The Lookout Bar, Ottawa’s 2SLGBTQIA+ bar and nightclub, has crowned BJ Stroker as the winner of Ottawa’s Next Drag Superstar: All Stars, making him the first drag king to win the eight-week long competition.
BJ, along with other drag artists in Ottawa, calls it a big win for drag kings because they are often overlooked and underrepresented in the community.
BJ told Capital Current that part of winning for him was to show that kings too can be successful.
“This was a different pride because it wasn’t just for me, it was for an entire community,” said BJ. “That was one of my main goals at the beginning … to help my community and help lift all kings up.”
Before drag, BJ was a lead singer in a rock band, but stopped performing after being was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome, which left him neurologically paralyzed. He said his journey to recovery was very difficult.
“I was on life support and had to learn how to walk, brush my teeth, everything,” said BJ.
When BJ returned to performing entertainment, he began with burlesque. He said it was a great way to feel comfortable in his body after recovery. He started getting booked for drag shows, where he began experimenting with the craft and becoming a drag king.
“One time I sort of did an androgynous number for burlesque, and I put this blue blazer on, as soon as I put it on, I was like, ‘oh, wait, who the hell is this guy?’,” said BJ. “Growing up, I was always the tomboy, and it was just a beautiful way to be in touch with that side of myself…and then BJ was kind of born.”
However, BJ said he began seeing that drag kings weren’t treated the same as drag queens.
“Drag kings didn’t get the same amount of opportunities as drag queens,” said BJ. “We have to work three times as hard for a quarter of the opportunities.”
BJ says many people are unaware that drag kings exist.
“The amount of shows when the host is like, ‘has anyone ever seen a drag king before?’ The amount of people that still put up their hands that have never seen a drag king, is mind boggling to me,” said BJ.
BJ, along with other drag kings in the community, say the media and award winning television series such as RuPaul’s Drag Race are one of the bigger reasons for the lack of representation of drag kings.
With 16 seasons and a number of spin-offs, RuPaul’s Drag Race is one of the largest drag television series worldwide. However, a drag king has yet to be featured as a contestant in the franchise.
Omari B. Johnson is drag king from Ottawa, and was crowned Mr. Capital Pride 2023. He says the media and society tends to focus heavily on drag queens, which is not representative of the whole drag community.
“I think with those types of shows, there really needs to be some type of change,” said Omari.
Omari says that Canada’s Drag Race recently opened up their applications for its sixth season, but says “it’s very interesting that it is just for queens.”
“For the drag king community, it feels like it’s taking so long when it’s something that could be very easy to incorporate,” said Omari. “Make it so that it’s not just queens, make it a drag competition with kings, queens and MX performers.”
In addition to more drag king representation, Omari says he wants to see drag shows hire more BIPOC performers.
“It is hard to see, sometimes, several months of different shows only having white performers, knowing that there are so many other queens, kings and MX performers,” says Omari.
Omari debuted in 2019, and says drag has helped him feel more comfortable in his own skin. Since then, Omari has created his own local drag king show called Capital King. The show gives Ottawa kings the opportunity to showcase their arts and talents.
“When I first started, I didn’t know that many drag kings, and now with our show, we’re putting a list together of all the kings, … and realizing that we’re just growing this list,” said Omari. “It’s really great to see that the list is getting bigger, that there’s a bigger community of drag kings out there.”
Jax Stellan Fenris Dore is a MX drag king in Ottawa and says despite the many challenges drag kings and MX performers face within the community, he is confident that attitudes are shifting for the better.
“I’d say that it’s changed a lot. I think, especially right now for drag kings specifically, there’s a really strong push,” says Jax. “It’s a good time to be a drag artist right now.”
Though Jax says their performances and characters tend to reflect a more masculine energy, their drag is not strictly male or female. “I think even with a mustache, I’m pretty non-binary,” said Jax.
Jax says that drag has always been a part of their life, but they began performing as an MX drag king roughly four years ago. They say that more people now, especially youth, are coming to drag king shows.
“I competed this past summer in Mr. Luscious King, and it was packed, it was sold out,” says Jax. “The fact that an all king competition was a blockbuster hit, I’d say if people don’t feel represented, it’s coming.”
Jax, along with other drag artists, say that the community must continue to support drag kings and MX performers to change the narrative about drag in popular culture.
“I really want to see more inclusivity, and I’m trying to do my bit for that,” says Jax. “Drag really is for everybody.”
For BJ, he says there is still work to be done, but he hopes that his recent win will help bring more representation and recognition for the community.
“We got to show this world what kings can do and that kings are valid,” says BJ. “We’re just as exciting and we’re just as entertaining, and we can bring it just as much as any drag form.”
