The Jester: Ophelia Peaches

“Not to be cliche, but drag really saved me.” Self-expression is hard to come by. We all show different faces to different people, but our true uniqueness is often hidden. Being a queer youth and doing performance art can be a frightening thing to face. However, being truly yourself can overcome all. Ophelia Peaches is a 14-year-old-drag queen and one of this year’s 2019 Power Winners. She grew up watching RuPaul’s Drag Race and immediately developed a taste for the craft. She seems like someone who has always been in drag. Having an older sister, she was always “invited to all the tea parties” and can recall dressing up most of the time. “I was in a full princess outfit with a giant hat, and I just had these horrible white glasses on. I stood there in the hallway just singing.” The tip of the iceberg that launched Ophelia’s passion was attending a drag show. She had the opportunity to see Chad Micheals and Ginger Dougles, whom she describes as a goddess. However, it was also comforting to her that they were just people. “Seeing them and realizing that they’re people too helped me. I saw them as these seven-foot-tall glamazons, because that’s what they are. But then, getting to know them, I thought: they’re like me. They’re people. Why can’t I do this? So I started doing.” Before doing drag, academics weren’t Ophelia’s strong suit. Socially, she was shy and timid, afraid to speak out in class. The impact going to a drag show had on her made her realize people will always judge you, but living uniquely to you is key. Breaking from her shell, her motto was to simply be herself. Ophelia’s first positivity memorable performance was at the first Dragutante, an event she and her mother put on for youth drag performers to get involved. She danced to “Born This Way” by Lady Gaga, perhaps an overdone classic, but in her words, “everybody has to do that.” While she knows her first performances weren’t exactly flawless, Ophelia also knows her performances make her stand out. Maybe she doesn’t do death drops and the splits, but she always puts her own, unique spin on things. She can recall her first performance at Dragutante vividly. The lights made the crowd invisible, but she could hear the cheers and support of her family and friends. “I remember this experience so much, because it filled me with so much love. And it wasn’t that I worked the house down, because if I death drop, I’ll drop dead. It was the fact that I went up there. I was brave enough to be myself, and that makes performance so memorable. Everybody was so loving and supportive of me being who I am.” Ophelia has been doing drag for over a year now. She describes a perfect performance as one riddled with emotion, because death drops and splits are simply filler. The key to a mesmerizing performance is “to show your true self and what your heart says in the performance.” Still, the life of a youth drag performer can be tough. Ophelia knows the importance of having support around her to stave off any negativity. She feels that the support of her friends and family are what give her motivation to “try even harder to do an amazing job at something.” Ophelia stresses the value of supporting one another, but doesn’t take credit for her impact on other kids like her. She feels she takes just as much inspiration from them.

“I’d be selfish to say that I made an impact on their lives, when they really made the most important impact on my life. To know that even though I’m still learning my own thing, and they still take inspiration from me, is amazing. It’s just great to know that they’re realizing that they can be a performer and realize themselves through the art of drag.”

Ophelia Peaches’ drag career is only in the beginning stages. She hopes to later learn how to death drop and do the splits in order to spice up some more of her performances, but for now, she’s grateful for what she has. “I’m very grateful for having the experiences that the community is giving me, my drag mother gives me, and you gave me just to come up here and say what I believe in. If it wasn’t for the community, people like you, even my family, and my drag mother, I wouldn’t be here. Because, again, it’s that support thing. They’re just pushing me up. I feel like I can just rise up and be my best self because of all their love. I thank them for that.”