Nick van Halderen has become well-known as drag queen “Taipei Popcorn” in just a few short years, making waves from Dunedin to Taipei’s bars and catwalks.
Backpacking around Taiwan in 2017, the New Zealander became one of the most well-liked drag queens there after five years.
They said that the “ideal place” for their creation to materialise was in liberal Taiwan.
Popcorn remarked, “I felt this drive to attempt all these different looks, outfits, and personalities. This energy that had been repressed inside me kind of unfolded like a popcorn.”
There are roughly 100 drag queens in Taiwan’s capital alone, and the culture is flourishing. With performances almost every weekend and photo shoots, popcorn is in high demand. It takes two and a half hours to produce the colourful contours that are their go-to cosmetic look.
“It’s a little bit inspired by botched plastic surgery.
The delicate balance between beauty and repulsion or appeal intrigues me. Therefore, it has both a beautiful and an unsettling quality, remarked Popcorn.
In Taiwan, rainbow rights have developed over popcorn. When Taiwan’s highest court ruled in favour of same-sex marriage in 2017, it opened the door for it to become legal. However, there were setbacks when a referendum rejected legalisation in 2018.
However, that didn’t stop Parliament from enacting the necessary adjustments in response to the court’s decision and passing same-sex marriage legislation in 2019, a first for Asia. Popcorn wed Henry, their partner, on the day the law became effective. Popcorn remarked, “That was a fantastic time, one of the most special periods in my life.
Taiwan is proud of its liberal reputation and uses it to set itself apart from China, which asserts ownership of the independent island and is promoting unification.
According to activist and author Brian Hioe, Taiwan has embraced diversity.
The adoption of progressive ideals is done with the intention of setting Taiwan apart from China and demonstrating the differences between the two polities, according to Mr. Hioe.
In Asia’s largest Pride march, about 120,000 people marched through Taipei on Saturday to celebrate diversity.
Popcorn participated in the procession alongside the advocacy organisation Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights, which had won the legal battle to legalise same-sex unions.
“The LGBT community is centred here. They arrive from all around Asia and manage to flee. It like a magnet, “Popcorn said.
The Asia New Zealand Foundation provided financing for Cushla’s travel to Taiwan.
The drag artist from New Zealand making waves in Taiwan
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