This double standard affects our ability to book shows and be booked in shows on an equal playing field. I don’t know what it’s like elsewhere, but here in Phoenix you’d be hard pressed to get booked for a show where you actually get show pay. The queens in the show get paid, but we get told we can keep our tips. If we were a queen, there would be enough budgeted to pay us, but because we’re a king, we’re not at their level. Queens can demand show pay. Hell, I’ve even seen queens demand show pay for fundraisers and benefits! I only know ONE king who’s had the audacity to do that, and it made a lasting (and not a positive) impression on the other party. But when a queen does it, it’s brushed off and ignored.
We’ve been advised to not perform unless we get show pay, but what people don’t realize that if we did that we’d never perform. If we start demanding show pay and other things, our reputations will fall so fast it would be like we never even existed.
And I think it’s ridiculous.
For the most part, we deserve everything the queens get. This double standard is unfair and unnecessary. Especially for those of us who are known to be professional, ethical and entertaining performers. There is no reason why kings should be held at a different standard. For the most part, we’re a lot more fun to watch, we’re more creative with our costuming, and we know our music!
There are some bar owners out there who support the kings 100%, and treat them as well as they treat their queens, but there are some who still all but refuse to work with kings. Usually it’s because they had one bad experience with a king who wasn’t a great performer, or tried to pull a diva attitude. Unfortunately, most of us are not like that. I make sure the kings I associate with are always completely professional, and they know I’m on the same page.
Please don’t misunderstand, I love the queens I perform with. They book me in shows because they like the way I work, both on and off the stage. Even the queens have noticed the double standard between them and us. But even they don’t really know how to fix it. I would just love to see us all on the same level. We deserve it. We bust our butts, constantly. It’s like fighting for equal rights within our own community. We don’t want special treatment. Just hold us both to the same standards.