Izzy Ahee Tells Story

Izzy Ahee is a drag king and gender activist. Izzy brings alternative entertainment, music, and dance to the LGBTQ community as a Drag King and DJ. Izzy Ahee is a Drag King played by Hollis Taylor whom is a Gender Activist. Hollis uses Izzy as a masculine expression of nemself. Hollis is a naturally transitioned TransMasculine person whom identifies as a GenderQueer

Activism & Drag

So I been working hard recently to get the message of drag out there! Drag is ONLY garb deep! This message is what all of us in the drag community know as fact but we are still busy convincing the general public. Many of us love to express parts of us in drag and it…

ABC – Easy as 1,2,3 – TBT -HADR 2013

th week of the Drag Race and I was ready for some fun! At this point it just became about expressing myself and having fun. I learned a lot about Michael Jackson when preparing for this number. Since the drama in the press and his death I had been inspired by his natural talents.

Gender Non Specific Pronouns

MY GENDER EXPRESSION HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH MY SEXUAL ORIENTATION! Other than the fact that by changing my gender expression would therefore change my orientation by our cultures standards. But for me gender expression is my way of expressing that gender is beyond the binary. Removing gender from our world would completely eliminate the need for sexual orientation. But when I gender bend I am not doing it because I am HORNY or because I want to attract women. I am doing it because I need to express the masculine side of me that feels oppressed by our very binary world. My gender expression goes way beyond the bedroom.

Pronouns

Pronouns are interesting because we only really have binary pronouns. Without pronouns people have to repeat your name over and over again. Its awkward speech without pronouns and its awkward with pronouns. I started noticing that I was bothered by strangers using female pronouns all the time. I was refreshed when people have to look at me a couple of times to determine if I am female or if I am male. I found myself hurt that almost no one uses male pronouns with me. I almost never hear male pronouns. With my lovers I ask that they try to mix up my pronouns, although that’s hard for them. Even as Izzy they both struggle with using male pronouns. They don’t impose gender roles but for sure they struggle with using male pronouns. Maybe its their own struggle with understanding sexuality and gender….what lesbian loves men?  I know that they try to balance the two with me but I realize our culture doesn’t support people like me.

Drag is Powerful

Drag takes boldness, bravery, and strength. My respect for the art has increased in the past year to a point that I find myself more and more passionate about it. Even as I look to my future, after I move to Colorado at the end of October, I realize that Izzy will need to be brought to a new community in Colorado. I cannot abandon this amazing art. When I brainstorm what I would like to do I must ask myself what message I am carrying. As a title holding drag king it is my responsibility to carry certain messages. I often like to carry songs that encourage sex positivity, discouraging the shaming of sex. Sometimes I carry the everyone is beautiful message other times I challenge gender roles, my personal pet pieve. Another message I like to bring to the stage is to spread the love.

Amateur Drag Race 2014

I was honored to be asked to be a coach for the Amateur Drag Race 2014. First of all, the drag race was where I started a year ago. I was excited to see the newest amateur drag queens and kings and also to have a small piece in helping them develop their personal drag persona. My love for drag has a long history into my early adulthood even before I was out of the closet as a lesbian, butch, gender variant, and now drag king. Drag’s gender bending nature combined with music, creativity, and strong heart has kept me passionate about drag for many years.

Pride Festival – Lancaster, PA – 2014

By Hollis Taylor This was not my first Pride festival by any means but was certainly the first time I had experienced a Pride Festival from the point of view of Drag King. For many many years though my favorite part of any Pride Festival has been the Drag Queens. I went out of my…

Mr. Lancaster, PA Pride 2014

By Hollis Taylor This was my third and final pageant for 2014 and I hesitated to take it on. After State Street Contest and The Hope Pageant plus my summer adventures I wasn’t sure I could squeeze it in. But I really wanted to be part of the Pride drag scene, last year it was…

Noticing the Balance

By Hollis Taylor Recently I am having a short break from drag meanwhile I dive into my other interests in life such as alternative spiritual practices, intentional fires, drum & dance circles, nature, organic sustainable gardening, and festivals of all sorts. Everything is completely different for me than last spring and early summer. One of the biggest…

Foundation for Hope Pageant 2014

The reason I chose to participate in this competition was for one simple reason, I personally suffer from depression and suicidal tendencies. I have a life-time of stories of being bullied from being kicked almost to death on a city street at 8 years old to being bullied at work. I insist that not only can we be healed from depression and suicidal tendencies but we can also stop bullying. I don’t like to say “never” but it will be awfully hard to change my mind about these subjects as far as them being permanent and an acceptable part of human nature. Human’s can be kind to each other and the abuse CAN stop among us. I am not the only one that thinks so and many expressions of this idea have emerged. The Foundation for Hope is an example of that idea. Hence the drive to compete, even though I am so new at this whole Drag King thing. Also I don’t really enjoy competition as much as I love cooperation. I know many lesbians like this, its not unusual in the lesbian culture.

State Street 2014

There were many reasons I chose to enter the State Street contest . First of all it was for a good cause, Black & White Party, which helps people with AIDS with living expenses. Second of all the rules were loose and sometimes I think rules are created in order to control people. I’m not always behind control. Also, it seems to be a place that drag queens and kings could express some of their deepest darkest ideas without being shunned or punished for them.