The Body of Conchita Wurst in Defiance of Russian Heteronormativity
Year: 2022

Drag queen Conchita Wurst's performance in the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest challenged the sexual ideologies of conservative states in Eastern Europe and particularly Russia, and her victory was transformed into a political statement on the status of LGBTQIA+ rights in Europe. For Russia, Conchita's win represented the loss of traditional family values, the idealised masculine body, and heteronormative gender conventions, whereas for much of Western Europe her performance and speech was used as