Connect with us

Event News

PHOTOS & VIDEO – LGBTQI ally Michelle Visage at Dolans Warehouse

LGBTQI activist Michelle Visage will be speaking all things drag, sexuality and gender identity at ‘What’s the Tea? A conversation with Michelle Visage and Jennifer Schweppe’ this Friday, 16 March. 

‘What’s the Tea? A conversation with Michelle Visage’ at Dolans Warehouse

‘What’s the Tea? A conversation with Michelle Visage and Jennifer Schweppe’ is taking place this Friday, March 16 at Dolans Warehouse at 8pm as part of the ‘academic meets activist’ series of The Hate and Hostility Research Group, at the University of Limerick.


advertisement




advertisement




advertisement




advertisement




advertisement



Michelle Visage will be discussing gender identity, drag and being an ally to the LGBTI community with Ms Schweppe, who is a co-director of the International Network for Hate Studies.

Michelle is an American singer, television host, radio DJ, author, and television personality. She is a renowned LGBTQI ally and activist and television personality, best known for judging RuPaul’s Drag Race and currently appearing on Ireland’s Got Talent.

Since January 2011, Michelle has been a judge on the reality competition show RuPaul’s Drag Race, as well as its spin-off RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars. Michelle became a housemate on the fifteenth series of Celebrity Big Brother and left the house in fifth place. Michelle is one of the four judges on the ongoing first season of Ireland’s Got Talent, alongside Denise Van Outen, Jason Byrne and Louis Walsh.

Michelle Visage

Michelle Visage will be in talks with University of Limerick lecturer Jennifer Schweppe this Friday, March 16 at Dolans.

Michelle Visage is an outspoken advocate for the LGBTQ community in word and action and has been an ally to the queer community since day one.

In a recent interview with Vulture, Visage spoke bluntly about where she thinks LGBTQ culture is headed in the modern era, “It’s more politically correct than we’ve ever been, which is killing the community in a sense. Helping in some aspects, killing it in others.” She elaborated, later on, saying that labels that are now deemed offensive were used as terms of affection back in the ‘80s when she was rising in the club scene, “Nobody had a problem with being labelled in the ’80s. We were proud to wear a gay label,” she said, “These new words weren’t slurs, they were affection. It’s kind of mind-boggling.” Michelle Visage will be discussing subjects such as this and more in conversation with Jennifer.

Jennifer Schweppe is a Lecturer in Law in the faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Limerick, and co-director of UL’s Hate and Hostility Research Group, as well as co-director of the International Network for Hate Studies.

Jennifer Schweppe of the HHRG said: “Core to the work of the Hate and Hostility Research Group is addressing prejudice and violence against minoritised members of society, and we are thrilled to be welcoming Michelle Visage this week, an individual who has worked tirelessly as an advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community.”

‘Drag the 8th’, a drag after-party extravaganza will commence immediately after the ‘What’s the Tea?’ event at 9.30pm. This event will boast drag talent and surprise guest performers from across Limerick aiming to rock the party while raising funds for the Repeal LK campaign.
Attendance is free for the ‘What’s the Tea? A conversation with Michelle Visage’ event but registration is required by emailing [email protected] with ‘Michelle Visage’ in the subject line to secure entry. Doors open 7.30pm this Friday, 16 March.

 

For more stories on Dolans go here.

For more info on Dolans go here.

Pictures by Cian Reinhardt/ilovelimerick

Richard is a presenter, producer, songwriter and actor. He was named the Limerick Person of the Year (2011) and won an online award at the Metro Éireann Media and Multicultural Awards (2011) for promoting multi-culturalism online. Richard says that the ilovelimerick.com concept is very much a community driven project that aims to document life in Limerick. So, that in 20 years time people can look back and remember the events that were making the headlines.