The Monster Within: Transwitch Wants You to Do Better

“Imagine being painted as a monster by society and ostracized and told you’re ugly in every way and that you’re not valuable, unlovable, unf*ckable, unless as a service. And then there is this one place that you know that you can go where people will praise you for being all of those things.”

For Transwitch, drag isn’t a costume, a look, or something to take on and off or take lightly. It’s a way to express the feeling of transness, otherness, and queerness in a society that so often overlooks those things. If you’re impressed by its serious mug or spooky persona, it’s not just because Transwitch is a skilled makeup artist and performer. It’s because they live and breathe what they do, and they want to continue to pull others up.

Recently, Transwitch has been getting a lot of representation as a force to be reckoned with in Denver. The combination of their fearless mug and looks combined with performances that make the viewer stop and think are more than just “alt drag” or a spooky take on drag. When in costume, Transwitch truly becomes a monstrous force of trans representation and a rallying cry for equality.

Picking up an award at a local, red carpet event in Denver was a surreal experience for Transwitch. They went to the event with a veil on their face because they knew they wouldn’t be truly seen in a mainstream space meant for performative, cis drag. Still, they appreciated the chance to be in the limelight, if only to help further the narrative they so strongly stand behind.

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“I’ve been thinking about the cost of trans representation,” they said. “What is the cost? The cost is pride. The cost is maybe a little bit of your own visibility.You can stand to lose a little bit of screen time and allow those who deserve it.”

When it comes to the history of drag, and indeed its present and future, Transwitch feels that black, trans women deserve to be at the center of the narrative. Cis, white men are still the stars of drag culture despite the fact that it was built for and by queer and trans people of color. While they enjoy the platform they have when they become the force that is Transwitch, they want to use their voice to give others who may be even more marginalized a chance.

“The only reason I started doing drag is to have a larger platform to talk about issues of transness and the way we are treated and viewed by society,” they said. “The upheaval that’s currently happening is kind of a grassroots movement to take back the fact that something created by and for black, trans women is sweeping the attention of the world. Those people who are in the spotlight need to recognize this was still created by and for trans women.”

As a trans, femme, nonbinary person, Transwitch feels that gender is both a playground and a battlefield, and knew they could do a great job performing gender, since they had to all their life. They also realized that it would give them a chance to claim the monstrousness they feel every day through the use of a powerful character.

“I paint my own nightmares on my face, and then go to a place where someone tells me that my nightmares are beautiful and inspiring and that they want to see more of them,” they said. “That’s why I love drag. That’s the beauty of it. Because my normal self is treated like something monstrous all day, treated like a nightmare all day. I put on a nightmare, and it’s treated like a blessing.”

Photo by Stu Osborne