The Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony — to quote SNL character Stefon — had everything. There was a mysterious Assassins-creed-esque figure carrying the torch, a queer ménage à trois, a headless Marie Antoinette accompanied by a metal band and Celine Dion’s first public performance in years. But as it turns out, the extremely French festivities also had a Jewish connection: one of its stars was fat Jewish lesbian activist and DJ Barbara Butch.
In the Opening Ceremony, Barbara DJ’ed and stood proudly at the center of a drag show and fashion show that celebrated the Greek God Dionysus above the River Seine. (According to Greek mythology, Dionysus is the father of Sequana, the Goddess of the Seine.) Representing a Goddess of Music, Barbara wore a blue dress with silver sequins, a headset customized with a crystal-encrusted silver halo and crystal bracelets on each wrist. She stood next to French Drag Queen Nicky Doll, host of “Drag Race France.”
“My aim is to unite people, gather humans & share love through music for all of Us to dance & make our hearts beat [in unison],” the 43-year-old wrote on Instagram after the Opening Ceremony. “Music sounds better with all of Us!”
Barbara, whose full name is Leslie Barbara Butch, was born in raised in Paris, the child of Jewish immigrants. She struggled with antisemitism and racism in her childhood (her father is of Moroccan heritage) and the knowledge that some family members were killed in the Holocaust. However, she found a safe space in the Eclaireuses et Eclaireurs israélites de France or the Jewish Guides and Scouts of France. There, she was able to explore her burgeoning queer identity and start playing music.
From there, Barbara came out to her family at 18, began DJ’ing full time in 2013, became a face of Jean Paul Gauthier’s fragrance La Belle Intense, guest judged on “Drag Race France” and more. Throughout it all — including some abusive relationships and homophobia which forced Barbara to close a restaurant she opened at age 23 — a guiding message of hers came from her great-grandmother. “Everyone is beautiful; every body is beautiful,” Barbara’s great-grandmother impressed upon her as a child.
“I’m a fat, Jewish, queer lesbian, and I’m really proud of all my identities, because they make me what I am now as a human,” she told Attitude Magazine in 2023. “All the violence and negativity I’ve experienced, I can make it something bigger to help others go forward with a lot of love.”
Unfortunately, more violence and negativity has recently come her way. Following her performance at the Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony, Barbara has received numerous threats and sexist, antisemitic and fatphobic attacks. The source of the controversy is that some Christian organizations like the French Bishops’ Conference and public figures like former President Donald Trump interpreted the drag and fashion show to represent The Last Supper. The ceremony’s artistic director Thomas Jolly has denied this. (What’s more, anyone who thinks drag queens and queer people portraying religious iconography is offensive because they have no place in religion, that is more of a reflection on you than it is on the queer community. But that’s a whole other article…)
“Whatever some may say, I exist. I’ve never been ashamed of who I am, and I take responsibility for everything – including my artistic choices,” Barbara wrote in an Instagram post, announcing that she would take legal action against those threatening her.
She added, “I’m not afraid of those who hide behind a screen, or a pseudonym, to spew their hatred and frustrations. I will fight them without ever trembling. I’m committed, and I’m proud. Proud of who I am, of what I am, and of what I embody, both for my loved ones and for millions of French people.”
