FROM THE MOLDY BASEMENTS TO THE MUSEUMS: ACID REFLUX

As the current administration continues to infringe on queer existence, we almost seem to be returning to hold habits. Though the idea of moving backwards is more so “going down” and while this phrasing can appear negative on paper, for drag entertainers like Acid Reflux (@missacidrelfux), diving into the underground was only just the start.

Shortly after beginning their drag journey, Acid Reflux joined a collective of, at the time, three unique artists. La Gatita started around two years ago, joining punk shows in New Brunswick. These shows began taking place at Rutgers University, and started garnering attention from the more “corporate” performance scene, while packing the campus’s basements with diy and powerful, alternative queerness. This audience, initially formed by word of mouth and “DM for addy” listings, “has evolved into us getting opportunities to do gigs at museums, and all of these places you wouldn’t really think drag would be in. It’s anything you want it to be in any space. Drag takes up space; if it’s small, if it’s big, and if it’s moldy…”

Yet when starting to perform, La Gatita and its performers were not listed as “drag entertainers.” They were an intermission in between the bands’ sets, serving as further entertainment, but not yet having a fully formed identity.

“[When I started performing,] I didn’t really know who Acid Reflux was. I needed to play more…with what felt comfortable for my transness. When we transitioned into doing the collective, it forced me to see different performances styles and different queer people. I heard what they enjoyed. I knew what people were looking for…That’s kind of what built my queerness.”

Acid herself, and La Gatita, have been a community effort. “I am a product of all of the stuff we’ve done with the collective. I value being a shapeshifter, I love being a gender bender, a little spooky, a little ooky. I do classify with that, but it doesn’t always have to be that.” The collective, having grown in size, now features an even broader spectrum of entertainment, all heiling to their experiences in their identities. “Acid Reflux is a product of the different emotions you go through being a trans woman in these spaces and in these scenes. There’s a lot of darkness that comes with drag. Really tapping into that darkness taught [myself] different parts of me.”

As she continues to share, “Trans rage can be beautiful,” and when the only thing the world, or maybe more specifically and accurately put, this country, seems to want you to feel is upset, spaces like the ones La Gatita has created are more vital to our trans siblings than ever. “The energy in those basements…it doesn’t matter how big, how small, they live for it.”

There is strength in numbers as there is comfort in community. We’ve continued to circle around this idea as of late, that we’ve done it before, and we will do it again, but the effects of the raid on P Town Bar have continued to be felt both locally and nationwide when coupled with larger scale trauma, such as Trump, without House approval or acknowledgement, calling for the bombing of three nuclear plants in Iran over the weekend. We ask each other, how and where are these venues going to “survive” each passing threat?

Queer spaces “started underground,” and both fortunately and unfortunately, we both believe they may soon be making their return. “Even though it is scary that we are kind of regressing…there is always that hope that there are queer leaders. I don’t like to be like ‘I am a queer leader,’ but I have these spaces.” When asking the further question of, “what happens next,” Acid and I said, “It’s a matter of adjusting to [modernity].”

Though, defiance, or even secrecy, to those affected, is a grey area. Acid Reflux constitutes their personal run in with the law as “both a blessing and a curse.” When hosting the “Reflux Rave” for her birthday, in that same moldy basement, there had been a significant increase in noise complaints in New Brunswick, causing police to be called and shutting down the event. This forced La Gatita to “rebuild,” and put Acid Reflux at the forefront as the mother of the collective when members proceeded to “dwindle off” following the event.

With this new image of La Gatita, their outreach was able to extend even further than New Jersey. One of the members moving to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania allowed a new playing field that only continued to grow alongside Acid’s connections in New York City. Though the members of the haus have all been unique in their own right, featuring clowns, kings, things, “…Everyone can relate to one of the performers.” This individuality has been symbiotic.

Acid Reflux has found success and self assurance in not only witnessing but being involved in many different forms of drag artistry, while the audience joins in with their own discoveries. Some members of the haus have been previous attendees, working their way through the chain of support with dedication to not only their personal craft, but an insistence on being a part of something so great.

Having originated underground, Acid Reflux, alongside La Gatita, has proven that art can be done any way, anywhere. From the moldy basements, to the museums, drag is what you make it.

You can find more from the collective on Instagram @lagatitadrag, as well as the current members by their handles listed here: @theetangelinaholee @thehumandiscoball @sourdoestarter @djgloverrrboi @indigenita @jarisgev_ @dollie.emani @eden._kitty.