- Utah has a history of drag that goes as far back as the 1800s.

Over the years, the art form has evolved, creating a culture of its own.

One that we explore from the perspective of queens who are a part of this chosen family.

♪ One, two, three, go, woo (upbeat dance music) ♪ I'm gonna blow you all away ♪ 'Cause I look so good when I walk this way ♪ ♪ I'm gonna bring that vibe today, yeah yeah ♪ ♪ Gonna strut my stuff on that runway ♪ ♪ I'm gonna blow you all away, ooh ooh ♪ ♪ 'Cause I look so good when I walk this way ♪ ♪ I wanna bring back that vibe today ♪ ♪ I'm gonna strut my stuff and on that runway ♪ (gentle music) Oh, wow.

Looks great in here.

My name is Sequoia.

I'm 28 years old and from Salt Lake City, Utah.

And I'm a full time drag queen, event producer, hostess, slayer extraordinaire.

Hi.

Hello.

How are you?

My name is Kay Bye.

I am 30 years old and I live in Salt Lake City, but I'm originally from Southern California and I am Jamaican and Creole.

- My name is Veronika DaVil, and I am a drag queen.

Who would have guessed?

I perform live all the time.

I sing, I lip sync, that's the majority of what I do.

And I am a socialite.

- I was born and raised in Utah and, growing up here in like a conservative area, I would have not ever imagined that this would be how I spend my adult working life.

But here we are being queer.

If you literally knew anything about the state of Utah and our history, you know that queer people have been here for a long time.

We've been one of the most LGBTQ capital cities and states in the country for over a decade.

We've been having drag shows since the settlement of the state, including Brigham Youngs own son, Madam Pattirini, Brigham Morris Young had two drag personas that we know of the most famous is Madame Pattirini, an Italian opera diva.

And then his other drag persona was Bridget McCarthy, a young Irish lass.

He would travel around the territory, and this was all after his father died in 1877, and he would come out fully dressed in passing drag as a woman, and sing a beautiful Italian opera because he had a gorgeous falsetto voice.

And then at the end of the song, he would doff his wig and, you know, wow the audience like, “Oh my gosh, this is a man.

” It was a part of vaudeville theater to do cross-dressing and drag.

Back in the ye olde days, when this place was settled and we had the Pantages and all of these old theaters, it was a thing.

It was a really common, respected, fun artform - To just add some sparkle to the skin.

(people cheering) When I'm on stage, that is my moment.

You know?

It's like nothing else matters.

Its just show time.

You know?

- [Announcer] Make some noise!

(audience cheering) (upbeat dance music) - There's, there's not really a way to describe the feeling of looking in the mirror and seeing yourself, but seeing someone else completely different.

It is really amazing.

When you're getting into drag and you're transforming from out of drag to in drag, it is not a quick process.

It takes hours.

And this is a common thing people say, you don't feel like a drag queen until you have a lash on and a wig.

(upbeat music) There is a lot besides the wig and the makeup.

I'm currently wearing six pairs of tights, including fishnets.

I'm wearing four inch pads to make my hips look bigger.

- The makeup itself is like.

It's like 2.5 hours of makeup, probably a half an hour of skincare and shaving the face and all of that This is what a hip pad looks like.

This is so I can have a little body shape and have those curves.

As weird as this sounds, by dressing up as someone else, I found myself and been more comfortable as myself.

The beautiful thing about drag is that everyone is so different.

We all do the same thing, but we do it so differently.

The drag scene in Utah is full of a lot of diversity.

there are drag kings, there are drag queens, there are drag things or in betweens, as we might call them.

There are so many performers of different genders presenting as other genders or whatever.

There's so many, Venn diagrams that meet in the middle.

- Drag brings happiness and joy into my life.

Really, what drag has taught me is that while the drag is fun and playing dress up, there's also a bigger meaning to it.

And it brings me so much happiness and joy.

Because honestly, looking back on my life, I wouldn't think to myself, oh, I'm going to be an inspiration to somebody.

Like sharing that happiness is what brings me happiness.

- Inspiring someone else to come out and now they're doing drag or whatever.

I see all of the tangible difference it makes to be bold and brave enough to exist in public, in drag, in a red state.

Safety is always almost an illusion.

and we tend to feel our most comfortable when we're with each other, because we're the people who understand that kind of fear the most.

- I worry about my safety more when I'm in drag, and I can't imagine what women feel like every single day.

Like it is a real fear that most performers have walking around by themselves, especially at night.

So many people are working from Provo to Ogden to make sure that queer Utahns know they have a safe space to exist.

Mik Jager, Hoe She Minh, Lady Facade, Nancy Raygun, Mari Cona, Eva Chanel Stephens, Ivy Dior Stephens, Zoe Zigman Stephens, Gia Bianca Stephens just moved, but she did so much to create this scene.

The Royal Court of the Golden Spike Empire.

There are so many people who are like hosting, producing shows.

There are so many performers, and as long as I'm here and as long as anyone who is like me is here, which there are plenty of us, trust me, there will be safe spaces for queer people in Utah.

- Something that I didn't expect when I started performing was the community that I would find.

The drag queens, drag kings, the drag theys.

They are so amazing and I have made some friends that I am going to hold on for dear life.

Oh hello, my name is Veronika Davil (audience cheering) Catchphrase in the works, but right now, we're going for the Thunder Thighs of SLC, and that's the best.

(audience cheering) - That's the best, yeah.

Oh my God, Veronica, shut up already!

We've got a show!

My mom, she comes to shows all the time.

My mom is one of my biggest fans.

Love her so much.

(audience cheering) So both of my parents actually coming to tonight's show.

my parents are no longer together, but they are very kind to each other and very open.

And my dad is actually in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and he still comes to my shows and supports me, which is not very common.

And, I love my dad so much just because we have such different belief systems now.

But he will tell me at the end of every single phone conversation, “I'm proud of you and I'm glad you're mine.

” And I know that's not an experience that a lot of queer people have, to be told their parents are proud of them.

- The world is so unkind to queer people that as a community, we have no choice but to do a lot of mutual aid and fundraising and helping each other with things, because, I mean, that's, that's who we are, at the core of it all is a chosen family.

(audience cheering) - Nobody understands what a drag queen is going through except for another drag queen.

(gentle music) I think it's very fortunate that the drag community here in Utah is unified in a way that we just all want each other to succeed.

- Drag is so many things.

First and foremost, it is a form of entertainment, but it's a way to build community.

It's a form of political expression.

It can be a form of societal criticism.

It's humorous.

It can be really raunchy and crass.

It can be very formal and kid friendly.

It's a way for both audience and actor entertainer to examine and really rethink the masks that we are all asked to put on or that we put on ourselves.

- Yeah!

(exciting music) - She is all that and a bag of chips.

Yes, ma'am.

- And it's a way to then also look at what do these masks that we wear reveal about ourselves and our own authenticity.

I mean, drag to me is incredibly powerful.

(compelling music) - There's something about being in drag that really makes you get things done.

Like it's a lot easier to ask for help at a show, or to tell someone what I need, or to kind of have to lay down the law or whatever when I'm dressed like this.

Because isn't it so much easier to hear something difficult from someone who looks gorgeous?

You know what I mean?

Wow, so many vibrant colors and characters who warm my hearts simply by sharing their story.

And we want to hear your journey too.

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Until next time, I'm Liz Adeola and this is Utah.