Update as of 4:00 PM on Tuesday, September 26, 2023: Abhijeet’s name was previously misspelled in several places in this article and has since been corrected. And the Vanguard Awards were previously categorized as posthumously awarded; this is not entirely the case as several awards will be given to living people. The Reader regrets the errors.
Kindly step aside, Golden Globes. No, this is not the Emmy Awards, the Grammy Awards, the VMAs, or SAG. Television and live music are not our focus here. This is the Gaggys, and the event is hitting Chicago like a meteorite on October 11.
The ceremony will be hosted at Fantasy Nightclub, a Lakeview bar and performance venue frequented by primarily queer and Latine patrons. Fantasy often features DJs and drag.
“There’s so much that has changed in the city’s drag landscape, so much that we need to celebrate,” drag queen and Gaggys cocreator Abhijeet told the Reader. “And we don’t have [an awards show] in Chicago that’s just focused on queer nightlife and drag.”
The Gaggys: Chicago Drag and Queer Nightlife Awards
Wed 10/11, 8 PM, Fantasy Nightclub, 3641 N. Halsted, $22.66, 21+
linktr.ee/gaggyawards
The Gaggys is the brainchild of four of Chicago’s drag powerhouses. The event is inspired by similar competitions in New York and Minneapolis. It’s planned as a unique award show meant to highlight and showcase Chicago nightlife entertainers, drag stars, venues, and parties that deserve a larger platform, “everything that goes into making Chicago nightlife so unique, diverse, and popular,” said Abhijeet. The first round of finalists for three major award categories were announced Monday, September 25.
The four creators are all active and admired queens in the local scene. Abhijeet calls herself the “seven-foot-tall Bollywood Barbie.” In addition to performing drag, she produces events including Dim Sum and Drag, a regular drag brunch at Furama in Uptown, and Boots, an underground dance party that roams the city.
Alexandrea Diamond is the show director at Fantasy Nightclub and has competed nationally in the drag pageant world. Diamond has won multiple titles, the most recent being 2023’s Miss Chicago Trans Visibility. Diamond created a drag competition called Survivor that is popular amongst younger performers.
Lucy Stoole, aka “the International Black Bearded Beauty,” is known by some as the mother of Chicago drag. This work is her full-time job. Abhijeet said that Stoole is responsible for setting the tone of Chicago drag and developing relationships with, and platforms for, upcoming performers. (Stoole also won the Reader’s Best of Chicago audience poll for drag performer of the year for the past three years.)
Last but not least, Bambi Banks-Couleé is an active drag queen who’s performed all over the city, opening for “some really big artists over the years.” Banks-Couleé has acted in Second City productions and The Chi, and produces Freshman 15, a popular local drag competition. She’s also part of the team that produces the Chicago is a Drag Festival.
The idea of a local awards show has come up again and again in various conversations around the scene over the years. Diamond decided that 2023 was finally the time to do it, and she reached out to Stoole, Banks-Couleé, and Abhijeet. Diamond suggested to the three that they combine their forces to make a cross-community event happen.
“I think we were going back and forth with the names and we want it to be something that’s catchy, something that you can immediately latch on to,” Abhijeet said. “We didn’t want it to just be ‘Chicago Nightlife Awards.’ We wanted it to be something more fun, something with personality, and that’s where we landed with The Gaggys—because, you know, we’re here to make you gag.”
There are over 40 categories up for grabs in these inaugural awards. Drag-related award categories include Entertainer of the Year, Drag Queen of the Year, Drag King of the Year, Newcomer Drag Queen, and Newcomer Drag King. There are also categories like Conceptual Artist and Club Kid to spotlight people doing things in nightlife outside of the box. Non-drag categories include Favorite Venue or Nightclub, Favorite Party, and Favorite Party Photographer. There are “silly” awards too, like Best Twitter Beef and Best Bathroom.
The Gaggy creators are curating a panel of judges for the awards that will be a mix of drag artists, nightlife producers, industry professionals, and audience members. The cocreators will evaluate all the audience-generated nominations (sourced through a public Google survey that closed on September 23) and determine finalists first. Then they will finalize the judge’s panel so there’s no conflict.
Confirmed finalists announced for The Gaggys as of September 26, 2023
ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
Angelíca Grace, Ari Gato, Irregular Girl, Kitty Banks, Pixel, Sativa Feliciano Diamond
BEST DRAG QUEEN
Chanel Mercedes Benz, JForPay, Kara Mel D’Ville, Sapphire Feliciano Diamond, Serena Fiierce, TiKi Vonté
BEST DRAG KING
Lúc Ami, Penis Envy, Switch the Boi Wonder, Tenderoni, Travis Fiero, Yur Unkle
A DJ will play throughout the night at the awards ceremony. The event will also include pop-up performances from all the Entertainer of the Year finalists, as well as performances by other special guests and some surprises.
The Gaggys will also honor those who have contributed to the scene with several Vanguard Awards. Among the honorees is Rodney Donovan Taylor, a popular DJ, producer, and performer in Chicago’s queer nightclub scene. Known as Don Crescendo, Taylor was attacked and tragically murdered earlier this month.
“A lot of these folks, you might be familiar with their names or you might have just heard of them,” Abhijeet said. “We want to really showcase that these are the people that have made the last year what it has been. We want to just accelerate that [thought]. And, hopefully, that leads to them getting more opportunities and more bookings.”
