Queens of the Desert
Few visuals are as stunning or iconic as the red-orange landscape of Australia’s Red Centre, with Uluru and Kata Tjuta jutting up from the vibrant earth into a saturated blue sky. The 1994 cult classic Australian film “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert” played out against the breathtaking beauty of this backdrop, culminating at a drag show in the Northern Territory’s Alice Springs. Paying homage to this film, the annual fabALICE Festival celebrates the diversity, inclusivity and pride of the Northern Territory’s LGBTQ+ people with four days of cabaret, drag performances and family-friendly fun.
Nestled between two mountain ranges in the south of the region, Alice Springs stands as the gateway to everything the Northern Territory offers – making it perfectly positioned to share this area’s extraordinary story. As the territory’s international representation, MMGY created a unique influencer trip to celebrate the film’s 30th anniversary while showing a global LGBTQ+ audience the welcome and opportunities waiting for them in the NT. We gathered four drag queens of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” fame to journey across the Red Centre to recreate memorable moments from the film.
Trading the movie’s silver, unreliable bus for a bright pink modern traveling van with air conditioning, Joey Jay, Utica Queen, Sister Sister and Ginny Lemon took their combined 1 million social media followers with them to Alice Springs. There they climbed Kings Canyon in full drag – renamed Queens Canyon for the occasion – posing for stunning photos in the bottom of the canyon and at its rim.
The queens attended and participated in fabALICE, connecting with locals and sharing these moments with their social media followers. With LGBTQ+ members at the center of this story and in charge of its telling, the LGBTQ+ audience witnessed accurate representation and authentic experiences.
