I have no idea who’s fighting with who in TO now or why but I CAN confirm after 6 years of doing it practically full time (but rarely for pay) that documenting drag is something you do for passion only. It’s hard. People treat you like you ALWAYS owe them for nothing in return.

We have people who HATE us and have tried to trash our name all over because we’ve never filmed them... without taking into account that they don’t follow us, have never said hello, don’t send us their show posters, ignore that we have to travel far, don’t offer help etc.

Just like performers don’t owe their supporters unlimited pieces of themselves to the detriment of their health, those who support by documenting don’t owe everyone who puts on a wig an arbitrary level of personalized production just by default.

It’s a very hard space to occupy in drag- your entire role is to exist peripherally, cater to the people you’re there for AND the people who follow you for them, not get in the way but also somehow be everywhere, rarely get praised for yourself and your actual work.

And Bitch it’s WORK. We literally don’t have other members of Drag Coven besides me and Jamie cause every time we’ve had someone else film for us... they despise it and their body hurts and they say it wrecks their show experience and they quit my back’s FUCKED from videoing

Anyways, it’s literally a(n unpaid) labour of love. Sure, equitable support is NICE and I vehemently encourage it (except the assholes, fuck yall, film your damn selves), but no one is OBLIGATED to document you unless you’re paying them or supporting them mutually another way.

It IS better when everyone supports everyone. The person filming will have a more successful acct with diversity/range. The performers will have more media of themselves for promo/networking if they invest (in whatever way) in the people trying to archive their scene. MUTUALITY.

Cause tbh that’s what people who document Drag are doing- literally archiving an unprecented surge in the popularity of a SUPER fucking important piece of sociopolitical culture. It’d be cool if we could ALL be part of it, yeah, but no one HAS to ensure that for you.

Is it unfair when all the same people get all the attention? Sure, a little, sometimes. And I don’t think people who make a gig out of filming artists should be nonsensically exclusive; in that case, just do it for fun for yourself and not as an entity. But they CAN do whatever.

Anyways I saw people screaming about the nuances of who owes who what in Drag filming and I happen to know that issue INTRICATELY and the answer is that technically we don’t all owe each other SHIT but I promise it’s better when everyone is nice and things are mutually beneficial

(But also, both sides stop and evaluate- if someone isn’t filming you, why is that? Is it chance, or did something you do/said get back to them? If someone’s mad at you for not filming, why didn’t you? Phone battery or favouritism? I have no idea, I’m just spilling experience )

Anyways, yeah, I aim a video camera at drag artists semi-professionally, so there’s my random two cents no one asked for