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‘Generation Drag’ Elevates Drag Kids, Including Denver’s Ophelia Peaches

‘Generation Drag’ Elevates Drag Kids, Including Denver’s Ophelia Peaches

Generation Drag

Athletic kids can perfect their talents in youth sports programs; those with a knack for music might pursue instrument or dance lessons. For the kids who do drag? Dragutante is one answer, acting as a safe haven for LGBTQ youth to explore the art of drag. As the showcase continues to grow, Generation Drag is making its premiere on June 1. The Discovery+ docuseries features five kids, and their families, as they prepare to show off their drag magic at the annual Denver event.

Dragutante, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, was created back in 2017. It started when Robin Fulton’s son Jameson, aka Ophelia Peaches, announced he wanted a drag queen-themed party for his 13th birthday. She began asking around Denver’s LGBTQ community to see if there was a space for her son to explore the drag scene and kept coming up short. Ultimately, Robin decided to create the space herself. Ever since, it has provided kids a safe and affirming space to perform among other young people who share their passion for drag. It also offers parents like Robin a network of support in continuing to affirm their kids’ expression.

As the United States continues to be plagued with anti-LGBTQ legislation—including bills that attempt to limit discussions of LGBTQ identity and history in schools, effectively stifling the open expression of queer youth—Generation Drag presents an alternative: Support and affirm LGBTQ kids in their expression wholeheartedly.

“The fact that Generation Drag does that—It normalizes these kids, and it highlights that they have supportive families,” says Jameson, who is also one of the featured kids on the show. “They’re in a supportive community, and they just are themselves, and that’s beautiful. I feel very grateful that I was able to be a part of it.”

Robin and Jameson say a number of other production companies and shows reached out in the past to feature Dragutante, but it was never a good fit, as they always wanted to add a competitive element.

“That’s not what it is at all,” Jameson says, “because Dragutante is an experience for for these kids to be validated in their first time in drag, so that they can show who they are and express themselves in a way that they are supported and they feel loved.”

“It’s absolutely not a competition,” Robin adds. “It never will be. That’s something that even Jameson, when he was 15, told a very, very important L.A. producer. He said, ‘No, every kid gets a crown,’ and they said,’Oh, well we’ll just film it this way, but you can give every kid a crown.’ And he said, ‘No, no—Every kid gets a crown.’” 

Conversely, Robin says that Generation Drag’s production company and Discovery+ were incredible in their support of Dragutante’s mission. 

The featured performers represent a wide array of genders, drag styles, and family backgrounds. Viewers immediately witness these kids in their most intimate family settings, including performance practices, costume shopping, and conversations about gender and expression as part of their everyday routines.

Generation DragJameson says that one of the major highlights of being on the show was meeting other performers from all around the U.S. and finding community among them, since they’ve shared similar experiences. 

“They’re all amazing,” Robin says. “Every single one of them is different and beautiful and incredible, and all of the parents parent differently, but they all have the exact same core values. They believe that their kid deserves to be loved, that their kid is worth all of the respect and love and support in the universe.”

This diversity of kids and families lends itself to a wide array of conversations surrounding gender, expression, and navigating society. As Bailey is introduced in the second episode, he discusses the fact that is a trans boy who still performs feminine drag.

“I’m kind of just like any guy doing drag makeup, if you just think about it in that way, and for me, it’s just like an art form that I’m able to use,” Bailey says.

Shortly after Nabela, who is also trans, is introduced in the first episode, her parents recall her explanation that trans people don’t need to physically transition or seek out gender-affirming care to be valid in their gender.

Jameson, who is genderfluid, also discusses the challenges in finding gender-nonconforming clothing to fit his stature on the show.

He also explores a new challenge during the show by performing an original song for the first time. Of course, cameras were rolling, and Generation Drag documents the process of practicing and perfecting the performance for Dragutante as Ophelia. Jameson says he wanted to share his emotions through music, even though he can have a hard time connecting to his own words.

In the first episode, viewers hear Jameson read the lyrics to the song, revealing a sorrowful but triumphant internal monologue about coming to terms with his own identity and rising above the hatred he receives from society.

“Knowing that there are people in that audience who have gone through something similar, and when they listen to that song, they’ll be like, ‘Oh my God, I’m not alone. This is me right now,’ is a crazy thought to me because I want to makes sure that other people know that they’re not weird, and they’re not on their own. But it’s an interesting journey kind of going through my very first song, a song that is very raw in my emotion.”

“The lyrics are definitely a gut punch,” Robin says. “I’ve had a few of my friends that are in the community that have listened to it. They make it past the second sentence, and then, as a friend of mine said, he goes, ‘I didn’t hear the rest of the song. That second sentence,’ and he said, ‘I went back into my own head and my own youth.’ And he said, ‘I’m gonna have to sit with this for a while before I can revisit this.'”

Even though she’s heard the song live a number of times, Robin says it can still be hard to listen to the lyrics.

“To know those words came from my child and why they came from my child, I mean—I want to protect him from everything,” Robin says.

“You’ve done a great job of protecting me,” Jameson interjects. The song is still a work in progress, but he says it’s therapeutic to continue working on it because it allows him to confront those deep emotions.

As the two reflect ahead of the series premiere, they also reference their excitement for this fall’s Dragutante show, which is in need of volunteers and sponsorships. Dragutante is growing at an exponential rate, and Robin expects that growth to continue with the premiere of Generation Drag.

Looking back on Generation Drag and ahead to the future, Jameson says the experience shifted how he wants to perform as Ophelia Peaches. He was already in the middle of a shift in his gender identity when filming started, and he said the journey has helped make Ophelia a bit more fluid as well, more intertwined with his entire sense of self and every element of his expression.

There are even moments on the show where Jameson reckons with this shift. While chatting with OFM, he reflects on how intimidating it was realizing that those internal struggles were being caught on camera.

“But it’s good to showcase, because now others will know that everyone has a little bit of dysphoria when they are gender-nonconforming. And it’s authentic,” he says. “… I’m never going to stop exploring who I am, but this TV show was able to give me kind of a platform and a lot of the resources to explore where I want to be.”

To learn and get involved in Dragutante, check out the official websiteGeneration Drag premieres June 1 on Discovery+.

Photos courtesy of Discovery+

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