Priscila Queen of the Pacific Coast; or Gay Rights in Nicaragua

I have a big soft spot in my heart for drag queens and have been known to frequent many such events, particularly while I lived in DC (might I suggest Drag Queen Bingo at Chaos on Tuesday nights, Drag Queen Bunch at Perry's on Sunday mornings, or the annual Drag Race on 17th Street at the end of October??). I thought when I came to Nicaragua that my days of rubbing elbows with men in drag would be over for the next 27 months, boy was I wrong!!!

In a show that rivaled John Travolta Nica, I was able to see two lovely drag queens sing and dance at a discoteca down near the beach this past weekend. Unfortunately I wasn't properly prepared and thus do not have any photos, but here's a photo of “Shakira” from Drag Queen Brunch last spring that I think adequately captures the event:

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GLBT issues in Nicaragua are complicated, as they are most everywhere, but the climate here is much more open than I had expected. I remember being surprised to see a man dressed in a tube top with make-up one day in my tiny training town, but it turned out he was Marisol, the local beautician that people really didn't pay much mind to. My impression is that for the most part gay men (who may or may not like to dress in drag) are left alone, but can still be a source of much gossip and are generally looked down upon by other men and often befriended by women. Not necessarily that different from the U.S. However, the definition of just who is gay can be another story. We were told Marisol had a boyfriend who was married with children, but he wasn't gay. Peace Corps staff explained this phenomenon to us with a local saying: “If the canoe gets wet...” And I'll leave it at that.

Gay women, I've been told, largely don't exist here. I mean, they may be out there but they are generally married to men and living a traditional female lifestyle regardless of their sexual preference. Who can really know if this will change anytime soon, the country has bigger fish to fry right now than thinking about gay rights. But, I'm still pretty happy to know that I might get to see some guys in 8 inch platform spiked heels and bad wigs doing cartwheels every once in a while for the next couple years.