Two weeks after graduating from Memphis College of Art, “I put on a wig and dress and started performing at nightclubs. I’ve had part-time to full-time work doing that ever since my very first gig. I’ve been very lucky.”
That first pro drag show was a benefit for victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting. “Drag for me is much less about being fierce or whatever. Plenty of people are really good at that. Drag for me is like being a nun or something. It has a huge community service component. The most important people I serve as an entertainer are the lonely people and the people who need connection.”
Moth Moth Moth has become the most recognizable drag figure in the Mid-South, doing events for the Focus Center Foundation and hosting a podcast, Musing with Mothie. But that visibility has come with an increase in harassment and threats from conservatives, and now the Tennessee Legislature is considering legislation that would ban drag performances in public. “Y’all should be focused on making sure that mamas and babies are not starving across the state. They’re mad at me for reading stories to children in a yarn wig? Please.”
