sick pay for the sickening
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Betty Wetter was a month into planning the Queer Sick Pay Fund when she tested positive for COVID-19. She had to miss all her gigs for the end of Pride Month. “I work hard during June, and then I usually take July off because that amount of work is crucial, and so was the income,” Wetter says.
Give Betty Wetter (and all the other Seattle drag and nightlife performers) all of your money! Photo by Olivia Zakes Green
Wetter has appeared on KING 5, extensively toured with her own shows, and hosted high-profile events, including Dan Savage’s HUMP! and Tush, her monthly show at the Clock-Out Lounge. “[Drag] is actually the longest job that I've ever held now at six years,” Wetter says. And yet, unlike most other full-time careers, nightlife performers have next to no safety net for illness, injury, or other emergencies.
The Queer Sick Pay Fund aims to weave that net a little tighter.
Shane Donohue and Elby Brosch, also known as dance duo Drama Tops, pitched their frequent collaborator Wetter an idea: What if there was sick pay for nightlife performers?
“The pandemic stopped the world, and it revealed so many issues,” Brosch says.
Wetter, who admits she complains about COVID-19 a lot, was interested. “I said, ‘Let’s stop complaining about this and let’s create something.’”
Donohue and Brosch both caught COVID-19 for the first time in 2021, while they were working on the Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show. The rest of the tour that year was canceled, and the crew was paid half their normal rate. “[Jinx and DeLa] definitely did everything they could for us… They lost so much money, and they helped us only lose a little,” Donohue says.
Donohue and Brosch looked into Paid Family Medical Leave but hadn’t worked enough hours in 2021 to qualify.
“I think the main difference [between PFML and qSPF] is that the qualifications [for qSPF] are so basic and there are so few barriers to the access to these funds,” Wetter says. “A lot of programs offered by the government are wonderful, but do often have barriers, especially for marginalized people.”
It’s impossible to open Instagram these days without seeing posts from queer Seattleites asking for mutual aid. “I do see people posting about how they don't know how much longer they can live in Seattle, or how much longer they can afford it,” Wetter says.
Apartments.com puts Seattle’s rent prices at 30 percent above the national average. You can’t find a non-Dick’s meal on Capitol Hill for less than $15. Even Hawk Dogs used to be $2 cheaper. One emergency and you’ve got a real problem, and almost nowhere to turn for financial support besides your community.
qSPF is a very specific fund for very specific needs. Donohue calls it “hyperlocal, hyperspecific.” The fund is just a small part of Seattle’s response to COVID-19 and the measures put in place to keep people from getting sick.
Bee’Uh BombChelle, a drag queen with 10 years of experience spanning both coasts, is one of the few performers in Seattle to require masks at her monthly show, T4T. “I didn't want anyone in the audience to have caught [COVID] the one time they tried to go have a good time. And I wanted to protect myself too,” she says. She lost her job the first time she contracted Covid, and the Long Covid symptoms cost her another.
In our fourth year living with COVID-19, the emphasis on going “back to normal” has changed how people respond to illness prevention. BombChelle and Wetter have both begged close friends, fans, and regulars to just put a mask on at the gig, to no avail.
Dr. Eric Chow, the Chief of Communicable Disease Epidemiology and Immunizations at Public Health Seattle & King County, says, “We want people to be able to live their lives fully, so it’s important to think about how to do our daily activities more safely.”
He lists yearly vaccines, masks, air filtration, and isolating when sick as steps everyone can take to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. None of these measures are currently mandated by the government.
“Mandates have a role when the health impacts of a disease are very serious, and we need short-term, immediate improvements to contain the spread of infection,” Chow says. This surge, apparently, is not one of those times.
This leaves prevention up to individuals. From what Wetter has seen, she’s not optimistic.
“We're going to keep getting Covid over and over and over and over and over again,” she says. “We will have to really figure out how to exist in a world that we shouldn't have to.”
qSPF isn’t going to cure Covid, but that doesn’t mean it's pointless.
“Responding to the world that we're in is what we need to do,” Donohue says. “And knowing everything is going to be questionable and wrong.”
Donohue wants to distribute a zine to other cities looking to start similar programs. “We get to create our systems,” they say. “I hope more systems come up.”
qSPF is holding a fundraiser and auction on September 18 at the Clock-Out Lounge. Performers include Bosco, Fox Whitney + Will Courtney, Moscato Sky and Betty Wetter. Wetter encourages anyone to attend even if they can’t afford the auction. Donohue describes their target donor as “double income no child gay people.” So anyone frequently booking a Queer/Bar booth, consider this your call to action.
“Our goal is $100,000,” Wetter says. “I’ll take two if they’ve got it.”
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