QUEER PROM – Crowning Two Generations of Canadian Drag Prom Royalty

With only the top five queens of season two left in the workroom, the episode started off with a very special surprise: emotional video calls with their biggest supporters from back home. These touching conversations set the tone for this week’s challenge as the queens were then introduced to five 2SLGBTQ teens from around the country and were asked to chaperone them to their very own queer prom! This was a chance for the teens and the queens to do prom over the way they truly dreamed of, making up for some of their own prom experiences being cancelled because of COVID, and other memories that were tainted by homophobia and discrimination. As said by one of the teens, Clover (they/them), the history of prom is very heteronormative, with an intense pressure to conform to social norms. This was an opportunity that was the exact opposite of that!

The contestants were paired with their new drag proteges by last week’s winner, Kendall Gender. The challenge was to create a mother/daughter drag look and performance for the runway. The queens were tasked with creating an original prom outfit for their drag daughters from scratch, and putting together an outfit for themselves to match and sell the story of a mother-daughter relationship on stage.

As the drag mother/daughter duos transformed into their gorgeous prom runway personas, there were many heartwarming and tear jerking moments as the queens and teens exchanged their own personal experiences with prom, high school, and growing up queer. The generational differences in their experiences became very clear as many of the queens shared stories of homophobia, discrimination, and internalized hatred for themselves, noting how incredible it was to see the youth in the room be able to live as more of their authentic selves than they would have ever thought possible at their age. The teens spoke of their successful efforts to have gender neutral bathrooms in their schools, participating in inclusive clubs and GSA’s, and creating safe spaces to connect and explore their identities. These seemingly small feats are in reality incredible victories for 2SLGBTQ youth today. Not only does it get better, but it has gotten better!