1993 – Present • Sexy Galexy

Years active
1993 – Present

Stage Name(s)
The Fishvestites 1993 – 1995
Jenda 1996 – 1998
Sexy Galexy 1998 – current

Country of Origin
Australia

Birth – Death
1972 –

Bio

The Original Glamourboi Sexy Galexy is Glitz, Glam, Masc and Fem, a Get Down Boogie man, all wrapped up in a disco-loving, muscle-flexing, more-of-a-woman-when-he’s-a-man, Man. They have performed all over the world since 1993 paving the way and influencing numerous drag artists.

Born in 1972 during the glamorous age of disco, Sexy was a unique performer in the Drag world when they burst onto the stage in 1993. Though they would go by several names, and perform as a King and a Queen, it wasn’t until the late 90’s that Sexy settled on the look and Drag King persona of Sexy Galexy. After attending the 5th International Drag King Extravaganza conference in Minnesota, MN, USA in 2003, Sexy discovered that their aesthetic was indeed original and untapped and has since inspired a generation of performers around the globe thanks to the advent of social media. Sexy’s early performances saw them experiment with an array of characters, genders, costumes, makeup and body art and they quickly gained a reputation as a creative chameleon and Glamourboi Drag King.

On 11th February 1972 in Perth, Western Australia, the second born of twin girls, Lexi started their life named Karen. The early formative years were influenced by this era of dominating male chauvinism and they quickly worked out the gender stereotypes and programming. From a young age they were constantly told they couldn’t do many things because “she was a girl” which led to struggles in the home and school. Feeling they didn’t fit the female role, Lexi’s idea of being a man was beginning to solidify from a young age.

In 1993, with no training in drama, dance or performing, Lexi took to the stage for the first time at a women’s night called “Lipstique” at DC’s Nightclub in Perth, performing as part of a duo called The Fishvestites with Carolyn Jackson. They would go on to become regular weekly performers until moving to Sydney the following year, regularly performing at some of the well-known Gay clubs including The Albury Hotel, winning Heat 1 in Simone Troy’s Talent Quest, Kinselas, Girls on Top go-go dancing and various other women’s nights. In 1995 Lexi’s time studying Theatre and Set Design at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts in Perth held them in good stead when designing and building a Float called Go Go Fish for The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.

Carolyn and Lexi went their separate ways in 1996 and Lexi began performing on their own under the name Jenda. Though they found work at Trade Nightclub as a nightclub decorator, body artist and Drag performer, Lexi struggled to find their place within the drag community. Lexi didn’t have a Drag Mother for support and guidance, as is the right of passage for many young Drag Queens, and the years to follow would be a very independent journey of experimenting with many looks and crossing over the gender roles. At that time, there wasn’t a Drag King community, and in fact, they hadn’t even heard that term yet. Coupled with that and the fact that the Drag Queens kept Lexi on the outside, they struggled to find their place. Determination however is a strong incentive and Jenda continued to push through on to the stage performing at The Court Hotel, solo and in group dance productions. Their events in 1997 include go-go dancing at The Rubber Room, modelling and performing for D-Flux (futuristic, vinyl superhero wear) at the Jack Sue Gallery Party and at the Artrage closing party. Perth Pride brought Lexi back to perform as well as design and build the lead float for the parade and in 1998 they would collaborate with D-Flux again as the makeup designer and performer as a Lesbot (lesbian robot) for a Pride party performance.

Sexy Galexy became official with a name change on March 11th, 1998, but it wasn’t until 1999 that Sexy first saw the term “Drag King ” and it was this lightbulb moment that brought her drag identity into focus. Sexy Galexy had been a Drag Queen with a beard, until a group of Drag Queens called The Glitzy Glamour Glitter Girls who Sexy met at a Queer NYE party Tropical Fruits in Lismore NSW in 2000 bestowed on her the honorary title “Glamourboi”.

With a move to Byron Bay, NSW in 1999, Sexy performed at a variety of spaces including Carpark NightClub, The Arts Centre, Tropical Fruits parties, Y2K theatre production, NYE Doof party as well as winning Body Painting competitions Buzz Film Festival and Kryolan Flesh FX. Sexy also participated in the DKSY (Drag King Sydney) Competition run by Drag King Divinyl (Lisa Kemball), before relocating back to Sydney in 2000.

