Southwestern Manitoba drag collective showcases the power of found family

A southwestern Manitoba drag collective rang in the holidays with a special performance celebrating the power of found family.

The House of Hex in Brandon, Man., features four performers united in the message of expressing kindness, creativity and inclusivity with a touch of sass, said house mother and founder Flora Hex.

"I just think the people need those things a lot right now," Flora said. "I want people to understand that they have the ability to advocate for themselves, whether it's for their creativity or their kindness."

The collective hosted a special House of Hex Holiday Extravaganza in Brandon on Friday evening, featuring Flora, Luna Hex, Lilith Hex and Mercy Hex.

When Flora first started performing in Brandon, there was not really a drag scene to speak of, she said, but she knew the potential was there.

"It was always like a goal of mine through doing drag not necessarily making more drag performers or drag artists, but to give people the opportunity to seek to express themselves in ways that they might not have thought of or felt comfortable with before," Flora said.

She enjoys playing the role of mentor to her growing family because it helps artistsfind new ways to express themselves and feel empowered through drag performances.

Each performance in Manitoba's second-biggest city has allowed the collective to foster positive conversations and grow LGBTQ spaces in the community, Flora said. The connections they make keep them motivated to create welcoming and inclusive spaces, she added.

"The ability to give yourself permission ... to be kind to yourself or to take a risk and try something new," Flora said. "We can't ever predict the impact that we'll have."

Growing a drag family

Luna Hex said getting ready for each show is a chaotic experience, but there is also a lot of bonding between the different house members.

"We spend a lot of time sharing our resources we just blast music and, you know, do our makeup together and get ready for each show," she said. "Yeah, it does get chaotic sometimes when there's four queens getting ready in the same house."

Luna grew up in Brandon. She said before Flora, opportunities to take in a drag show were few and far between aside from the rare performer visiting from Winnipeg.

She added it has been exciting to help the drag scene grow in southwestern Manitoba, especially because House of Hex membershave different gender identities out of drag.

"I didn't fully realize what we were building until maybe like our second or third show," she said. "People were coming up to me afterwards saying, like, 'You've inspired me so much and this is the first time I've felt like I'm in a space where I can be completely and totally myself.'

"Facilitating that in Brandon is so important because there aren't a lot of spaces that are visibly queer."

This message is pivotal going into the holiday season.

Christmas can be especially hard on LGBTQ folks because not everyone has accepting families, Luna said, or feels like they can be themselves in certain spaces.

For the House of Hex, it was important to host an event giving people a sense of community and family over the holidays.

"We just really want people to celebrate who they are and know that they are loved," Luna said.

'The best family'

For Lilith the drag collective is a family.

"We've gotten very close and we're able to kind of express things that we're going through in real life with each other and be deep and meaningful, but also have a lot of fun and focus on just going out and doing drag," Lillith said. "It's been fantastic."

Lillith considers herself fortunate because her family is very supportive her mom and grandma recently went to one of the House of Hex's shows.

However, not everyone is lucky to have that experience, she said, and that's where the House of Hex comes in.

"If you don't necessarily have, especially in our community, a family that you feel very safe with or supported from, you can always turn to your found family," Lillith said.

"Sometimes that's the best family, honestly, because you know those are people who love you 100 per cent for who you are."

Creating opportunities for people to connect and build friendships has been empowering, Mercy said. She came out as non-binary at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and said this did affect some of her relationships.

Outside of drag, Mercy uses the pronouns they and them. Before joining House of Hex, Mercy said "it was really rough" finding LGBTQ-centredspaces in Brandon because "there wasn't a whole heck of a lot."

"I don't talk to ... my family. Having a really close like drag family and just friend group has been so fantastic," Mercy said. "It's nice seeing that there's actually things for the queer community now in town."