With a career spanning more than ten years, Karoline Absinto, 34, remembers the golden days of Rio de Janeiro’s LGBT nightlife, when she had a full schedule of performances in nightclubs on weekends.
Today, the situation is discouraging. The rise of the Internet, the dating apps launched in recent years, the unstable economy, and finally the pandemic, have contributed to the bankruptcy of several dance clubs (mainly for gay men) in the main metropolises of Brazil, such as Rio and São Paulo.
The combination of these factors contributed to dozens of drag queens – and other professionals who made the night their main (and sometimes only) source of income – being out of work.
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“The crisis was already happening before the pandemic, and it was the apex of the despair of artists, especially the drag queens who had their income from nightlife,” says Absinto, who does a funny, clumsy drag style.
In a time before the Internet (until the mid-1990s), the only way to meet like-minded people was in discos, or ghettos, as some called these places where the gay community gathered to have fun. Dance music dominated the crowded dance floors, and drag queens reigned supreme with lip-sync performances or stand-up comedy.
Usually concentrated in Copacabana and downtown, each house had a profile (chic, trash, underground, etc.), and there were audiences for all of them. However, gradually, the contact became virtual ,and like a domino effect, one by one, they were closing their doors. The Internet showed that it was no longer necessary to go clubbing to meet someone. A computer screen, and later a cell phone chat, replaced eye-to-eye communication. Places, once crowded, today are empty spaces displaying “for rent” signs, a reminder of a colorful and not so distant past.
The pandemic came to put a damper on an already difficult situation that became even more critical when Covid-19 broke out. Nightlife entrepreneurs in general suffered heavy losses, as did their employees — especially the drag queens. Those who had other jobs managed to get around the crisis, as Absinto recalls:
“At the beginning of the pandemic, I lived on rent, so I had to move back to my parents’ house and started to build two rooms for myself on top of their house. I needed the help of friends and family for this, and I also learned to make cakes to sell”.
While DJs, bartenders, and cleaners had the chance to find job opportunities in other areas, the same did not happen for drag queens in this unique field. For her, the economic crisis was not the only factor that contributed to the demise of the LGBT night. The open bar also influenced it, with Absinto blaming drunk customers for not wanting to see drag shows.
With the financial crisis that devastated the country, other paths opened up, revealing a light at the end of the tunnel. In an attempt to remedy the situation, the gay saunas started to show their performances, but there are too many artists and a lack of space. In any case, everyone suffered the consequences of the pandemic. The coronavirus has not only killed people, but also businesses.
With fashionable costumes and perfect make-up, Andreia Andrews also thinks that the open bar has killed the glamour of the night. But, on the other hand, there has been greater visibility for them, even though the discos have been disappearing. She has had a 20-year career and has performed in saunas, clubhouses, and even straight parties.
Electronic music and rental prices
One of the biggest icons of LGBTQIA+ militancy in Brazil, Kaká di Polly has been a drag queen for 44 years, and has followed the peak and decline of Brazilian GLS nightlife (the acronym used to describe gays, lesbians, and sympathizers in the past). For the stage veteran, the downfall of gay entertainment has several causes:
“What weakened a lot of the glamour of the Brazilian gay night were the parties with electronic music, because they don’t have drag shows. With the impoverishment of the country, they were closing their doors due to the cost of renting these spaces. But in my opinion, what mainly made the night end was the Internet, because today you can get everything with it.”
Di Polly also adds dating apps as one of the reasons for this decadence: “If you want to get laid, you don’t have to leave home and go to a nightspot and ‘hunt’ someone as in the past. Today, you pick someone who is a few meters away from you, he comes to your house, you have sex, and that’s it. I hope that the nightclubs reopen, that they start having drag queen shows again”, says the experienced artist who participated in the first Gay Pride in Brazil in 1997.
A dazzling past for an undefined reality
It is estimated that there are currently nine LGBT nightspots in Rio de Janeiro. In the 1980s, there were more than 50 clubhouses in Copacabana alone, considering spots for both straight and LGBT people, including strip clubs. Entrepreneurs have learned that organizing a party on sporadic dates and in itinerant locations is more profitable than maintaining a fixed space that requires rent, employees, and constant maintenance.
Opened in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro, the now extinct Le Boy, created by a French businessman, was a kind of Studio 54 in Copacabana and the most famous in the city. International artists went to have fun there, such as fashion designer Calvin Klein, actor Rupert Everett, singers like Rihanna and Katy Perry, and many other celebrities.
Besides, almost every drag queen performed there. It was a spot to see and be seen. During the Carnival period, rent boys competed for the foreigners who landed at Le Boy. Closed in 2016, a for sale sign was placed on the property valued at almost $3 million USD in 2021.
In Ipanema, the Galeria Café LGBT bar, founded in 1997, has been surviving. The space, known in the city for hosting parties and exhibitions, went through a troubled period last year and had to resort to crowdfunding campaigns to continue operating. The initiative was successful, and the pub continues to run.
Facing a disturbing scenario, some sites still resist, but nobody knows until when. Asked how they see tomorrow, if we are confronting a road with no return, Absinto, Di Polly and Andrews are optimistic and share similar opinions.
All three have good expectations. Absinto believes the space for them will improve, and that some drags are being hired to host events and birthdays. For Andrews, the RuPaul’s Drag Race reality-show opened doors for the drag culture, helping to promote their work. Di Polly emphasizes the existence of drag queens as activists: “I hope this will change one day, and then we will say ‘we are here’, and not just putting on a wig, but doing something for the LGBTQIA+ movement, this is the only way we will become stronger,” she says. Despite the uncertain future, there is still hope for drag art in Brazil.
Image: Cee Ayes