The drag queens are alright: St. John's drag adapts after performance venue closes

The drag community in St. John's is losing its staple performance venue as Velvet Club and Lounge is closing its doors and rebranding on Feb. 8. 

This comes after an upsurge of controversy surrounding its treatment of drag performers.

Lukus Oram-Feltham, who performs as Tara Nova, spoke out about the low pay received by performers in St. John's on the national TV show Canada's Drag Race, which aired last November. This spurred a mass exodus of the local 2SLGBQ+ community from the club. 

Despite negotiations between Oram-Feltham and the club, and efforts to increase the nightly budget for drag performers, on Jan. 14 the club announced its time would be coming to an end in a social media post. 

"Obviously it hurts at first because you think, listen I'm losing a queer space," said Oram-Feltham. "But then I quickly realize and notice everything else that's happening in this city right now."

After the controversy in November, drag queens sought out new venues, which he said have welcomed them with open arms and have treated them much more fairly. 

"We're getting proper pay. There's so much good coming from this," said Oram-Feltham. 

Velvet nightclub rebranding

Another social media post under the page Junctions Performance Venue announced the bar would be opening under that name and will now be catering to "bands, DJs, drag shows, and more."

Oram-Feltham acknowledges that his comments may have contributed to the bar's closure and rebranding but says that that Velvet's subsequent actions were more to blame. 

Junctions, a previous venue at the same location and owned by Luc Viau, also found itself at the centre of controversy in 2003, when a wet t-shirt contest was held offering free breast implants to the winner.

Velvet's owner, Viau, and manager Stephen Dillon did not respond to CBC's request for comment. 

However, in November, Viau told CBC that he was making efforts to improve pay for drag performers, including adding a $5 cover charge to increase the nightly budget. 

In November, Dillion also turned the blame to Oram-Feltham claiming that he had demanded a contract where he would get four performances a month or else he wouldn't help with damage control.

However, the bar failed to reconcile with the drag community, with Oram-Feltham claiming that most had not returned. 

"This really showed their colours and everybody was completely turned away from it," said Oram-Feltham. 

New spaces stepping up

Velvet was never the only spot open to the 2SLGBTQ+ community, said Oram-Feltham. Other queer-friendly venues in the city have since opened their doors to drag performers, including the Majestic Theatre and Quidi Vidi Brewery. 

"There's so many queer spaces, and it's also about queer-ing other spaces, and people are not afraid of that," said Oram-Feltham. "There's many places for us to now infiltrate and kind of create." 

As for a new drag bar opening up, Oram-Feltham said the demand is there, but drag performers need to be involved in the process. 

"If we were to start up another spot, we want to make sure it succeeds and that we are abiding by the rules and standards that we have set," he said. 

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