To the Moon
The Stranger
“What is a more mainstream Seattle thing than the Space Needle?” added Irene the Alien, the show’s host and a RuPaul’s Drag Racealum. “At this point, we're sort of breaking the glass floor of the Space Needle; I think the last thing for us to do would be to run for mayor.” This was her first time at the Space Needle. She said it was cool to pop that cherry in drag—wearing what she called a “Bab Mockie” (a mock Bob Mackie)—and to do so in a professional capacity outside Pride month.
The Space Needle’s status as a tourist attraction and non-queer space shaped how the Queens of the Cosmos approached their performances. Politicians, media, and even mass shooters have targeted drag performers and their workplaces, in lockstep with efforts to deny trans people their rights. Irene said she hoped visitors seeing drag for the first time could sway relatives’ thoughts on drag and gender nonconformity.
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