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Drag Race Germany Star Barbie Q On Repping For LGBTQ+ Bolivians & Embracing Her Pork Chop Era
Plus, she opens up about sharing her body image struggles and that powerful moment in the Werk Room with Metamorkid.
Barbie Q’s — the self-proclaimed Pork Chop of the season — time on Drag Race Germany may have been short, but it was plenty was long enough to be charmed and completely fall in love with her.
A Munich-based queen now, Barbie originally hailed from Bolivia where she struggled growing up queer in a country where a majority of people do not believe that homosexuality is acceptable, and little queer representation exists. It's a deficit that Barbie felt keenly as a child. “Seeing someone you can relate to in the media is so important,” she tells PRIDE. I remember in Bolivia how I couldn‘t relate with anyone I saw on my TV because everyone was this cis hetero western white type of character. If I had seen someone from my country, feeling the same feelings I did, it would have changed everything.”
Today, Barbie gets to be the change she wanted to literally see in the world, by proudly and openly representing not only her queerness, her artistry, and her individuality, but also her Bolivian heritage and identity. It's a responsibility and privilege she is excited to take on. “Being that person for kids in Bolivia and Spanish-speaking countries means the world to me. It gives my drag, my art so much more worth because it moves something and that makes me the most happy,” she says.
She’s already feeling that impact, she shares. “Every day since the show has aired I get messages from people relating to my story, even people who tell me I inspired them to come out or push them to accept who they are. I got the feeling that what I‘m doing it‘s important and it‘s the best feeling in the world.”
That's the power of representation and that’s the power of drag. And shows that even the first-out queen can be a winner — not that Barbie has any regrets she embraces her first-out status and is turning it into an opportunity for performance and spreading her message. And she had plenty more to say about her time on the show, opening up about her struggles with body image, and the touching and powerful moment she shared with Metamorkid in the Werk Room.
PRIDE: How are you feeling about your time on Drag Race Germany?
BARBIE Q: Although little, I'm really proud of my time in Drag Race Germany. I‘m happy about everything I got to show, every subject I got to talk about, and the love Barbie got from the people is priceless.
Speaking of walking into the Werk Room, your entrance look was gorgeous as was your first runway look and they are both reflections of your culture. Why was it important to you to share your culture right out of the gate?
There are not many times when people get to see Bolivia in the media, and much less in queer media. If foreign people get to see at least something about my culture it might spark interest to see more and therefore learn more about my country.
You were also really open and vulnerable about your struggles with body image, why was that something you decided to share? How are you feeling about it today? Did being on the show impact how you feel about your body?
I think body issues are not tackled enough and it‘s such a [sensitive] subject in the gay (not queer) scene, where it is normal that everybody has to look like an Adonis. Talking about that was very important for me because It‘s something I suffered my whole life with. The show and the positive [feedback] I got from the people telling me I‘m the "trade of the season“ really boosted my self-esteem.
Speaking of vulnerability, you shared an incredibly moving and powerful moment with Metamorkid where they opened up about their history of sexual trauma. Take me back to that moment, what are you feeling and thinking? What do you hope people take away from it?
When that happened I thought to myself, ‘Wow, Meta is so brave. I‘m not sure if I could’ve opened up like that had I had the same experience." I think Meta‘s bravery is going to inspire people who went through something similar to speak up because the reality is, that such situations are very common in the gay scene but somehow not taken as seriously as it is.
Seeing yourself on TV can be really eye-opening. Did you learn anything about yourself through the process of taping and then watching the show?
I learned I‘m a really expressive person, and wasn't very aware of that.
What surprised you most about the experience of being on Drag Race Germany?
How nice the other queens were! There's no bad blood in the cast. I got to make friends with whom I still talk and hang out to this day.
What’s next for Barbie Q?
People say you make trash into treasure. So I'm using my title as Germany‘s Porkchop and uniting with the other German Porkchop Janisha Jones (Queen of Drags) to create the very first Porkchops Dinner Show on October 19. It is a three-course meal event with shows in between and an all-star line-up including: Earl Grey (Pasing), Kelly Heelton (Wiesbaden), Hungry (Berlin) and France’s Porkchop Kahena (Paris).
Drag Race Germany season 1 is airing now on WOW Presents Plus.
Rachel Shatto, Editor in Chief of PRIDE.com, is an SF Bay Area-based writer, podcaster, and former editor of Curve magazine, where she honed her passion for writing about social justice and sex (and their frequent intersection). Her work has appeared on Dread Central, Elite Daily, Tecca, and Joystiq. She's a GALECA member and she podcasts regularly about horror on the Zombie Grrlz Horror Podcast Network. She can’t live without cats, vintage style, video games, drag queens, or the Oxford comma.
Rachel Shatto, Editor in Chief of PRIDE.com, is an SF Bay Area-based writer, podcaster, and former editor of Curve magazine, where she honed her passion for writing about social justice and sex (and their frequent intersection). Her work has appeared on Dread Central, Elite Daily, Tecca, and Joystiq. She's a GALECA member and she podcasts regularly about horror on the Zombie Grrlz Horror Podcast Network. She can’t live without cats, vintage style, video games, drag queens, or the Oxford comma.
