Life Through a Queer Lens
Welcome to the Life Through a Queer Lens Podcast, where anyone with an open mind and heart can learn about the LGBTQIA+ Community from the people within it! We're your hosts, Jenene (she/her, they/them) and Kit (they/them).
Life Through a Queer Lens
EP58: Capturing the Magic of Euphoria and Queer Joy: Kit's First Drag Experience
Have you ever felt the rush of being truly seen and accepted for who you are? This episode dives into Kit's transformative Halloween night at a drag show, where the dazzling performances of three incredible Queens ignited his passion for capturing queer joy through photography. Join Kit as he reflects on the power of drag culture, the strength of community, and the vital role we all play in celebrating and safeguarding queer art and identity.
Check out our linktree
If anyone is seeking a safe place for chiropractic care on Long Island, you're welcome at Sound Chiropractic in Oakdale, NY.
For Chiropractic care or information,
check out our link tree here
directly to website here
having been away from the house. It's been so nice being away for multiple reasons. One that I tend to mourn the most is the feeling of these things about me not being shunned, hated, oogie, boogie, I don't know. You know what I mean, like a nightmarish, I don't know. I think what really hit me is within 10 minutes I got she heard four times in a row and it's just fucking brutal. It was like I have a lot of wind in my sails. There's wind despair. I'm adding more wind. My sails are okay, but, holy shit, did you have to work so hard to take that much of it out in one fail, swoop.
Speaker 1:Hello everyone, and welcome back to another episode of the podcast. Today we are having a much chiller vibe. It's another solo cast with yours truly, kit, and I ouchie, I ouchie today. So today we are on my bed with all of my stuffed animals and we're just going to hang out. We're just going to chill in, and today we are going to talk about what I did on Halloween. I know exciting, extravagant, but listen, it's actually going to be really good because on Halloween I went to my first ever drag show and it was an experience I will remember for the rest of my life, genuinely. I've talked about it before on the podcast.
Speaker 1:I live in an environment that is not exactly accepting. It felt so good being surrounded by so much queer joy and queer acceptance. My name and pronouns were respected all night in a way that they haven't been in a minute, like when I'm here, obviously, when I'm out with friends, when I'm with my partner, when I'm but those experiences don't happen daily. More consistently, it's the opposite side of that spectrum, which is not great, but it was incredible. I was dressed as a mix between the Cheshire Cat and Harley Quinn because I recently watched the People's Joker on Prime. So I couldn't not and I felt so powerful. I felt incredible. So powerful. I felt incredible, which was really cool. I don't know like I'm. I'm itty bitty Most of the time. When I dress up at work in any kind. It is very rare that I feel very powerful. That's not really a feeling that I personally experienced very frequently, but in that costume I genuinely felt so powerful and I don't know, just throughout the whole night, the whole experience. There was so much gender euphoria and a lot of strength and power that came from that gender euphoria that I'm definitely going to take with me into the next coming months and weeks, because, as of recording this, I still got a couple couple days, but, as of y'all hearing this, tomorrow's a big day. Y'all, if you haven't yet, please get out and vote. If you've early voted, like yours, truly, sit there and cross your fingers. But if you haven't yet, tomorrow's the big day, so get out and do that to stave off the consistent fight or flight that my body keeps going into. Every time I think about how close all that is.
Speaker 1:How about we just talk about the drag show? So first I'm going to start by giving the names of the queens that me and my partner and my bestie went and saw. All of their social media information will be in the description below, most likely separate from our link tree, because our link tree is getting a little crowded. I have to go through and organize that a bit. But they will definitely be in the episode description below and I will most likely end up adding their socials to our link tree within a couple of days of this episode going up. But they will be in the description below. So the queens we saw were Black, cherry, lavey. The way they described it was perfect. It was black. Black is in the color, cherry is in the fruit and lave like the emotion. Uh, lave is spelt l-a-v-e-e. My partner had to tell me that because I wasn't sure, so just so y'all know again, they'll all be down in the description below.
Speaker 1:The next drag queen her name makes me cry, laugh. I love her so much as Urethra Vast Deference. Need I say more? Come on, that's perfect. Urethra Vast Deference. Fuck off, that's the best. That's per it was great. And last but certainly not least, the jovanna the queen. So yeah, again, all of their socials will be in the description description below. Please go give them all a follow. They were fantastic. The show was incredible, which I'm going to get into. But just, oh, my god.
