Burlesque performer Jake DuPree vows to keep fighting after lingerie shoot backlash
Exclusive: "I do fear for my safety at times but it’s not going to make me stop."
The Burlesque performer and dancer, Jake DuPree, has vowed to keep on living openly and proudly despite a backlash to a lingerie photoshoot of theirs.
In April, the Australian lingerie brand, Honey Birdette, shared images of Jake posing in a lacy red number. Jake had also posted them on their own Instagram.
Speaking to Attitude in the September/October issue – out now – Jake said they knew there would be a backlash to the images online.
They continued: “I warned them [Honey Birdette] it was going to get negative feedback.”
But they admitted they were surprised by how much backlash the images got. The incident came off the back of the Dylan Mulvaney-Bud Light fiasco, which riled people up on the web.
“I’m happy that people talked about it,” Jake, who identifies as non-binary, continued. “All of these identities and expressions, none of them is new; just the terminology and a lot of the exposure to it is more prevalent. That’s why it’s scaring people so much.”
“I do fear for my safety at times but it’s not going to make me stop”
Jake also clarified the shoot in question wasn’t an official thing, explaining: “I went to my friend’s living room in LA, and we shot it. It makes me seem cooler than I am.”
But the incident did worry Jake about how much and what details they post on social media. They said people commented gun emojis on their profile and also messaged their mum on her own Instagram.
“It made me feel like I should back away from doing some stuff for a while. I signed up for this — not that it’s warranted — but I understand it because I’m pushing a boundary and people’s ideas of sexuality.
“Especially in America, you never know when somebody’s threat is serious. You never know when someone could turn up to a show and end my life. I think about that a lot. I just don’t want my family and friends to be affected by that.
“I’ve been trying to be more careful about what I post on social media about where I am, or my friends or my family, because I worry. I do fear for my safety at times but it’s not going to make me stop.”
Read the full feature in Attitude issue 354, which is out now.