For the 2000 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Fair Day, Sexy was crowned Mr Fair Day, and for the parade Sexy again drew on their design and body painting skills and the Tropical Fruits entry won Best Regional Float. Throughout that year Sexy worked regularly for promoter Anna Angelkosta’s Women’s night’s, Lemonaid and Lemon Crush and also as NV Nightclub’s club decorator and performer. Sexy broadened their performance repertoire over the next two years at Australia’s first burlesque club “Gurlesque”, an all-female space curated by legendary performance artists Glitta Supernova and Sex Intent, which ran from 2000 to 2010 at the Imperial Hotel in Newtown and is now iconic in Australia’s performing history. The new year was heralded with a Lead Drag performer role at Tropical Fruits annual NYE party.

2001 saw Sexy’s presence at the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras elevate with performances in the official launch, the After Party opening show as a dancer and at the recovery at NV nightclub. The annual Fair Day saw them crowned Mr Fair Day for the second year. Sexy’s artistic skills continued to be utilized as the club decorator at NV, as well as performing, and Sexy was regularly on the stage at the Lemonaid and Lemon Crush parties.

Putting on their promoter hat, Sexy began an inclusive monthly night called Kings and Queens at the Bentley Bar in Surrey Hills, employing Drag Queens as well Drag Kings to showcase that the two genres could share the stage, a proposition practically unheard of at the time. Lasting five months, it was disbanded only due to the venue inhibiting its ongoing success. Sexy was back at Tropical Fruits in a bigger role for the NYE party producing, choreographing and starring in the main show.

During the year Sexy became an artist with the Australian Body Painting team which would inevitably take them to Quincy, Illinois, USA the following year for an IMAX film, body painting skydivers.

In 2002, with their chosen Drag Family the Glitzy Glamour Glitter Girls, Sexy performed an original roving ensemble piece “The Birth of Glamour” at the famous Sydney Opera House for an event Gender (Off)ender. Lemon Crush and Lemon Aid parties once again had Sexy on the performance lineup. Maintaining a strong presence on the scene was imperative to Sexy’s visibility and this was achieved by hitting the popular Gay venues along Oxford Street in Drag and performing spot numbers at well-known clubs The Midnight Shift and Stonewall. It was during this time, armed with a solid performance reputation and now having the confidence and comprehension of their drag persona, that Sexy decided to pursue their passion for equality on the stage.

Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras’ annual fundraising party Sleaze Ball in October 2002 saw Sexy as the first female lead Drag King performer in the opening show. Sleaze Ball was Sydney’s second biggest night out of the year with the Mardi Gras After Party being the first and it was celebrated for its provocative themes with thousands of party goers. Following this the World Gay Games were held in Sydney in November and Sexy was involved in the community events and opening night performance.

Late 2002, Kingki Kingdom, a Drag King/Alternative performance night, began at the Slyfox Hotel with Sexy at the helm as Promoter, Host and Drag King Performer and it quickly grew in reputation as THE place to be every Wednesday night with queues forming around the block. This was once again the space that Sexy had envisioned as an all-inclusive, equal opportunity night where performers both established and emerging were celebrated. This groundbreaking night ran weekly for three years, only changing its branding when Sexy moved overseas in 2006.

When Sexy travelled as a participant and performer to the 5th International Drag King Extravaganza conference in Minnesota, MN, USA in 2003, Sexy realized their Drag King aesthetic was truly unique and influential. In fact, Sexy was cited as the Drag King who influenced and inspired Drag King Landon Cider of Long Beach, CA, USA, The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula season 3 winner. Landon went on record saying that it was Sexy’s use of color and make-up artistry that played a major role in inspiring his own look. This validated Sexy Galexy as the original Drag King who created looks well beyond male impersonation, and the one to express the male character as glamorous, campy and colourful.

That same year Sexy won his first of three (2003, 2004, 2005) DIVA awards (Drag Industry Variety Award) for Sydney’s Favourite Drag King after campaigning to have Drag Kings included in the award line-up. Note that at the time females were vastly underrepresented. This was strategically done over two years by raising the profile of Drag Kings through gaining visibility in the community papers with their successful monthly women’s night Moist at ARQ, now the biggest gay club in Sydney. This night wasn’t just handed to Sexy, in the beginning the club tried out Sexy and fellow Drag King Divinyl in a night run by Drag Queen Portia Turbo. After a small run, Sexy had their first opportunity to create a twenty minute production show, working with Drag Kings Divinyl and Rocco D’amore and Drag Queen Dallas Dellaforce, naming it Arrival. Sexy was then given the space with two female dancers in the basement level calling it Wet Pussy. It would be only a few months until Sexy’s night was upscaled to the entire club and rebranded as Moist, a dream come true for Sexy as they could produce large scale production shows with a large cast and create the themes that changed every six weeks. Sexy would also mix the music and design and make the costumes.

