Downtown St. John's should be safer, says drag performer whose car is routinely broken into

Lukus Oram-Feltham says his car was broken into while parked in downtown St. John's earlier this month. 

That's not unusual. Oram-Feltham, who performs in the drag persona of Tara Nova, told CBC News it happens nearly every weekend that he performs downtown. 

The first break-in happened in August, Oram-Feltham said, when he lost over $1,000 worth of drag items.

"I felt very disrespected because so much of that was my own work," he said. "I style my own wigs, I create my own outfits from scratch. So I just, I felt a little lost because that's a part of my identity. That's a part of who Tara Nova is, and I lost it all in one sweep." 

Since that break-in, he no longer leaves valuable possessions in the car, even though break-ins have remained common. 

Drag — a performance of exaggerated gender expression, usually done for entertainment purposes — has become a fixture of the downtown St. John's scene. 

But local drag performers are speaking out about their safety concerns in the downtown area.

The Downtown Safety Coalition, formed last summer to address safety issues in downtown St. John's, announced that more security is coming this summer.

While drag performers are looking forward to more security, they say more could be done for performers to feel safe, both inside and outside venues.

'It's an unsafe situation'

Lukus Oram-Feltham said he has gone to the police before but they couldn't do anything. 

Now he keeps his stuff in a performance venue's changing area. It's not a perfect solution, he said, because of a lack of on-site security. 

He said performers typically try to keep one person in the changing room at all times but it can still feel unsafe.

"If somebody comes in and threatens them for the belongings that are around them, they very well may have to just put their hands up and let them take it because it's an unsafe situation with no security around," said Oram-Feltham.

Will Critch, who performs drag in the persona of Gravy, said they had a bag full of makeup stolen from their car last December.

There isn't a lot of security for performers, said Critch, and audience members have entered dressing rooms in the past. 

"You never know what's going to happen to your stuff when you're on stage," said Critch.  

'It's definitely sometimes a little scary'

Oram-Feltham said he feels safe only in queer and inclusive spaces. 

"Sometimes you could be just walking down Water Street going from one gig to the next and you will get comments under your breath," he said. 

Someone outside a performance venue recently wielded a smashed bottle with sharp edges, he said, threatening to harm them.

"I don't think we feel safe a lot of the time unless we are surrounded with our own people," said Oram-Feltham.

Critch said safety depends on the people who are there. They say that someone's views can become evident when they are intoxicated.

"As artists working in a space where people are intoxicated, a lot of the time you kind of do have to keep your guard up. And sometimes it is kind of like on the queens to kind of defend yourself," said Critch.

"So it's definitely sometimes a little scary after the gig. You kind of feel like, oh, if something happened, I mean, what would I do?" 

Oram-Feltham said venues need security staff who can guard dressing rooms and staff-only spaces.  

"There should be somebody there guarding that and making sure that the appropriate people are coming into them rather than people coming in and stealing our belongings," he said. 

Oram-Feltham said drag performers should always travel with another person when heading to gigs. He also recommends drag performers lock their suitcases when leaving them in changing rooms. 

Critch said there needs to be increased security downtown, if it's respectful and the people securing the environment are educated in what they're doing.

"I think that's an extremely valuable thing." 

They said it's important to show your support for local drag performers.

"Right now we're in a world where we really don't know if someone is supportive or not, so it never hurts to show your support and hug your local drag queen, and give a high-five or just say, 'Hey girl!'" 

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