Arts & Entertainment
Dolly Parton honors Texas drag queen
The Country music superstar gifted a guitar in a show of appreciation for drag performer Brigitte Bandit’s LGBTQ+ activism
Known for her political activism including becoming a plaintiff in the Federal lawsuit to stop the ban on drag shows, Brigitte Bandit has a lengthy record of advocacy and activism for the state’s LGBTQ+ community including multiple appearances before Texas lawmakers at the capitol testifying.
Austin’s NBC News affiliate KXAN reported that during one of her appearances before a committee hearing Bandit was photographed holding a copy of a children’s book about Country music superstar Dolly Parton. One of Parton’s executive team saw the photo and passed it along to the singer.
Parton reacted by signing a custom made guitar which was presented to Bandit at a live performance this past weekend.
“Dolly Parton was actually the second concert I ever saw. My first one was Cher, and Dolly was my second. I like to joke that’s why I’m a drag queen now,” Bandit told KXAN. “But Dolly has always been such a huge inspiration. I do call myself the Dolly of Austin. My very first paid booking was a Dolly show. Whenever I started to get a little bit more traction in the drag community, for some reason, Dolly and Brigitte just got together, and I was booked for so many Dolly events that eventually I just ended up becoming the Dolly. Often if somebody wanted a Dolly, I was there.”
Later on her Instagram account Bandit wrote:
Reflecting on the previous year and the numerous challenges including the lawsuit, that currently has been blocked in a permanent injunction by a U.S. District Court judge, Bandit told KXAN:
“It’s a public statement to send a guitar to a drag queen in Texas right now that’s fighting this kind of anti-drag and anti-trans bills,” Bandit said, “so I love Dolly for supporting the community and making sure that the people who are doing this feel heard. Everybody’s excited to see that people notice what we’re doing here.”
She added that she plans to only perform once with the guitar before she puts it in a display case of some kind. Her intent she noted is to perform a Dolly tribute with it on the singer’s birthday on Jan. 19.
Celebrity News
Madonna announces release date for new album
‘Confessions II’ marks return to the dance floor
Pop icon Madonna on Wednesday announced that her 15th studio album will be released on July 3.
Titled “Confessions II,” the new album is a sequel to 2005’s “Confessions on a Dance Floor,” an Abba and disco-infused hit.
The new album reunites Madonna with producer Stuart Price, who also helmed the original “Confessions” album. It’s her first album of new material since 2019’s “Madame X.”
“We must dance, celebrate, and pray with our bodies,” Madonna said in a press release. “These are things that we’ve been doing for thousands of years — they really are spiritual practices. After all, the dance floor is a ritualistic space. It’s a place where you connect — with your wounds, with your fragility. To rave is an art. It’s about pushing your limits and connecting to a community of like-minded people,” continued the statement. “Sound, light, and vibration reshape our perceptions. Pulling us into a trance-like state. The repetition of the bass, we don’t just hear it but we feel it. Altering our consciousness and dissolving ego and time.”
Denali (@denalifoxx) of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” performed at Pitchers DC on April 9 for the Thirst Trap Thursday drag show. Other performers included Cake Pop!, Brooke N Hymen, Stacy Monique-Max and Silver Ware Sidora.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Arts & Entertainment
In an act of artistic defiance, Baltimore Center Stage stays focused on DEI
‘Maybe it’s a triple-down’
By LESLIE GRAY STREETER | I’m always tickled when people complain about artists “going political.” The inherent nature of art, of creation and free expression, is political. This becomes obvious when entire governments try to threaten it out of existence, like in 2025, when the brand-new presidential administration demanded organizations halt so-called diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programming or risk federal funding.
Baltimore Center Stage’s response? A resounding and hearty “Nah.” A year later, they’re still doubling down on diversity.
“Maybe it’s a triple-down,” said Ken-Matt Martin, the theater’s producing director, chuckling.
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
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