Speaker 1:Yes, as I said, I was a mix between the cheshire cat and harley quinn, my partner was a mix between the Cheshire Cat and Harley Quinn, my partner was a mix between the Mad Hatter and the Joker and my bestie bones was Dr Frankenfurter. Listen, I will say this here and now they were hot, so hot. My bestie is hot. My bestie is hotter than your bestie, sorry, especially as Frankenfurter. Oh, my God, I took so many pictures of them to the point where I actually got inspired myself, because there was a period of time where I was really into photography to the point where I almost thought about going for photography and doing photography just fell out of it. I didn't have any, I didn't have enough money for any of the equipment and I didn't have anyone willing to model for me and I was like 17. So it just didn't happen.
Speaker 1:But in taking these pictures of bones I have recognized that I want to take more photos of queer euphoria and queer confidence, like I want to make an entire portfolio that consists of photos of queer euphoria and queer confidence. And if anyone's interested in that, I might add like a separate little suggestions email thing. Actually, I'm going to. I'm going to add a separate little suggestions email thing to the link tree and that's going to be able to email me rather than like the podcast that's going to send messages to me personally. If you are interested in being a part of a queer euphoria, queer confidence, self-love photo shoot for a portfolio, let me know. We. Can we dm me or send me. Go into the link tree. Oh, my god, I'm getting too ahead of myself. Go into the link tree and go to that tab. It'll probably be the third or fourth one down. If I have to guess from where I'm sitting now, it'll probably be the third or fourth one down and that will take you to a page to message me directly and email me directly about your interest in being a part of a queer euphoria queer confidence photo shoot and we can absolutely set something up because that's something that I genuinely I want to do. It's this has inspired me.
Speaker 1:Halloween inspired me in many different ways, but, yeah, the drag show. We got there probably about an hour and a half before the show started and immediately we were making friends, we were talking to people. We met two incredible people who I am now friends with online and I really appreciate both of them. They are both absolutely fantastic. Ben, if you're listening to this, hi, they were both phenomenal, absolutely absolutely incredible people Made me feel incredibly safe in a way that I have not experienced before with someone that I just recently met. It was a phenomenal experience. I ended up getting a little shwasted. My partner was D. He did not drink a drop. He is very responsible. I love him so much, but I ended up having one vodka crayon at the show and it was a double shot and I hadn't really eaten a lot that day and then I sipped at my besties second double shot vodka crayon with them and then I had another vodka crayon at another bar that we had gone to and we were overpoured every time. But it was just.
Speaker 1:It was a night of such euphoria, genuinely, in so many different ways, costume to the immediate respect I was met with in queer establishments and surrounded by queer people and at queer events, if that makes sense. Because, mind you, this wasn't like a queer bar, this wasn't a queer establishment, but this was a queer event within this establishment and the vibes were immaculate, genuinely. There was someone there dressed up as Cruella de Vil. Oh my god, they were gorgeous. They were gorgeous, they were an absolute queen. I couldn't get over them. There was someone there dressed up as Wizard SpongeBob from the end of the SpongeBob movie and also Peek. It was just a great night for so many reasons.
Speaker 1:One of the first scenes that I remember them doing was the scream spoof from scary movie, where I'm sure I think it's in the first or second scary movie where they have the spoof of this of the first scream movie, the call between the killer and drew barrymore character. They did that. It was phenomenal. It was so funny, it was great. Their energy was so perfect. They reminded us to vote consistently throughout the show, which was really awesome to see. With experiencing queer art and stuff like that. There was this consistent reminder of being active in protecting that queer art, which is something that I personally really appreciate because, yes, support queer art in every facet, including by voting to keep queer art safe. Oh my God. There was another scene. They did Hocus Pocus. Okay, so you know the witch in Hocus Pocus that ends up riding on a vacuum.
Speaker 1:They did a scene where one of the queens it was Black Cherry LeVay, dressed up as that witch, with the vacuum and sang Defying Gravity, with Eurythra Vast Deference, as Glinda. Oh my God, it was so funny, it was so good. At one point the vacuum became an air guitar. It was just it. It was peak. I'll hopefully try to. If I make clips of these moments, I'll try to include some of the footage that I got from some of these performances.
Speaker 1:Jo Giovanna, the Queen, came out and performed I Need a Hero dressed up as Storm, and I lost it. I was freaking. I love Storm. It was excellent. It was an absolutely phenomenal performance and then, after the show. I got some pictures with her, which again I will show, with these clips and stuff like that, and of course I will tag the queens in those videos, though I don't know if they have TikToks, they might only have Instagrams and unfortunately we did have to delete our Instagram.
