Cairns’ ‘black face’ performer apologises

Cairns’ ‘black face’ performer apologises

The performer at the centre of a racism row due to his choice of drag act at last year’s Out! Cairns New Year’s Eve event has responded to the allegations.

The Cairns local, who did not want to be named, apologised for his performance, which offended fellow community members both in Cairns and across the country.

“I am deeply sorry that the show caused offence and apologise to those hurt,” he told the Star Observer.

Community members were deeply disturbed and upset by the man whose drag persona, Aunty Berna Housedowne, performed what was said to be a highly offensive and racist show during the event.

The man took to the stage in “black face” and stumbled around drunkenly, drinking from and brandishing a bottle of rum.

“To me drag is irreverent and about creating extreme illusions. I wanted the show to foremost be tropical and relevant to Cairns,” he explained.

“The songs chosen were Kookie Little Paradise which involved props relevant to the lyrics and Drinking Rum & Cola which involved the slapstick drunk act because that’s the words to the song.

“Both of these songs are about the tropics. It was not my intention to imply that Torres Strait Islanders drink heavily because very much the opposite is true.”

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