Cultivating Home pt. 2

He works in an individualistic way, and in his posts on his social media, he pastes collaged pictures of vibrant, intimate sketches onto portraits of himself. He’s a palpable figure, standing in the identity that he would have only dreamt of when he was a kid.

Check out the interview below. 

How did you step into your queer identity? When was that?

Around like, 10 to like 12. I was like, ‘I'm just gonna be me.’ People don't have to see it, but I'm gonna still be me around the people that I can be me around. When I am around them, we're doing what we want to do. There are no limits to what we want to do.

Stepping into your queer identity is all about becoming yourself again, and unlearning certain things. So what are some things that you have had to unlearn?

I think I'm still kind of unlearning. Like, I had to unlearn that me having feminine traits is okay. Growing up, I had to be cautious about what I did. But now I enjoy my feminine side as much as I enjoy my masculine side. But that trauma in my mind is like, oh, I can't be a certain way. I really still am trying to unlearn it because people made me feel like shit for being me.

Can you remember the first time you were surrounded by other Black, queer people?

I’ve always had Black, queer friends. That has always been a normal thing in my life. When you’re around Black queers, it looks like comfortability. It’s a loving and comfortable space, always.

Tell me about the importance of having a chosen family.

I hate being looked at as if I’m too much. This is who I am, and with my chosen family, they celebrate me for being who I am. It’s no side-eyes, no questions about it. It’s always gonna be love because we get it.

Can you tell me about a time where you felt love in a Black environment?

I went to this thing for a guy on his birthday. It was just so nice. Everywhere I went, it was just some form of representation of who I am. Also, the music was fucking nice. We were all connected. I could go to a stranger and talk to the stranger and be like, ‘Hello, you look beautiful today. How are you?’ I felt comfortable enough to do that in that space. We partied all night and at the point when I thought I was going home, I ended up walking right back. I just kept coming back. It felt like a fucking museum of a bunch of beautiful people and I was just admiring everything.

Tell me about your experience with the Ballroom scene.

I love the Ballroom scene. I know people in the Ballroom scene which makes me happy because they're trying to build for themselves in the scene. I love seeing my friends start out- it’s inspirational to me. It’s nice seeing someone go from one point with their craft to another, especially seeing how fluid you can get with time and practice.

Are you a voguer?

I'm not the best voguer, but I do know people that are good. I think vogue is really expressive. I'm trying to learn but that's not for right now. There’s a bunch of pioneers in the Ballroom scene, too. It’s very inspirational.

How did you learn about these Black, Ballroom scenes?

One day, Pose was on. It just caught my eye and I just sat there because there was no reason for me to move. Also, I started meeting people. My gay friends- they're more educated with ballroom and I learned from them. So, yeah, it started with Pose for me, and then I started meeting more people who were telling me and teaching me more things about Ballroom.