Jupiter Genesis, the 24-year-old New York City drag queen, has taken the city by storm as she rocks the drag scene and the streets in and out of drag.
Jupiter Genesis, who outside of drag goes by Alec and uses she/her pronouns, has been in the NYC drag scene since 2017. Genesis embodies the mob wife inside of her Italian roots and the girl who โcrawled out of a ’90s cyber punk grunge music video.โย
Genesis was first introduced to drag after a childhood full of Broadway roles and the character Angel in Rent the musical. From there, she embraced her art as a โbedroom queenโ until she was finally able to move to NYC and step out in the scene. Her journey began as an extension of her artform and one in which she explored her trans identity. โI, like a lot of transwomen, got lucky where it also became an art form and I was able to find myself through it,โ said Genesis.ย
As years progressed and her identity and aesthetic developed, the two personas of Jupiter Genesis, and Alec began to split. Alec settled into her trans identity as she allowed herself to embrace the woman she is while Genesis evolved. โI created this tough exterior and I wanted you to not feel like you couldย approach me in drag and that was part of the goal at the beginning. That’s completely different from me,โ said Genesis.ย
After her first few years in the scene, the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the city and forced Genesis into any opportunity she could get to be on stage. This quick passage allowed her to push her way through the clickiness of the NYC drag community and settle her roots.ย
Off stage, Alec is a choreographer and works in musical theater where dance is a huge component of her life. When Genesis performs, a unique part of her is unlocked like nothing else she could imagine. โMy drag feels like the most pure expression of my movement because I create a lot of movement for other people and other productions. But I do feel like I move in such a unique and specific way to myself, that drag allows me to do that a lotโฆ I would never be able to just purely express myself the way that only I want to,โ said Genesis.ย ย
Genesis has always looked up to stars like Candis Cayne and Sasha Colby, her biggest inspirations, especially after RuPaul’s Drag Race allowed trans women to enter the scene. Before this inclusivity, Genesis, like many others, wondered if she, as a transwoman, would have space within the community. โIf I transition, do I lose this part of my art that I cherish so deeply? Is it no longer a transformative experience?โ questioned Genesis.ย
Although her trans identity and her persona of Jupiter Genesis remain separate, Alecโs transness remains an integral part of her being inside and out of drag, shaping her experiences within the NYC scene.
As queerness is more and more normalized in our world, the acceptance of trans and gender-diverse experiences continues to be overlooked even within the queer community itself. โA lot of cis-drag artists don’t quite understand the struggles that showgirls or transwomen who do drag actually go through. They sometimes benefit from us to a degree. They take up space sometimes and don’t realize it and treat us disproportionately than they treat cis-people that do drag,โ said Genesis. Whether intentional or not, transwomen continue to be profited off of without the recognition or respect they deserve. Here in New York, that continues to remain true.ย
In the face of this, Genesis can foster acceptance of queer people as she performs at “Drag Me to Joanneโs” at Lady Gagaโs family restaurant, Joanne’s Trattoria. Her audience, which is mostly straight and cis-gendered people, are able to see those that they may not otherwise be accustomed to. Therefore providing Genesis the unique opportunity to โcurate an experience that is not just for queer people and is exposing different art forms that bring pure joy.โย
Genesis continues to perform weekly and is excited to create new looks and movements as she grows deeper into her identity inside and out of drag.ย