One of Australia\u2019s best-known and loved drag queens, Sydney\u2019s Maxi Shield, has died after being diagnosed with throat cancer, prompting tributes from around the world.<\/p>\n
Kristopher Elliot, who performed drag under the name Maxi Shield, was 51. Shield was a mainstay of the Sydney drag scene and brought Australian drag to the world as contestant in season one of RuPaul\u2019s Drag<\/a> Race Down Under.<\/p>\n Shield revealed she had throat cancer in last September, which forced her to step down from performing in a Kath & Kim show at Edinburgh fringe with a fellow Drag Race Down Under season one alum, Art Simone.<\/p>\n Sign up: AU Breaking News email<\/a><\/p>\n She returned to performing at the Oxford Hotel and Palms on the gay strip of Oxford Street in Sydney this month, and was set to host a sold-out Mardi Gras viewing party at the Oxford Hotel on Saturday.<\/p>\n Shield at the 2022 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade, which was held at the Sydney Cricket Ground due to Covid restrictions. Photograph: Brendon Thorne\/Getty Images<\/p>\n \u201cI loved this queen,\u201d the Down Under host, Michelle Visage, posted on Instagram. \u201cA glorious human on the inside and out. Your love, heart, talent and energy will be missed\u2026. @maxishield rest in power, my angel, you were truly one of a kind.\u201d<\/p>\n Mardi Gras said in a Facebook post that the news was devastating. \u201cThey were an icon and pillar of our community and we would like to take a moment to recognise all that Maxi stood for. This Mardi Gras will feel undeniably different with a space and light shining in her honour.\u201d<\/p>\n Dillon Shaw, the licensee for Universal club on Oxford Street, said in a Facebook post that Shield was an iconic presence who had worked across every queer venue in Sydney.<\/p>\n \u201cThis Mardi Gras will feel different,\u201d Shaw said. \u201cIt will be more solemn, as so many of us gather carrying the space left by her smile, her quick wit, and her remarkable spirit.<\/p>\n \u201cMaxi was a big personality with a heart of gold. I\u2019m heartbroken that the world won\u2019t get to see this legend light up a stage again, and that I won\u2019t get to share another giggle over lunch with my friend.\u201d<\/p>\n Simone said the news was heartbreaking. \u201cYou were an inspiration, a warm heart, a cheeky girl and an absolute drag legend,\u201d she said in an Instagram post. \u201cI\u2019m just fortunate I got to call you a sister and share so many special moments with you.\u201d<\/p>\n Shield appeared in the closing ceremony of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games<\/a> and, at a time when there was conservative pushback against drag queen story time events for children, she continued to hold them<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThey ask, \u2018How come you\u2019ve got a dress on?\u2019 and we say, \u2018We like it and we like to sparkle,\u2019\u201d she told SBS News in 2023. \u201cAnd then there\u2019s no prejudice, they say, \u2018OK, can I have a balloon?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of Australia\u2019s best-known and loved drag queens, Sydney\u2019s Maxi Shield, has died after being diagnosed with throat…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":143381,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-143380","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=143380"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143380\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/143381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}