In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, five survivors of breast cancer made their drag debut at Lips Atlanta to raise money for EmpowHer and Him Breast Cancer Foundation on Oct. 6.
Lips Atlanta drag queens gave survivors Giselle, Paris, Leona, Kee Kee, and Fairon drag transformations at the Pretty in Pink Gala. Attendees enjoyed dinner, drinks, and drag as the women performed numbers about empowerment and survival.
The women honored their journeys beating breast cancer; some had been cancer-free for more than a decade, others were less than a year from diagnosis and still fighting the disease. They also advocated for proactivity in getting diagnosed.
“I don’t look like what I’ve been through, and I’m thankful for that every day,” Leona said. “I am what it looks like to live beyond the diagnosis. I live that, I breathe that every day. If I can share anything with all of you here, I’m gonna say, listen to your bodies.”
Paris, a 13-year survivor who was initially misdiagnosed with ovarian and underwent the removal of her ovaries and tubes only to find out she had breast cancer instead, advocated for getting a second opinion.
“Had I gotten a second opinion, I might have saved myself from an unnecessary surgery,” she said. “…Know your body, advocate for yourself. If you don’t get the answers that you feel are correct, get another doctor.”
Proceeds of the Pretty in Pink Gala benefited EmpowHER and HIM, an Atlanta-based organization advocating for breast cancer awareness among both men and women.
“I saw our men standing behind the women,” Daphne Myers, the founder and president of the organization, said, “and I said, ‘This is something that we share. We both share this ugly disease.’”
Breast Cancer Awareness Month is honored every October. More information about local breast cancer advocacy can be found on EmpowHER and HIM’s website.
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