John Bowes never thought he would see a drag show in a retirement home.
When he was growing up, attending drag shows in underground gay bars was like “going to the Martian section of the city,” said the 82-year-old retired university professor, who spent decades in the closet before coming out.
Clearly, things have changed, said Bowes. He said he has known since he was eight that he was gay, but only came out only when he was well into his academic career, after marrying a woman in suburban Chicago. “We still get along pretty well,” Bowes said.
While he’s not a big fan of the TV drag spectacle, he’s looking forward to today’s drag show at Amica Jubilee House, where he now lives.
Called Aging is Drag, the show — which organizers are calling Victoria’s first drag show in a long-term-care home — will also serve as a fundraiser for seniors-focused programming at the Victoria Pride Society.
The lineup includes drag queens Eddi Licious, Woofie and Vivian VanderPuss of Canada’s Drag Race fame.
Maxence Arignon, a community relations director at Amica who will be performing as Anya Marx, said the facility has invited residents from several other homes in the capital region to attend.
“There’s probably going to be at least 20 queer seniors in the audience, which is kind of a big deal. I’ve never seen that many queer seniors in a room, to be honest,” he said.
The show will start with a performance of the 1960s-era hit These Boots are Made for Walkin’ by Nancy Sinatra.
Other acts will feature songs from Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland and Freddie Mercury.
Arignon said throwback drag shows are a “natural fit” for the residents, many of whom were in their 20s or 30s in the 1960s or 1970s.
Arignon has been putting on vintage-themed drag shows at Amica care homes since 2022. There was some initial hesitation, but the first show the company held in West Vancouver was a hit.
“A lot of them said it was the best program they ever had,” he said. “It’s a significant amount of nostalgia. It takes them back to a time in their life, you know, when they were young and having a lot of fun.”
Victoria Pride Society president Ace Mann applauded the event, saying the city’s elder LGBTQ community is underrepresented in terms of events and support.
Research from Robert Beringer, an assistant professor at the University of Victoria, has shown older LGBTQ adults can face social isolation, as well as distrust of health-care workers due to past experiences of discrimination.
Mann said “a lot of queer elders end up having to go ‘back into the closet’ because they feel they aren’t able to have their sexuality be a part of them” in long-term-care homes.
“There are a lot of people still who don’t just accept people for who they are. When your medical treatment comes first, if they feel like they have to deny a part of who they are, in order to make sure they’re getting the appropriate treatment — I completely understand,” Mann said.
Bert Elliott, president of the Prime Timers Victoria, a social club for adult gay, bisexual and trans men, said it’s well-documented that people hide their sexuality when arriving in a new environment.
“Imagine if you’re in a home and you’re 80 or 90 and you come from a generation where it wasn’t easy to be out — or you had a whole lifetime of not being out — you’re not likely to be able to express yourself.”
With about 7.3 per cent of those identifying as LGBTQ in Canada now aged 65 or older, according to the latest census data, some have made the argument for dedicated LGBTQ senior living spaces.
Elliott, whose club members average 67 years of age, said he’s not sure if that’s the right call.
“It’s just me thinking, but do you really want to segregate society that way or is it better just to make different expressions of sexuality part of being accepted in the normal world?”
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