Sexy joined the QUEER TV team in 2003 as a co-presenter for the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade and after party as well as Sleaze Ball, a role they held until 2006. Other events included the Melbourne Drag King Convention run by King Victoria (a Melbourne Drag King night which would run for 10 years) as the headliner, Inquisition Dance Party, DIVA awards 2003/04, 2003 PRIDE Gold NYE Opening show, Polly’s Follies at the Stonewall Hotel 2003-2005. The Pride event was particularly memorable as the show had ten Drag King characters on a wedding cake shaped stage with Sexy on the top rotating tier dressed as Prince and performing to the song “Let’s Go Crazy” and “Cream”. Sexy was the producer, costume designer and maker and lead performer. All of this was done while continuing to run Kingki Kingdom and Moist.

With Sexy’s profile now well established, their performance CV was vast and varied. The next two years were very busy for Sexy with Kingki Kingdom and Moist, and it was a time of realising dreams and loving the work. Some of the other highlights were performing and the being the poster boi for a large queer party Queer Nation, Brisbane Drag King convention headlining performer, The Brisbane Pride Twang Gang Extravaganza, Sydney Pride Week host and performer, Toybox Party, Manning Bar at Sydney University and O week, Venus Room in Kings Cross, Mardi Gras Launch, DeJavu at The Lewisham Hotel and Bitch womens’ parties.

The first of three standout highlights for 2005 was being the first female Drag King artist allowed to perform at the Newtown Hotel alongside Drag Queens in a weekly production show. Sexy would eventually create their own production show with the Queens, which was received mostly with love and support however there were some haters that made themselves heard screaming “Get the Fuck out!”. This didn’t stop Sexy.

The second highlight had Sexy once again at ARQ on a monthly Sunday night called “SideShow of Sin” working alongside three of Sydney’s best male dancers as their lead Drag performer. This run would go on for eight months.

The third highlight was an all female show at the DIVA awards. It was a collaboration with dance comedy trio, The Four o’clock dancers, choreographer Annie Hamid, costumier Shirley Hamid, twenty-five dancers from the Newtown Performing High School and one Drag Queen, Freeda Corset. This glorious 80’s Dance Spectacular celebrated women and showcased their talents to a packed community audience.

2006 was the year when Sexy’s world would pivot dramatically. The enormous workload with very little support, unequal visibility, poor treatment from the Drag Queen community and an unsustainably low pay rate, all contributed to Sexy’s rising mental health issues. It would be a silent and private mental breakdown that prompted them to escape overseas, moving to Cambridge, UK for some much needed respite. Needing to recharge, Sexy performed and hosted only once during that time, that being at the Dirty Red Ball in London.

Sexy’s passion for drag couldn’t keep them away from the stage for long and it was Candy Bar, an all women’s space, that came calling after a move to London in 2007. Sexy was then offered a placement at Candy Bar Brighton prompting another move in 2008 and an invitation to produce, host and perform in a monthly Drag King/Cabaret night called “Sexy Galexy Presents: D*R*A*G”, and collaborating with local Drag King Vain Diesel. Sexy was back in their element creating and producing shows once again.

Meeting up with Ken Vegas, the legendary Drag King from Washington D.C., led to an invitation for Sexy to perform at the 2007 Great Big International Drag King Show. This show invited Drag Kings from all over the United States, Canada, England, Australia, Ireland, Sweden, Italy, etc to perform in large rock clubs which held over 2000 adoring fans. This allowed for the Drag King troupe, the DC Kings to take their performance to the next level.

Sexy’s performance momentum grew once again leading to many great experiences in 2008 notably in Europe: Stockholm, Brighton, Amsterdam and Manchester Prides, Shunt Lounge, Royal Vauxhall Tavern, Dublin Arts Festival, Cafe de Paris, Singstar Launch, etc. Sexy even shot the short film, Meat located in Brighton working in the art department, and doing the costuming and makeup.

Their passion and drive for the art created such a vortex around them that anyone close to Sexy was swept up, tossed into drag and onto the stage with them, a phenomenon that happened everywhere Sexy lived, and none more evident when they lived in Amsterdam. Sexy had performed there a few times and after falling in love with the city they couldn’t resist a relocation in 2009, instantly meeting like-minded Drag performers and being welcomed enthusiastically by the community.

