By Kochina Rude–
It was a pleasure to have an easy conversation about tough subjects for the forum Drag Activism at The Academy SF on April 7 with Sister Roma, Afrika America, and moderator Dr. Ish Ruiz. I will always take an opportunity to talk about harm reduction, especially in the context of what we have been doing at Princess in the past year; further, I am grateful for any small effect it has had in the nightlife community here in San Francisco.
My story about how I ended up here boils down to this: I am passionate about too many things, and I don’t like making compromises. My late drag mother inspired me to be the change I wanted to see—and at first, for me this meant using drag as a vehicle for creative expression (as one does). But beyond drag, and years before becoming Kochina, a college internship at a local AIDS network led me on a path toward harm reduction and public health. And now, I’m able to rediscover activism and grassroots community advocacy as the impetus for social change.
At a house party during Folsom weekend 2021, my friends and I found ourselves very suddenly responding to an accidental overdose in the midst of a celebratory queer event. In that moment I realized that, despite the packed crowd of witnesses present, most of us were completely unprepared for this occurrence—including myself. Fortunately, after procuring two doses of nasal-administered naloxone (Narcan) via a game of shouting telephone, we were able to revive the individual experiencing overdose and they lived to party another day!
After that, I realized what my community was missing, and since then, in partnership with the Drug Overdose Prevention and Education Project (D.O.P.E.) I have been distributing Narcan free of charge to partygoers at Oasis Nightclub every Saturday night. This Spring, a city program has launched with the purpose of paying queer and trans San Franciscans of color to educate and distribute this life-saving drug to their peers within the community—and it was developed in close tandem with my own activities involving a microphone, a box of nasal spray, and a crowd of drunk yet enthusiastic show attendees-turned-harm reductionists.
With that I say, the guiding principle of “making the change you want to see” extends to social advocacy as much as it applies to coming up with a look that is unique to yourself. As a drag queen I don’t take the stage for granted, and even more than that, I want to utilize my platform to educate and protect the people in this city I love the most.
Drag star and entertainer Kochina Rude hosts the weekly party “Princess” at Oasis: https://www.sfoasis.com/
Published on April 21, 2022
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