INTERVIEW
It wasn ’ t until I moved in with Shakona Fire , who is like a political princess in London , speaks up about so many things . Fantastic friend , a really great person . She told me : “ You actually have a responsibility . You ’ ve got so many followers and people who book you and see you everywhere . You have a responsibility .” And people said it to me in the past , that I should speak up more . But Shakona really changed my view on things . Since then , I ’ ve tried to have a positive impact , in terms of calling people in , talking to performers , venue owners , speaking up about what they might be doing wrong , sharing my experience .
In your career so far , were there any instances when you ’ ve experienced blatant racism ?
Yes , I ’ ve had two situations like that . It made me feel very bad . And I thought about how many times I ’ ve heard Chiyo , Rhys ’ s Pieces or lots of other people pull out their experiences , how it ’ s made them feel , and how important it is that they ’ re spoken about . These things happen all the time , to my brothers and sisters , to my friends . And it feels awful . So we have a responsibility to tell these things to other people , to tell our stories , to support other artists when it ’ s happening to them and have somebody in the corner , because it ’ s really hard . Because people want to make you feel like you ’ re alone all the time . In my career it has only happened two times , so I think I ’ ve been quite lucky in that sense . But that doesn ’ t mean that it doesn ’ t happen . It still happens to other artists .
Since last year ’ s protests and everything that happened with BLM , have you noticed any significant change ?
It ’ s really hard to tell . It ’ s a big yes . But it ’ s also a big no . It ’ s hard because the more things are being called out , the more things are being brought to your attention . There ’ s an influx of people trying to make their casts really diverse . But then there ’ s also an influx of people calling stuff out more . So there ’ s more stuff that ’ s coming to the attention . It all really is swings and roundabouts .
What can I do to support as an ally ?
Just support everyone and use your voice as much as you can . If there are trans people talking about their story , it ’ s important to share . To elevate those voices . If people of colour are speaking out about racism or experience that ’ s happened , it ’ s important to stand behind it and support it . Just because we ’ re not a part of that particular community , or we ’ re not a part of that culture , it doesn ’ t mean we can ’ t speak up . You don ’ t have to be a woman to support women ’ s rights . You don ’ t have to be a trans person to support trans community . I think it ’ s important that we use our voices any way we can to make sure we ’ re telling these stories .
What do you think are the most important issues that need to change or need to be addressed in the queer art community now ?
Oh my God , there are so many things . From an outsider perspective it ’ s all fun and games , but there ’ s so many things that are still happening . People are still being misgendered , trans people are still not being treated the same as cis people , drag kings are still massively underrepresented and cis white line-ups are still happening . There ’ s lots of things that need to change , but I think lockdown has made people think about these things more . People are calling it out more when they see these things happening . It ’ s about educating people , but also , still fighting against the wrongdoings that are still happening . When individuals have a certain level of privilege , it ’ s hard for them to understand where others , like trans people or POC `people are coming from . So I think it ’ s just really important for everyone to carry on talking about it and doing what we can to make sure that these things are changed .
Image : Soroya Marchelle
“ Just because we ’ re not a part of that particular community , or we ’ re not a part of that culture , it doesn ’ t mean we can ’ t speak up .”
56 SLEUTH ISSUE 4