Over the next two years Sexy worked regularly at De Trut, De Kerk, Velvet Ladies night at Cozy Bar, Glitterazzi, Horenbal Street Parade, The Drag Olympics at Homomonument co-host with Drag Queen Jennifer Hopeless, Xaviera Hollander’s Artist Dinner and Gurlesque women’s Parties (unrelated to Sydney’s Gurlesque).

After observing an absence of group production shows, Sexy initiated one for the Gurlesque Pride Party, pulling their friends in to perform. Choreographing, costuming and applying make-up on the new performers for a Drag King production show and watching the joy experienced by them with the success of it, was a rewarding time for Sexy, and it would inspire them to go bigger.

Sexy went on to run a three-month workshop teaching performance to new and established performers, culminating in a large production show for Love Dance at Paradisio for World Aids Day. Once again Sexy felt great joy in sharing in the excitement of the performers’ experience of accomplishing a fantastic show and being in front of their community.

Always up for a good challenge and a chance to wear a quirky costume, Sexy took to the ice rink as a reindeer co-hosting and performing at The Winter Drag Olympics in 2010 and 2011. Let it be on record that Sexy was not a great ice skater, so their performance was unintentionally more comedic! Amsterdam was bustling and Sexy found themselves performing for events all over the city including Valifest, The Church Club, Belgium Pride, Saarien Christmas Show, Homomonument’s Pride and Queen’s Day festivals, The Disco Factory at De Niewe Anita as the promoter as well, Paradiso’s The Black Tea Party and Pro-Gay.

Unable to get a visa, Sexy had to say goodbye to Amsterdam in 2012 and head back to Australia, deciding to live in Melbourne. A quick trip to Japan had Sexy performing at a Club Kid night, but it was the creation of his “Staying Alive” YouTube video filmed on the streets of Tokyo that would catch the eye of Landon Cider, who, as noted earlier, cited Sexy as his biggest influence.

Back in Australia, though Sexy performed at some events over the next few years, including Bitch Mardi Gras recovery, Queer Central at Sly Fox and Queer Fundraiser, they were feeling lost, questioning their talent and contemplating quitting. Ready to give up, it was a friend’s suggestion of writing a show for the Melbourne Fringe Festival that would inspire Sexy again. In 2013, Sexy wrote and performed “Manliness”, a show presented by Sexy’s two male alter-egos and how they both coped with trauma, bullying and chauvinism throughout child and adulthood and how these two personalities came together. Manliness would be performed over the next two years at Mardi Gras Festival, Sydney, Perth Fringe Festival and Melbourne Comedy Festival.

There were few opportunities to perform in Melbourne for Sexy and attempts to produce and collaborate were met with very negative experiences of trolling, hostility and false accusations of trying to “steal their gigs” from some of the Drag Queens. Coming from the all-inclusive community from Amsterdam, Sexy felt dismayed that the view on women in the drag community hadn’t evolved with most doors closing in their face and the continuing passive aggressiveness from the Queens passing by without consequence. This led to great frustration and Sexy was reminded of the presence of misogyny through the denial of a shared stage and space and they felt that Drag Kings were still being ignored as history had already shown. Depression and apathy rose as Sexy felt defeated, unacknowledged, and undervalued as a performer.

Sexy was once more involved with the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras through designing and building the Drag King float, Guest Judging the Drag King Competition at the After Party and performing at the Oxford Hotel Drag King Night. Far North Queensland enticed Sexy up there to host and perform at Lesfest, a lesbian festival held in Turtle Cove with Drag King Tricky Boombang.

In 2014, it was through performing in events for Melbourne’s Midsumma Festival that Sexy was invited to host and perform on the mainstage at Midsumma Carnival Day. They were back in Sydney for Mardi Gras in the opening show for Woman Say Something and performing for the Women’s Party.

Australia’s longest running and largest regional pride festival, Chillout Festival in Daylesford, Victoria, invited Sexy to put on a performance celebrating Dolly Diamond’s 10th anniversary of hosting its Carnival Day. Collaborating with nine of Melbourne’s Drag Kings, Sexy coordinated the secret show placing an unsuspecting Dolly in the centre of a dance production. Sexy continued to nurture long standing relationships with venues and people of Daylesford which saw them hosting and performing and return annually until 2020. Sexy had only a small handful of events from 2014 to 2016 including Kongs Kings, a Melbourne Drag King night, Tropical Fruits NYE Party in the Cabaret Space and a live singing performance and hosting role for the ‘So You Think You Can Drag’ National Final at The Greyhound Hotel.

