As Taiwan gears up for referendum questions covering marriage equality and gender equity education in schools, Taipei’s only out drag couple to talk about their experiences growing up in New Taipei and Wisconsin.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/11/16
By: Cat Thomas

There is only one drag couple, Yolanda Milan and Elja Heights, who are a real-life item and occasionally perform together in Taipei. Outside of their drag life, Yolanda (Tenny Li, 李繼堯, 25) works as a makeup artist while Elja (Ellery Prescott, 29) is an indie musician.

Ellery moved to Taipei in 2012 and has made a name for himself on the acoustic scene. His latest single, “We’ll Keep on Fighting,” is an anthem for gay rights and has been released to coincide with the upcoming referendums. The News Lens caught up with the pair to talk about being openly gay in Taipei, drag as self-expression, their experiences growing up on either side of the Atlantic, and coming out to family.

TNL: How do you feel about the upcoming referendum questions on marriage equality and gender equity education?

Ellery: I’m frankly not very optimistic. I passed out pro-LGBT lit with a group of activists last Sunday at the Longshan Temple area night market. It was fairly disheartening. There were a lot of people who just didn’t care, and many more who were angry with us and threw the lit on the floor. There are some people we did reach, who knew of the referendum but had no idea how to vote on it. I don’t think there is enough action. It will probably be a really big blow to the LGBT community in Taiwan when the results come in. I hope I’m wrong though.    [FULL  STORY]