Jackie Rosebutch—the drag persona of recent college graduate Elani Borhegyi—stood in the middle of Death Valley in full makeup, taking videos with their cell phone, when they realized they were being watched. A figure in a gray khaki shirt and wide-brimmed hat was staring at them from the distance. The nearest town was Furnace Creek, California, population 136, which was miles and miles away. Not expecting to see anyone this far away from civilization, Borhegyi was uneasy, until they realized that this stranger was a park ranger, who was just as surprised as Jackie was, not expecting to come across a drag artist in the middle of the hottest place on Earth.
Borhegyi greeted the ranger, and introduced themself, explaining that they were on the first leg of a two-year pan-American bicycle tour from Missoula, Montana, to the southern tip of South America and back. The ranger was a little surprised, but even more so when Borhegyi asked if there was any place nearby that would host a drag show. And that’s how Jackie Rosebutch ended up in the living room of the Death Valley National Park Ranger Station, putting on an hour-long solo drag show for a small audience of park rangers. The show featured a combination of hula, hip hop, belly dancing and American Sign Language as Jackie lip synced to Big & Rich’s “Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy).” At one point, Jackie pitted two of the rangers against each other in their own lip sync battle. After the show Borhegyi stuck around, had a beer, and watched an episode of “Survivor” with the rangers.
To some, this story might seem like a scene out of the classic drag queen film “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert,” but for this Missoula artist, it’s just business as usual.
“There’s no shortage of opportunities,” says Borhegyi, “you’ve just got to be smart about where you choose to put yourself out.”
Borhegyi, 23, discovered their passion for drag while working toward a bachelor’s in environmental science and sustainability at the University of Montana. As a student there, they learned about an opportunity for first-time drag artists to perform at a special show co-presented by the UM student group LAMBDA and the Imperial Sovereign Court of the State of Montana—Big Sky Country’s largest drag organization. As a queer person, Borhegyi was excited to try their hand at drag. But being non-binary, they didn’t fit into the category of drag queen or a drag king. And so, instead, they took the title of “drag goddex.”
At first, they were nervous about performing in front of an audience of strangers, but the excitement of coming up with their first drag number inspired them to move past the anxiety. Borhegyi decided to incorporate their environmental science studies into their drag persona, creating colorful, dynamic makeup looks based on birds and insects. The character they created was Jackie Rosebutch, and Borhegyi worked hard to distinguish Jackie through the distinctive makeup designs, as well as eccentric experimental performances and highly physical dance numbers.
After cutting their teeth at venues such as the ZACC, and then on to stages across Montana, Borhegyi finished their studies. With college behind them, the drag artist decided to do something big post-graduation. At first they thought about a big backpacking trip, but after talking with a friend who had done an overnight bicycle trip, they decided to bike instead. Their original plan was to do a 100-mile ride. And as they planned the trip, it occurred to them: If they’re going to do such a big adventure, why not make it unforgettable and iconic? They would take Jackie Rosebutch on the road, too.
On October 19, 2023, Borhegyi set out, planning to spend a year traveling to Patagonia and another year coming back to Missoula. Prior to this trip, Borhegyi’s experience on a bicycle was limited. They rode as a kid in their native Boston, and, later, to and from the University of Montana campus, which had its own challenges.
“In Missoula it becomes really impractical to use a bike six months out of the year,” Borhegyi says.
The whole trip will cover between 25,000 and 30,000 miles, and Bohegyi is doing it all by either bike or by bus, when biking is unfeasible. As they travel across two continents, they perform on stages wherever they can. In Vancouver, they created a blended half-feminine half-masculine look. They hoedowned for “country night” at San Francisco’s iconic gay bar Aunt Charlie’s Lounge. They performed in Spanish outside Mexico City. These shows, like their impromptu performance in the Death Valley Ranger Station, have been booked on the fly as Borhegyi makes connections with people along the way.
Drag is an artform known for its elaborate costumes, big wigs, and outrageous makeup. But on a bicycle, Borhegyi doesn’t have the luxury of bringing along multiple clothing changes, makeup brushes or even a pair of high heels. They needed to be creative and economical. Along with their water bottle, first aid kit, and all the other gear one requires for an intercontinental bike trip, Borhegyi brought the basic building blocks needed to transform into Jackie Rosebutch: Just a little bit of makeup and a gold-studded leotard. While on the road, they have worked with what they have on hand. For instance, Jackie Rosebutch has, at times, taken the stage in biking clothes and helmet to lip sync to “La Bicicletta” by Shakira and Carlos Vives and “Old Town Road” by queer artist Lil Nas X.
Besides logistical challenges, Borhegyi faces other issues as a queer non-binary person traveling alone. For one, they have to find pharmacies that will refill their hormone prescription. And, obviously, they have to deal with people and places who are not queer-friendly—who might cause Borhegyi harm. For that reason, Borhegyi does their best to blend in as a cisgender heterosexual bike tourist, while on the road.
“I’m still a trans person with breasts,” they say, laughing. “So, I put on a sports bra—Mulan style—and now, ironically, pass as the gender I was assigned at birth.”
Borhegyi says their experiences outside the U.S. have not been at all what they expected. They find that people in the U.S. are more likely to assume they are a man, while people south of the border are more likely to read them as female.
“In some ways I feel more non-binary in Mexico than I do in the U.S.,” they say.
But even just getting outside of Montana’s borders, they’ve noticed a difference in the way people react to them as a drag artist. With multiple anti-drag and anti-LGBTQ bills introduced during the 2023 legislative session, Montana has become a more hostile place—not just for drag artists, but LGBTQ+ people in general. Borhegyi, who testified in Helena in full drag against these bills, says they are glad to get away to gain some perspective.
“When you take a step back and get out of Montana for a bit,” Borhegyi says, “you can see what a [political] shit show it is.”
Borhegyi reports that most people in Mexico are excited to meet a drag artist. Of course, it helps that they speak the language. Born deaf, Borhegyi uses Cochlear implants. As a child, they were told that they should attend a school with no foreign language requirements, because learning a foreign language would be outside of their ability as a deaf person.
“I responded to that by studying Spanish as soon as I could,” Borhegyi says. “And now I’m fluent in it.”
When they get to Brazil, they plan on learning Portuguese, too.
Borhegyi says that being deaf has, in some ways, been an asset that lends itself to this bicycling adventure.
“Having a disability forces you to develop certain abilities to navigate a world that is not designed for disabled people to thrive,” Borhegyi says.
The world has not been easy for queer people to thrive in, either. But by going out on the road and sharing Jackie Rosebutch with others, Borhegyi is connecting with new audiences in surprising ways. Even in inhospitable deserts, there have been oases of unexpected stages.
“I want to show that trans and non-binary people can travel the world if they so want to,” Borhegyi says. “I’m deaf and that’s just a fact. But I’m still taking a bike tour—something a lot of people, even if they can hear or are straight and cisgender, wouldn’t do.”
