What is Sabes Qué Collective?
Sabes Que Collective is a newly formed group of latinx, chicanx, and indigenous drag kings (masculine drag) in the San Francisco Bay Area dedicated to:
Increasing visibility of queer, trans and non-binary latinx, chicanx, and indigenous narratives in the drag community;
Engaging with local artists, vendors, and businesses to generate a supportive network;
Providing a safe and inclusive space to all those who identify, want to explore, and celebrate latinidad, whatever that means to them.
Values
Continuous practice of decolonization: as people whose ancestors and community members are harmed by colonial practices, Sabes Qué aims to move towards more collective practices. In our monthly shows, this comes out as:
Mask4Mask: while we are an outdoor show, we recognize the COVID-19 pandemic still exists. We encourage use of mask and are grateful to MaskBloc East Bay for their mask donations.
No One Turned Away For Lack of Funds (NOTAFLOF): We rely on ticket sales to pay our performers for their art and labor and it should not be a reason a community member cannot view our show.
Pooled tips among performers: As a drag king collective, we acknowledge the barriers and unconscious bias that can impact tips. We also recognize that a performer’s mobility and intention in their art piece may not allow performers to collect tips. We believe splitting tips equally among all performers helps mitigate this, and strive to offer an above-average base pay on top of this.
Dignity and respect of performers: We honor performers bringing their lived experiences and stories to the stage. Sabes Qué prides itself on offering a safe space that performers can connect with parts of themselves that may not be favored or encouraged in commercialized drag spaces.
It was one late night in April…
A bunch of chicanx/latinx/indigenous drag kings had just finished up a latine takeover of Royales. The energía? Amazing. The vibes? Immaculate. The sense of communidad and joy? Fantastic.
While de-dragging backstage, we thought…why does this have to end?
Nearly a year later, we hosted the first Sabes Qué show in March 2024, themed Mexica New Year to honor how our ancestors celebrated their new year—ceremonia, danza, and communidad.
You can catch us every second Thursday of the month at Mars Bar from March-December. Honoring our ancestors, we take the winter to rest, recover, and be reborn in the spring.