I’d like to take a few hundred words and contribute to the ongoing CN debate around masculinity, the Drag Show, and Catholicism. 

Rather than trot out the usual masculinity debate, as an alternative, I present the idea of pursuing authenticity. You like lifting? Great. You enjoy smoking? Awesome. You like driving trucks and watching football? Terrific. I’m truly glad you have found things that bring you joy. I like some of those things too, just maybe not the gas mileage. By the same measure – don’t like sports? Groovy. You care about fashion and like avocado toast? Perfect. You cry? Excellent, let it out. I cry too. Sometimes I lift and cry in the same day. It’s wild.

Live authentically. As Aurora Thunder said on Saturday, “Life’s too short to be anything but yourself.” If being true to yourself means doing “traditionally” masculine things, then you should do those things. If being true to yourself means doing “traditionally” feminine things, you should do that. If being true to yourself means a mix of those traits or traits falling outside the binary, terrific. 

One caveat: Your choices about how to live your life should not hurt or denigrate others.

Unfortunately, I’d say my ideas on authenticity aren’t widely adopted. And I fully realize that my “live authentically” idea is not available to everyone. When I live authentically, I’m accepted by society. Why? Because society affords me benefits based on the way I look. Society accords me benefits because I live my life in ways that society has deemed acceptable based on my sex, gender, race, etc. For many folks who don’t share the benefits I have, they are cast to the margins and living their lives authentically is difficult, impossible or downright dangerous. Don’t believe me? Read the news.

Here’s where I think the Drag Show aligns with our Catholic identity. Wasn’t Christ all about bringing folks to the table, namely folks who had been cast to the margins by a society that would not accept them? I confess, I’m not a scriptural expert, but seems to me like Christ wouldn’t give you the boot out of heaven because you didn’t conform to societal norms. Christ himself was radical, after all.

I think the question we should ask ourselves at a Jesuit, Catholic institution is not “why is there a Drag Show?” but rather “why are folks like the queens cast to the margins?” and then, without hesitation, the next questions should be “what am I doing to perpetuate that?” and “what can I do to stop it?” Answering those questions and following it with action – that’s a faith that truly does justice.