A new venue dedicated to Drag, Vau d’ville, opened in Melbourne and from 2017 to 2018, Sexy hosted a weekly night called ROYALE, which started with a production show and eventually became a variety night. During these times Sexy was working full time with long hours in an unrelated industry, and though they brought it to the stage each and every week with new spot numbers and costumes, it was extremely challenging. They did however meet a supportive Drag Queen in this venue, Sasha Starr, who would go on to have Sexy perform numerous times at her Variety Night at the Cabaret Club in Ballarat. It had been a few years since Sexy had created a group production number and Melbourne’s Midsumma Festival’s fundraiser ‘What a Drag’ gave them the opportunity. A Boy George/Village People/Elvis icon mash up performance featured Sexy with six tap dancers and five Drag performers.

2019 was the birth of a new character for Sexy, Molly Melodrama, a persona celebrating a famous Australian icon Molly Meldrum, the man who brought music to our televisions with his long running hit show “Countdown.” Sexy produced a Midsumma Festival show around Molly calling it “The Countdown Experience” and would then develop it further for an online show called “Kerrie & Dolly” in 2020, following the cancelation of live shows due to the Covid-19 global pandemic. Sexy anticipates bringing “The Countdown Experience” to the stage in the future.

“King For A Day” (KFAD), a Drag King Workshop, was developed by Sexy as a way to educate, elevate and nurture new Drag Kings. With a comprehensive, professional career and considerable experience, they are the perfect person to facilitate this workshop. The first one was held during Midsumma Festival in 2019, with sixteen enthusiastic participants working through the day covering the topics: makeup, costume customization, character and performance development. This culminated into a performance that same night at the King Cabaret. KFAD is on-going with the next Masterclass booked in the latter part of 2021 in Newcastle as part of their Pride events.

Still in 2019, Sexy began their relationship with Naughty Noodle and Central Coast Pride, a not-for-profit community organisation on the Central Coast, NSW, where they performed throughout the year at Crown Jewels, Pride Cabaret Night and Fair Day. Naughty Noodle would bring Sexy and their King for a Day Drag King Workshop and King Cabaret to the district in 2021. The successful Broken Heel Festival which celebrates the famous film Priscilla, Queen of the Desert in Broken Hill, had Sexy as a headliner in 2019, and in September 2021. They also represented the festival on their float at the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and performed at the Imperial Hotel at that same time.

Sexy found once again a broad and welcoming audience in rural Victoria, performing for Shepparton’s LGBTQI Festival, and hosting and performing for Q+ in Bendigo, held in 2020 and 2021 respectively.

In 2020, while home in quarantine due to Covid-19, Sexy would find a new virtual audience. They produced highly creative, professionally finished video content for global cyber Drag King shows such Landon Cider’s live show on Instagram, Vidalia’s Quaranqueen in Upstate NY, Chicago’s Tenderoni Throwback Attack show, King of Clubs in London, Mo B. Dick’s Kings of the World show, T Rex’s Drag Matinee in NY, Unofficial King Pride and Kerrie & Dolly show in Melbourne. Sexy also judged UK’s Maxx Drag and Culture Amp Lip Sync competitions, both held online.

On February 21, 2021, Sexy participated in the virtual show Drag King Legends which was produced by Mo B. Dick, Ken Vegas, Fudgie Frottage and Flare. This event showcased the Drag Kings with 25 or more years of experience who have contributed greatly to the global Drag King community and kept the art form going. This cemented Sexy’s global influence as a leader, inspiration and pioneer who impacted Drag King History.

An invitation to be a keynote speaker for Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras’ My Drag Story in 2021 presented Sexy with the opportunity to express their experience in Sydney. Sexy spoke frankly and honestly of the mental health issues that developed from an abusive childhood, issues that existed under the makeup and the glamour yet found reprieve from performing on stage. Sexy’s passion for Drag and their drive for equal opportunities within the LGBTIQ+ communities were given new life following their speech. The overwhelming and unexpected outpouring of love and support inspired them to pursue their career again. Armed with new and fresh ideas, Sexy will relocate once again to Sydney, this time as the Daddy of Drag Kings, with the aim of mentoring the new Drag King Community as well as cementing their equal rightful position on the drag stages all over the world.

(Submitted by: Sexy Galexy, June 2021)