Speaker 1:But afterward we got pictures together and she complimented my makeup. Guys, guys, a drag queen who just took my breath away with every single one of her performances. She performed Disturbia and it was incredible. She complimented my makeup. I was like I can die, happy and also now I need to do like an actual drag look, because I've never done drag makeup. It was one of those things that I always looked at from a distance with this level of awe and respect and, just God, that's beautiful, that is art in motion, and now I'm sitting here I might be able to. So take a peek. Keep tabs on our socials, which will also be in the link tree below, to see when I do my first drag makeup y'all, because I'll probably end up posting that on our tiktok, maybe even our youtube. We'll see. But yeah, she was. All of the queens were so incredible.
Speaker 1:They're performing hedwig and the angry inch at a separate theater. I believe this past weekend was the last showings, unfortunately, but they did a number from Hedwig and the Angry Inch during the performance and it was again absolutely perfect. I've personally never seen Hedwig and the Angry Inch. That's something that I also have to peek at some point, but I have not personally gotten the chance to see that yet. But that number was. It was great, I loved it. And then at the end of the night, of course, what better way to end off a drag performance than with Cher?
Speaker 1:So we were all up and dancing to Do you Believe in Life After Love? And my bestie Bones finally removed the lab coat from their Frankenfurter costume and revealed the look, which was peak, perfect. No, I obsession. If I get their permission, I will share photos of the look, but only with their consent, obviously, but hopefully I'll definitely show pictures of the lab coat look, because from the front it's just like the lab coat, but they were hot and the drag queens noticed immediately. I think it was urethra, vast deference, who noticed first and immediately pulled them up on stage. They were like you belong up here. And let me tell you, they belonged up there. Like I was recording and taking pictures and losing it, I almost started crying for them. I was like, girl, you belonged up there. You looked perfect, bitch, fit in perfectly. Oh my God, it was incredible. I hope that one day they perform in a drag show and I hope that I could be lucky enough to just be there and bask in their glow, because they are going to shine on that stage. I already saw a glimpse Like I want that so badly for them and I want more than anything to just be able to be there and witness that. Oh my God, they were perfect. Yeah, they were brought up on stage.
Speaker 1:I was freaking out and then Ven from behind me was like that's your bestie, go up there? And I couldn't not, I had to go be with my bestie. So I booked my little ass, weave in and like shot up to them. I think I accidentally caught my foot like on the stage as I was getting up there. So I almost face planted, which is just so me If anyone knows me, they know that is probably the most me way to make an entrance onto a stage is almost breaking my face in the process Peak. And then I rocked my little ass out to Do you Believe in Life After Love? By Cher, on stage with my bestie and the fantastic beautiful queers that we had met that night, and my partner took pictures for me and, oh, it was just an excellent end to an absolutely perfect show. And then afterward I got to go up to some of the drag queens get some pictures. I got to get told that they like my makeup, which just I can't and then, yeah, we ended up leaving the show.
Speaker 1:It was about 1130-ish and Halloween's not over till it's over. So we went to the bar down the road, which was, I believe, an Irish pub, and the vibes were different. Like almost immediately, both my bestie and I had some rather unsafe experiences within that bar. They were fine. Especially, I got kissed by a woman dressed as Jessica Rabbit, basically, and it wasn't great, but also it was fine.
Speaker 1:I literally made the joke of I am just boy enough to be boy and just girl enough to be girl, that I end up being a lot of people's queer experience. It's fine. It's not my favorite thing, but I'll take it. So I got made out with by Jessica Rabbit, just kissed, kissed by Jessica Rabbit. My bestie almost got kissed coming out of the bathroom, but because they had witnessed what happened to me, they knew to turn their cheek, so she only got their cheek. And then, when I went to the bar, something much creepier happened with two men that were close to my stepdad's age, which was just ah, on multiple levels. So yeah, that wasn't great.
Speaker 1:My bestie made the joke that we got overpoured for almost as much as we got sexually assaulted. Sometimes, if you don't laugh, you'll cry, am I right? Guys, you gotta make some funny haws, or else you're just gonna sit there and be like I'm never leaving the house again, and that is not a healthy way to cope. But thankfully, like I said then, was immediately like are you, guys, okay? Do you need me to do something? Do you need me to get you outside? What's going on? Like they were great. My boyfriend was fantastic about it. He immediately helped me get outside. He tried to warn me about Jessica Rabbit, but yeah, it is what it is. I keep, every once in a while, just being like I got kissed by Jessica Rabbit. I think what I had said to her right before that happened was I myself have been compared to Roger Rabbit many times in my life, which is 100% true.
