Maya the drag queen

Alex Mathew, popularly known as Maya the Drag Queen or Mayamma, is a drag queen from India. Mathew started performing drag in 2014 at Jagriti, The Humming Tree, and gave many performances at Rangashankara, Opus, and Alliance Franciase, among others. Mathew is also an actor, singer, motivational speaker and a corporate employee.

Early life

Alex Mathew was born in the southern Indian state of Kerala and was raised in its capital, Thiruvananthapuram. From an early age, he was aware of his femininity. One of his earliest public performances was in childhood at a school fancy dress competition, in which he dressed as Nagavalli, a character from the Malayalam film Manichitrathazhu. Mathew later recalled that he did not expect to win, but simply wanted an opportunity to express his femininity.

During his youth, Mathew said he experienced bullying because of his Malayali accent but eventually came to embrace it as part of his identity. He was inspired by the films Mrs. Doubtfire and Chachi 420, whose male protagonists adopt female personas. He later said these performances helped him imagine drag as a form of self-expression. Personal life Mathew came out to his family a couple of months after his first performance. Speaking about his experience, Mathew said, "That day, my mother gave away the sari reluctantly because she couldn't approve of my drag identity...Now she packs my suitcase whenever I step out of the city for performance. It took her three years to accept my drag identity and understand that I perform in a sari to break the gender stereotypes of this patriarchal world."

Career

In September 2014, Mathew began performing in drag in Bengaluru as one of the first drag artists to regularly perform in the city.

Mathew performed at venues including Jagriti, The Humming Tree, Rangashankara, Opus and Alliance Française before expanding to performances elsewhere in India.

Following the 2018 decision of the Supreme Court of India to strike down the portion of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code that criminalized consensual same-sex relationships, Mathew said public awareness of drag increased, leading to larger audiences for performances. Music

Proud Maya Drag Queens