this aspect of queer culture that had been marginalized for so long was finding its place in a bar on rue st. Hubert. We also had a few comments on jokes that were a little too scabrous for the show to be completely kid-friendly - we welcomed them, talked about them with the artists, and adjusted. Because "like any artist, [drags can] tailor [their| material to the audience [they] are addressing."

I can confidently state that the Brouillon drag brunches were primarily entertaining and unifying. Despite the numerous noise complaints from residents in the bustling and lively Plaza St Hubert area, I chose to focus on the positive aspects of the event, such as bringing people together and promoting representation. Even when Céline, the head of Brouillon, urged me to speak out against the homophobic harassment, I remained silent. I persisted in my belief that simply existing in the face of adversity is a victory in itself.

However, with the resurgence of fears and discrimination against minorities, such as in Montreal or the US and France , I can no longer turn a blind eye to the negative aspects of our society. Although shows like Drag Race have achieved great success, the praise for Barbada has been met with criticism. As a member of a minority, it is often necessary to fight battles that we would rather not, to shoulder the duty of solidarity and continue the fight for equality.

In response to these conservative impulses, I propose that we persist in supporting queer culture and continue attending drag shows.

Combat anxiety with the weapons of joy, laughter, dance, and playful provocation.