We recently connected with Jeffrey Rivera and have shared our conversation below.

Jeffrey, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Has your work ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized?

Right now in the United States (and around the world) we are seeing a big wave of ultra conservativism and religious beliefs that are affecting the general experience of queer people. It feels like their goal is for queer people to not exist, as if we aren’t humans who deserve safe and security in our lived experience.
Drag artists has existed for hundreds of years, from Shakespearen plays with the origin of the word DRAG; DRessed As Girl, to William Dorsey Swann, to the trans women who were integral to the Queer Civil Rights Movement in the USA, like Sylvia Rivera, Marsha P. Johnson. You know what they have all been fighting for? A safe environment to live and thrive. Not a single queer person is asking for anything more than equal protections under the law and safety to live in peace.

Currently, specifically, black trans women are being murdered every ten days in the US, just for existing. There have been over 200 anti queer rights legislative bills pop up all over the country. Children are being targeted for wanting to express themselves. Why? Ask yourselves do you deserve happiness, joy, safety, lawful protections? Why doesn’t the queer community?

Drag has been demonized against the world but against children especially, because art and self expression is “dangerous.” I dont understand how people are against drag queens around kids, who have the lowest statistics of harming kids but are not against religious clergy who have some of the highest statistics of harming children. Children are not being harmed by a person playing dress up, they are being harmed by “trusted community members/leaders” who also play dress up.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

The main thing I want everyone to know is drag artists are sharing their passion for entertainment and self expression, its pure joy and love. We hope to entertain you, get you to think outside of the box, and live a life more passionately.
As an entertainer I bring pizzazz and life to the stage, whether I am the MC cracking jokes on the mic, or performing to my favorite songs, or emoting the deepest energy my goal is to create moments that last a lifetime.
I have had the pleasure of hosting birthdays, weddings, brunch shows, bachelorette parties, and game nights. I love doing all of it; getting to have fun and hopefully bring some distraction from our busy lives to the audiences around me. I bring sass and wit to the mic, I talk about social issues, I entertain in comedic and emotional ways.. because being an drag queen is in itself a protest to the social order set up by the patriarchy.
I hope to use my platform to enact change people’s hearts, lead with love, and entertain the masses.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

The most important way society and communities can support artists is to pay them for the art and work, go to the events and showcases of their talents, pay the venues and staff working the events, and for god’s sake.. stop trying to censor art. Art is meant to be thought provoking, it is meant to be interesting and it is both subjective and objective. Embrace the entertainment and let everyone express themselves!

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I find inspiring others is the most rewarding aspect to being an artist. I find the younger generation who want to become drag entertainers to be exciting and hope to continue to be a reason new artist emerge. Inspiration also comes in forms of helping allies friend their voices and stand up for what they believe in. It’s powerful to enact change in peoples hearts and minds.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Iamtinklebelle
• Youtube: Iamtinklebelle
• Other: Venmo: @iamtinklebelle

Image Credits

Courtney Johnson/Pure Chic Visions
Joeys Camera/Joseph Guzzino