Priscilla Promotion Backfires In The Northern Territory

It’s hard to believe it’s been thirty years since The Adventures Of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert graced our screens.

The cult classic is remembered across the country for its iconic locations and fabulous queens.

However a key decision in promoting this milestone in the Northern Territory has backfired with local audiences this week.

Kings Canyon becomes “Queens Canyon” to celebrate Priscilla

Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert featured some memorable moments, but nothing quite as visually inspiring as the finale.

As the film draws to a close Tick, Adam and Bernadette ascended Kings Canyon, in full drag.

The beauty of the Australian landscape falling away behind the fabulously dressed queens is iconic cinematic history.

As celebrations kick off around the region this month Discovery Parks in the Northern Territory have made a decision to promote the event that has Aussies scratching their heads.

In an effort to try and invigorate audiences and promote the landmark the site was temporarily renamed to “Queens Canyon.”

To assist in the promotion the organisation flew in some iconic stars of RuPaul’s Drag Race from the US and the UK.

But not everyone is happy about it.

“You’ve completely disrespected our Drag Community with this bad choice of talent”

The decision by Tourism NT and Discovery Resorts to enlist international drag talent for this iconic local film has many on social media up in arms.

The campaign features American queens Utica and Joey Jay, joined by UK Drag Race stars Ginny Lemon and Sister Sister as they ascended the iconic location and travel along “Priscilla’s Crack” adorned in their best drag.

While there is no doubt about the talent of the queens, upon viewing the campaign many remarked about its lack of diversity and disrespect to Australian talent, taking to the Facebook post for Discovery Parks & Resorts to share their opinions.

Iconic Australian drag performer Philma Bocks joined the chorus of voices online.

“With all the incredible artists you could have picked from in Australia, you’ve completely disrespected our Drag Community with this bad choice of talent. No diversity in the cast” they remarked.

“No representation of Indigenous culture either, this is their country and the message you’re sending out is far from the home ground of what Priscilla stands for” they continued. “The UK Drag scene has nothing to do with a film about Australian Drag, they have no place representing.”

Others were quick to join Philma in their opposition to the campaign.

“We have a million Australian Queens and a drag industry here that would have done with the work” remarked another user.

“However, this particular project seems to miss the mark in capturing the essence and diversity of our own drag community. The selection appears to lack the inclusivity and representation that is so vital in reflecting the true spirit of our nation’s drag scene, notably omitting drag kings and Indigenous performers, who are integral to our cultural narrative” noted another.

Discovery Parks & Resorts have responded to the criticism in a statement on the Facebook post in question.

“We acknowledge the feedback we’ve received about the campaign and representation of the Australian drag community” they stated.

“First and foremost, we apologise for any offence it has caused – this was absolutely not our intention.”

“The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert is an iconic film with global appeal and recognition. As such, we were excited to have the opportunity to partner with Tourism NT on this campaign, which forms part of their global marketing efforts that specifically target UK and US audiences.”

“The Drag Race queens featured in the Kings Canyon shoot were in Australia using their own social channels to promote the fabALICE festival and the Red Centre to their large international followings, rather than Australian audiences.”