Lima is Burning

As a homosexual man, it has always been difficult to see myself in the narratives that the Peruvian cinema usually proposes. The heretonormative narrative prevails, while LGBT + characters remain the exceptions. That non-existent representation from the mass media, in a still extremely conservative and religious society, makes an entire community invisible: which turns into ignorance, rejection and fear. And this causes homophobia, transphobia and 'plumophobia' (the rejection of "femininity", the "fem"). Which ends in violence and death. An endless and extremely harmful vicious cycle.

"God forgives sin, but not scandal". You can be an homosexual man, as long as you remain masculine, discreet and silent. It's the only way to survive.

Drag queens, on the other hand, represent everything that one should not be: scandalous, loud, flashy and, above all, visible. They're the ones who aren't afraid to hit the streets and turn heads in high heels, voluptuous wigs, and sparkling sequin gowns. Their intention is to provoke and question everything that we have been taught about what it means to be a man and a woman, with their limitations and marked hierarchies.

Drag queens have always been the leaders and warriors that lead the LGTB + community in social protests, from Stonewall to the Pride parades around the world every year. They challenge what society imposes, the burden of clothing, the fear of expressing with their body. And thanks to my close research and spending long days (and nights) with them, I was able to overcome my own prejudices around my own queerness. It was thanks to the drag queens that I ended up loving and accepting myself after years of despising my homosexuality, as an inheritance from a society that told me I shouldn't exist.

I admire them. One has to be very brave to go out dressed as a woman, in a society still as violent and conservative as the peruvian one. And each drag queen creates her alter ego with different intentions and backgrounds: some as their only way to survive and earn income, others as a tool for social denunciation and others as an artistic medium. Each personality is defined not only by this initial motivation, but also by the space where they develop (geographically and socio-economically), which is why Lima as a capital city has such a diverse drag scene.

"Lima is Burning" was born from the need to make these bodies in constant transgression visible. Each one from its niche and stage, each with an invaluable contribution to the queer fight to confront the prevailing conservatism.