Darius Rose, aka Jackie Cox, on gender as performance
Domenick Fini / V Mag at UVA
One Friday morning in September, a group of University and Charlottesville community members shared a sunlit space with actor, advocate and “RuPaul’s Drag Race” alum Darius Rose. Rose — who goes by Jackie Cox in drag — offered his perspective on gender performance as part of Technologies of Silence, a two-day multidisciplinary conference focusing on the suppression of minority perspectives in the legal system.
Rose performed as Jackie for Silence Speaking: A Creative Revue Sept. 19. The next day, he sat down with Prof. of Law Anne Coughlin for an artist’s conversation titled “Drag: Performing Gender.”
“There's so much disinformation, misinformation, obfuscation of the truth of what drag is and how people actually live and breathe in their gender identity,” Rose said. “The way that people are using other people's identities and art as a cudgel against them, specifically our trans siblings, is so insane to me.”
Rose identifies as gender-expansive and uses he/him and they/them pronouns. He noted an overlap between gender identity and performance and described his process of reconciling the innate femininity he exaggerates as Jackie — he said she once represented an over-the-top outlet for aspects of himself he wasn’t prepared to express out of drag, but the power he’s found in his “uber-fem” alter ego has helped him get to a place of greater acceptance.
“I realized if there are things I like about Jackie, there’s no reason I can’t incorporate that into my personal life too, as Darius,” Rose said. “I think that's what gender-expansive means to me. I live my life as a gay man who embraces my feminine side and is open to expanding what the definition of a man can be, to include things that are more nonbinary.”
Domenick Fini / V Mag at UVA
Rose became involved in Technologies of Silence after performing as Jackie at an April gala celebrating Lambda Law Alliance — a group dedicated to supporting LGBTQ+ members of the U.Va. law community — where he hit it off with Coughlin. She spent some time chatting with Rose about his career and invited him to return to the University to participate in the September conference hosted by the Sound Justice Lab.
Drag: Performing Gender kicked off with an introduction from Music Prof. Bonnie Gordon, focusing on Coughlin’s research on taboo and the professors’ shared dedication to the conference’s goals. Coughlin then opened the conversation on gender by encouraging Rose to share his evolution as a drag performer.
Rose talked about competing on season 12 of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” — he placed fifth — and his experience of drag as a forum for advocacy, especially in response to Islamophobia and the enactment of travel bans to Muslim-majority countries in 2017.
“I thought I had an opportunity to talk about that as someone of Iranian heritage, so I used my platform to talk about that in my shows, which caught the eye of the producers of ‘Drag Race,’ and they allowed me the opportunity to talk about it on the show as well,” Rose said.
Rose stood out in a stars and stripes-themed episode by incorporating a hijab into his outfit — he said he hoped his choice would highlight the experiences of Muslim women in the U.S. and dispel negative stereotypes surrounding their religious expression.
Rose also touched on his dedication to defending transgender people, especially in response to recent efforts to ban drag and police gender expression and exploration.
“I think, talking about technologies of silence, the silencing of drag is designed to target my trans sisters specifically,” Rose said. “There is so much hate for trans women in this country. It’s mind boggling. I do my best to be a buffer, a protector to my trans sisters, to be with them as they're leaving the gig . . . we can't ask them to change who they are for their safety. We need to change society to make the world safer for them.”
Domenick Fini / V Mag at UVA
Post “Drag Race,” Rose’s acting career has flourished — he recently played Kenneth Marlowe in one-person off-Broadway biographical play, “Make Me Gorgeous!” — and he has continued to perform as Jackie across the country.
Despite the fame he found on “Drag Race,” he still often opts for smaller venues. He said intimate spaces best serve his drag. He finds fulfillment connecting with local performers on tour, and referenced a recent West Virginia gig with fellow “Drag Race” alum Jan Sport.
“We get into the space, we never know who’s going to be there, and there were five amazing queens who performed with us, local queens,” Rose said. “There were AFAB queens — assigned female at birth — all different gender expressions, trans queens, in a small town in West Virginia.”
Rose reiterated this local focus with reference to the University and said his first trip to Grounds for the Lambda gala inspired him. While Charlottesville is often linked to Unite the Right — the 2017 white supremacist rally which unfolded on Grounds and in downtown Charlottesville — he said this didn’t reflect his experience with the city.
“I really loved meeting and hearing about all of these queer lawyers coming from U.Va. and realizing there was a community building here out of this university,” Rose said. “I think it's so important for that to continue to feel strong and feel connected to the greater world, not just for the reputation of Charlottesville, but to actually benefit the students here and the work that everyone's doing. Great change can come from anywhere.”
Returning to the University for Technologies of Silence, Rose played a part in effecting “great change” on Grounds.