FAMILY Affair
The art of drag has a longstanding history of helping trans women activate their transitions; the gender journeys of queens like Gia Gunn, Jiggly Caliente, and many before them, serve as proof. But trans men are rarely centered in conversations about drag, something makeup artist Kade Gottlieb, known to many as performer Gottmik, hopes to disrupt with his own experience as someone transmasculine who does high femme drag.
“It’s kind of confusing on paper when you just put it down,” he concedes. For so long, the Los Angeles-based artist who has worked with Heidi Klum, French Montana, and more, felt like the desire for his presentation to match his identity was at odds with his love of drag. He thought, “Maybe I can just live this girly life, and I would just be…suppressing it and just living my life the way I already
