This project came to light because I wanted to show what it is like and has been like to be queer in America. I have lived a very comfortable life as a queer person. Spending most of my life in a small town just east of Houston, Texas I recognize how privileged I was not to have faced homophobia. I know many stories that are just like mine, people growing up with accepting families, loving friends, and a country that was starting to be more progressive. In 2003, when I was a year old, Texas became one of the last states to ban sodomy laws that targeted homosexuals. In 2015 when I was 13 gay marriage became legal in the US. I grew up with queer icons on TV and in mainstream media. Many queer people grew up with this progress and even in more conservative parts of the nation queer people were able to find themselves easier than ever before. We grew up with a progressive America and now we see a lot more hate.

Queer people are being targeted again. Our clubs are being shot up. Our rights are being debated. Our stories are being banned. And our drag queens are being shamed. All this bigotry is coming to light because we have built up real progress and it scares people. I believe the only reason drag is being painted as something perverted and wrong is that conservatives are scared of anyone being completely free. A drag queen's career is built on not caring about the status quo, having a good time, and looking more beautiful than any regular person could ever attempt. Drag queens are also the people that have created so much change in the world.

Drag is art, and all art is political. For generations, drag queens have been the ones to challenge an oppressive system that is completely against them. During the prohibition era, many people looked to drag queens for entertainment because they always existed under the law's nose. Drag queens were the main people making gay liberation possible in the '60s. And even now our queens put on all kinds of shows and charity events to help better our community. It has never been corporate gays that work a 9-5 and wave a pride flag one month out of the year that makes a change. It's the drag queens and the street people that have nothing to lose that fight the hardest for the betterment of queer people across America and the world.

I have admired drag and queer art for a long time and decided to do this recital as a way to merge my love for music with my passion for queer power. The King Creative Fund wanted innovative solutions to problems in the world and I decided to give a groundbreaking performance that has never been done here at Southwestern. I believe in breaking boundaries and never being complacent so why not bring drag to the concert hall?