Speaker 1:My hair has been red more times than I can count, but double that. I have been compared to Roger Rabbit. You know what I mean. That man's in me. We are one in the same. My transition goals are Roger Rabbit actually. Okay, put me down on the book saying that my transition goals Roger Rabbit. But yeah, so the vibes were definitely different.
Speaker 1:After that experience at the bar, we were immediately outside. I was good for the night you know what I mean and then we walked back to the car, then ended up joining us on the walk back to the car, which was really sweet of them. Again, I thought they were great. And then from there they gave their wife a call to come pick them up and we headed out and it was a really nice night. Yeah, like I just could not get over how absolutely beautiful and amazing that night was. It was really incredible. The queens were hilarious. All queens are. I don't know if I've ever met an unfunny drag queen. Drag queens are just. They're great. They're so good. I love them. They're so funny.
Speaker 1:Planning for this costume took way too long for me personally. I made multiple aspects of the costumes. I made the hat my partner was wearing. I didn't make construct the hat, but we'd gotten a hat from a thrift store and I added everything that is added to the hat was added by me. So it was a lot of different components to bring together and make that final product. And then I DIY'd a hair clip for myself, a lapel pin that I ended up putting on my waist, a couple necklaces. I changed up a collar, I made a tail or I got a tail from spirit and then made it look much less like a spirit tail and a little more okay. This goes with the vibe.
Speaker 1:Two separate people thought I was foxy from finaf, which means I do have a foxy cosplay in theory. In theory, I also have a foxy cosplay out of this costume. So that's nice, that's multifaceted. I'll take that. I like a costume with multiple uses. I'd probably change up the makeup a little bit for Foxy because I did the diamonds and like I went with. I'll try to have pictures up again if I do clips of my costume, of what we will and as for Halloween.
Speaker 1:But I had like little diamonds on my cheeks that I looked like I was crying out almost. I had like a big Tresher cat grin. I had like I was crying out almost. I had the big Cheshire Cat grin. I had like cat ears. I might try to get something that's a little more like wolfy for the ears. Definitely more teeth in the smile, because I didn't actually do like a toothy grin, mainly because, if I'm being entirely honest, I didn't feel like having to draw teeth. That was. I was like no thanks, I'd rather rather just do. I almost did like a clown grin, but a little more cheshire cat-esque, which I was really proud of, because then the harley quinn got across with the clown aspects of it. It was. I was really proud of it and I am really proud of the fact that a a drag queen liked it. I am gonna ride that high for as long as my mental health will let me.
Speaker 1:And having been away from the house from like Wednesday through to basically like yesterday afternoon, it was a good period of time. It's something that I tell my partner pretty frequently, like when we get back to the house. It's been so nice being away for multiple reasons, but one that I tend to mourn the most is the feeling of these things about me not being shunned or hated or oogie boogie. I don't know. You know what I mean, like a nightmarish, I don't know. I hope that makes sense. I've just been thinking a lot about that recently, specifically since again coming back yesterday and just I't know.
Speaker 1:I think what really hit me is within 10 minutes of my bestie pulling out of the driveway. My partner had left half an hour before that, maybe less, and I got she heard four times in a row and it's just fucking brutal. It was like I have a lot of wind in my sails. There's wind to spare. I'm adding more wind, my sails are okay, but holy shit, did you have to work so hard to take that much of it out in one fell swoop?
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, for any of you out there living in similar situations, there is always light.
Speaker 1:There are always people around you who will honor you and who will love you and who will respect you.
Speaker 1:And if you cannot find them in your immediate vicinity, please know that you can find someone like that in me and in so many other people who are out there.
Speaker 1:It might take a bit to find us, but I promise you we are out there and we love you and we care about you and we will respect you and we will honor you. And I understand that doesn't feel like much in the moment. Trust me, I get it. It really doesn't feel like much in the moment, but there is always someone out there, and there's more than just someone. There's hundreds of us. We are out here, we have always been here, we are older than many of these people can even begin to fathom, and we're not going anywhere. Stay safe, stay queer. I love you, your transestors love you, your queer ancestors love you, the queers around you love you. The allies around you love you, we love you. If you guys are interested in seeing these three fabulous queens that I got to have the absolute pleasure and privilege of seeing, they will be back at the Sherman Showcase in December of this year for their Christmas show, so I recommend checking that out you.