Gógó Starr on the Evolution of Drag Culture in Iceland – Ep. 85

Gógó Starr is an Icelandic drag queen that is well known in the country. Gógó made history by being the first ever drag queen fjallkonan, or woman of the mountains, which is a symbol of the Icelandic nation and a very important part of the celebrations of Iceland’s independence. The celebration of the independence of the nation happens every June 17th. Aldís Amah, who I interviewed a while back on the podcast, was the first woman of color fjallkonan in 2019. It’s a huge honor to be fjallkonan and Gógó Starr had this role in 2018. In addition to that, Gógó co-founded Drag Súgur in 2015 after winning the annual Icelandic drag contest.  The drag show became so popular that it was turned into a monthly event at Gaukurinn that is open to all adults who want to attend. Hopefully, when COVID is over, the show will resume. I especially love that the show is all about inclusivity. Gógó Starr goes into more about how inclusive it is during the interview. It was an absolute blast to do this interview. Video Interview with Gógó Starr https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOR8cVBksY4 Questions Asked Gógó Starr during the Interview Drag queens, and kings and drag shows are so common  in Iceland now, but what was it like when you were growing up here? Were Icelanders open to these type of performances and performers? When did you realize that performing in drag is something you wanted to try? When did the drag scene in Iceland really take off? After you won the annual Icelandic Drag contest, you co-founded Drag-Súgur, a monthly drag show and variety night held at Gaukurinn in 2015. What was your motivation behind started this show? How was Drag-súgur received in Iceland when you first started it? In 2018, you were the fjallkonan, or the Lady of the Mountain, which is the traditional living symbol of Iceland featured every Independence Day on June 17th. What did You’re a full-time entertainer, producer and performer in Iceland. Did you ever imagine when you first started doing drag, that you would be doing it full-time? I love that Drag-súgur is all about inclusivity. Can you talk about who some of the “drag royalties” that perform? Pride in Reykjavík is becoming such a big celebration each year. Can you share what you like about Pride here and why you think people should come and check it out? What is your favorite Icelandic word or phrase? GIVEAWAY – Enter to Win One of Andri Snær’s Books!! I’m giving away three of Andri Snær’s books, which are below. On Time & Water LoveStar The Story of the Blue Planet To enter win one of the books, all you have to do is leave a positive review for the All Things Iceland podcast (you can use this link to easily do it), take a screenshot of your review, and send that screenshot to me in an email at jewells(at)fromforeigntofamiliar(dot)com. If you have already left a review for the podcast, please just send me a screenshot of that review. Join the All Things Iceland Patreon Community Some of you might be aware that one of my goals for the podcast is to travel around Iceland more to interview different people in each region. In July, I set up the All Things Iceland community on Patreon. It’s a membership platform that was founded in 2013. It allows for creators like me to provide exclusive content to listeners like you in exchange for a monthly subscription. Each month I am doing Ask Me Anything videos, Live Chats, and Folklore Friday each week. Sometimes I do updates about my life in Iceland. I do not share this content on any other channel. The support from my patrons on the All Things Iceland community on Patreon will help to evolve All Things Iceland. There are several membership tiers to choose from and each tier has a variety of benefits. If you would like to join the community, go to patreon.com/allthingsiceland. I look forward to having you join. Let’s be social! Here is where you can connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Twitter Þakka þér kærlega fyrir að hlusta (og að lesa) og sjáumst fljótlega Thank you kindly for listening (and reading) and see you soon!