OSCARS 2023

Drag Is A Threat To Nobody

Jason Parsley

Drag took center stage March 12 at the Oscars when Daniel Scheinert won the award for Best Director and declared during his acceptance speech drag “is a threat to nobody.”

Scheinert, who is not gay, won for his work on “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” which also features a queer subplot.

“This one is dedicated to the mommies of the world, to our moms, specifically my mom and dad, thank you for not squashing my creativity when I was making really disturbing horror films or really perverted comedy films or dressing in drag as a kid, which is a threat to nobody,” he said to cheers from the crowd.

Dan Kwan, who is not gay and who won the directing award along with Scheinert, told the Windy City Times last year he had been harassed growing up for his perceived sexuality.

“When I was growing up, people were convinced I was gay. They would even [throw] slurs at me. I am not comparing myself to a gay person who had to deal with that because there is no comparison, but because of that, I feel comfortable within spaces where people are allowed to express their gender or sexuality in whatever way they want to,” he said. “We have so many friends in the queer community and don’t belong in masculine or patriarchal worlds.”

The movie is about an average woman who owns a laundromat but ends up having to save the entire multiverse. Her daughter in the story is queer.

Stephanie Hsu, who plays the daughter, was nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, but the award went to Jamie Lee Curtis, who plays another character in the film. Collectively the two directors are known as “The Daniels.”

There’s also a drag scene in the movie. “I love drag! There is a gender switch where a guy ends up in a salsa dancer’s dress,” Scheinert told Windy City. Kwan joked, “Daniel is very convincing in drag when he wants to be.”

Besides that moment Lady Gaga, who identifies as bisexual, took the stage to perform Hold My Hand, which was nominated Best Achievement in Music, which was featured in the movie “Top Gun: Maveric.” The award though went to Naatu Naatu

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” was the big winner for the evening taking home seven awards including Best Picture. The film was produced by A24 studio. This is their second movie to win Best Picture after taking home the top prize for Moonlight, a Black queer movie, at the 2017 ceremony