The University of Rhode Island’s Gender and Sexuality Center hosted a “Spill the Tea: Life’s a Drag” event on Oct. 8, featuring drag queen Ninny Nothin’.
The event was a Q&A about Nothin’s life and how she began her journey as a drag queen.
Nothin’ attended URI for theater. For all of her life, she has been very acting and theater focused. During her time at URI, she started watching “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” a reality show where drag queens compete to see who is the best. She started to see people who she could imagine being like.
“I started seeing representations of queens that I was like, ‘O.K. cool, this is something that I could really fit into,’ Nothin’ said.
Nothin’ wanted to do something separate in her drag persona than others; she wanted to focus on humor rather than being super sexy. She never felt beautiful until after she started transitioning, so when she first started, she painted herself as a clown. Nothin’ was inspired by Jinx Monsoon for her drag aesthetic. She liked to do drag based on her theater background.
“Jinx Monsoon was sort of my gateway,” Nothin’ said.
Nothin’ describes her drag aesthetic as clown. Nothin’ established her persona and her brand, where she got her nickname, “Lips of Providence.” Nothin’s large lips started out by her not knowing how to do makeup and ended up with that product. The lips are the focus of the face. She wanted something that could be classified as camp. Something fun and different.
“Something larger than life [and] glamorous,” Nothin’ said.
The main thing she wanted to come out of her talk that day was for students to be able to have the courage to do what they want with no fear of judgment.
“Drag is a perfect way for people to step out of their comfort zone,” Nothin’ said.
When at the “Big Gay Barbeque” in the beginning of the semester, where drag queens were in attendance and performed, Women’s Center Director Ana W. Barraza saw the panel afterward. The panel included Nothin’ and other queens.
When Nothin’ spoke to Barraza, they talked about continuing the conversation at the panel, where students could be better engaged and more likely to ask questions.
“I thought that conversation could be better had in a more intimate setting,” Barraza said.
The event wasn’t only about pushing students to want to ask questions and be engaged, but also to gain a better knowledge and understanding about drag queens and transgender people.
Barraza mentioned to Nothin’ that when she was younger, she had a friend who had been a drag queen back in the 1980s, so she had been exposed to authentic identity. She said this wasn’t a thing back in that day a sixth grader would do.
“Having that experience at such a young age, it was an aspect of someone’s life that I felt I was privileged to know about,” Barraza said
If someone didn’t have prior experience with being around the LGBTQ+ community and didn’t know how to be a good friend to them, they might not feel comfortable asking questions and knowing how to come off with the best intentions, so she hoped this event would help students struggling with that.
When Barraza was picking a host for the event, she thought back to the barbeque, and since she had already spoken to Nothin’, she knew Nothin’ would be a good pick. Barraza thought Nothin’ was fabulous. She wanted a host that would bring people to speak their truth and empower students.
So many people battle with not feeling good enough that they diminish themselves, so having Nothin’ be loud and proud about her identity was exactly the type of host she needed, according to Barraza.
