' were more interested in story and not even giving a chance to see it in context of everything.' 'A lot of blame was placed on me and people didn't believe what I was saying,' Chatman said. The other drag queens rushed to blame Chatman. It all seems kind of performative in different ways.'Ĭhatman quit drag four months later after two white drag producers/performers spread a rumor about her.Ĭhatman used an actual cake during a performance to Rihanna's 'Birthday Cake.' Although Chatman said she told the venue manager about the cake, other employees didn't know about the cake until the performance, so clean-up was quickly improvised.Īs a result, a fellow performer had slipped and hurt their ankle. Even if Chatman found a place where she felt welcome, she said she was still in 'a space that is created by another person. She said she constantly felt unsupported and unwanted. Instead, she said she found colorism, anti-Blackness and transphobia. Zola Chatman began her drag career in 2018 at a drag brunch at Kitchen 17, a local vegan restaurant.Ĭhatman, a Black trans woman from Chicago, entered the drag world thinking she was joining a supportive community. This article shared 931 times since Thu Dec 30, 2021
