Our Lady J comes to The George to perform alongside Veda Beaux Rêves

Known to many for her appearances as a guest judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race, Our Lady J is also a classically trained pianist who has worked with dance companies across the world. She’s also collaborated with the likes of Sia, Debbie Harry, Anohni, Lady Gagy, Cyndi Lauper, and Scissor Sisters, and will be appearing with Veda Beaux Rêves at The George tomorrow, Wednesday 10 June at 11pm sharp (proceeds from the show will go to BeLonG To Youth Services).

We caught up with Our Lady J to ask her a few questions before her show. Keep reading to find out what Lady J thinks about:

…homophobia in America

My parents are members of the NRA, which is pretty much a terrorist organisation, and at the same time they are members of PFLAG. It’s very complex. The lines are very blurry – blurry as to what people are really fighting against. To me people are fighting against these very old ideas of what people are; false ideas that queer people are here to destroy society. We are not here to destroy society; we are here to destroy the society that doesn’t work, we’re here to make it work.

…corporate sponsorship of Pride

It does seem to be the antithesis of queerness itself, but at the end of the day it’s a sign of progress that companies are willing to sponsor. There are enough of us that we are really beginning to queer the corporations themselves, rather than corporatising queerness.

…writing for Transparent

I thought I’d be like the trans token, but that hasn’t been the case. It’s amazing the things I’ve been allowed get away with putting on the show. We just throw everything out there and Amazon pretty much say, yes, so it’s amazing to not censor yourself as a trans artist. Usually when you are on the frontline you’re facing all kinds of financial repercussions, where you are really limited in the art that you make, but I feel really lucky that we are given this opportunity. I mean I have an office at Paramount studios – it’s insane!

…trans representations

This is an really important time; lives are at stake, trans murder and suicide rates are just as high if not higher, there’s a lot of housing and job discrimination, HIV rates are soaring – so there is a huge responsibility to be honest and tell the story like it is, so we can all live through this and have empathy and compassion for trans people, and make the lives of trans people easier to live.

For the full interview with Our Lady J, pick up a copy of GCN in the usual places, or read GCN online or on iOS here.

Make sure you swing by The George tomorrow night for Space n Veda to see Our Lady J and Veda perform at 11pm sharp.

Interview and illustration by Pete Reddy.

Our Lady J is at Space n Veda at The George on August 10 at 11pm sharp, all proceeds going to Belong To Youth Services, www.thegeorge.ie.