EP 153 Drag Me To USA German Reality TV Show Feat. Vivienne Lovecraft (PART 2)

Happy Pride Month! For this episode, we have the wonderful Vivienne Lovecraft from Germany who is a non-binary, Filipino Drag Queen and is an activist for the LGBTIQ community. This is Part TWO of a two-part piece. 

Trigger Warning: This is just a reminder that this episode comes with a content warning. This is simple to empower you, our audience, with the knowledge you need to make healthy decisions about how and if you should consume this podcast content. 

The conversation continues around LGBTQIA+ rights in Berlin. Vivienne shares the current laws in place that exclude Trans employees and parents and the lack of anti-discrimination policies especially for those without a “German Pass” such as refugees and immigrants.  The topic brings up the Reality TV show “Drag Me To the USA” that Vivienne starred in and their experience of traveling to America.  With inspiration from the Drag Queen films “The Adventures of Priscilla” & “To Wong Foo”, the TV show had Drag Queens visit various unique places from big cities to small towns in the US that were celebrating Mardi Gras and being Queer. Vivienne shares how magical the experience was and the cut-out behind the scene stories, the concerns they have for the “Don’t Say Gay Bill” and other laws that are being put in place to erase Queer identities in the country. We also learn that in small religious towns that do try to celebrate Queer events, certain “dedicated” hate groups attend to simply disrupt and harass. Vivienne discusses her emotional performance in honor of an Iranian Drag Queen who passed away. The talk brings up Vivienne's ambitions to be a parent, the future of Queer people, relationships with their parents, their chosen family, and so on. Finally, Vivienne shares the pride month color meanings, with a focus on the Orange color that represents healing and leaves us with a message that once we feel healed, is to help others heal as well. And we also join in support of Vivienne's call “Trans Rights for Everyone Now!” 

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Vivienne Lovecraft is part of different queer and BiPoC activist groups to create safer spaces and host fundraising events for marginalized groups in the LGBTIQ-Community of Berlin. She loves to create shows, hosts and wants to share her passion for the art of drag with as many people as possible. 

You can follow Vivienne's  work below;
https://www.instagram.com/vivienne_lovecraft/ 

Mentioned in this episode:
Drag Me to the USA (2022-) 
The Adventure