Get Out! GAY Magazine – Issue 304 – February 22, 2017

you find out that although
her son being a drag
queen wasn’t necessarily
her dream for her son,
she’s comes to love him,
and love the gay bar,
and comes to frequent
it. You see this woman
from Puerto Rico, who
came to America with her
husband, who wanted
this American life, and
has all these challenges
because she has a gay
son, which is a challenge
that many parents have
to deal with. Obviously
we as gay people go
through so many trials
before we realize that
we have the strength to
come out to the people
that we love, because we
are afraid we’re going
to lose them. But, as an
adult, I look back, and I
think about my parents
and what they had to go
through. The fear
of the unknown,
and the knowing
of your child all
of a sudden, but
really getting
to know them
deeply in a way
that they didn’t
know them
before. Their sexuality all
of a sudden, and what
that means. For me, I was
a Mexican American. My
parents were Catholic
Mexican, my father was
machismo, so coming
out to my parents was
similar to Freddie. My
father didn’t accept me
right away, and Freddie’s
father doesn’t accept
him because he’s gay,
and he leaves his wife
and Freddie. So with
all that drama in their
life, you see the joy that
they get from coming to
this place, where they
meet these characters
and these friends from
different generations.
Nathan plays this wise,
fabulous, crazy queen
of the bar. He sits there
in judgment and tells
everybody about the
way it was. Freddie is the
kind that wants to moon
everybody outside and
wants to be who he wants
to be, no matter what.
Even though Stonewall
happened, they were
still living in a lot of
oppression in the South.
I think there still is to a
degree.
Absolutely. Even now, I’m
sometimes challenged
on the street by some
asshole who wants to
feel manly. That definitely
still happens now. The
sensation that you get
when you first go to a
gay bar, I remember
“Obviously we as gay people
go through so many trials before
we realize that we have the strength
to come out to the people
that we love...”
that very well. I was a
teenager. Even though I
was underage, being in a
place that all of a sudden
you know you’re not
supposed to be in, but
you want to be in, and
you know you belong.
All of a sudden all that
hunger and fuzz, without
even having a drink,
because I was underage,
but the feeling and the
high of being yourself, of
saying anything you want,
being anything you want
and having everybody in
the bar not give a shit.
Of course, those times
aren’t that true anymore,
with the shadiness that’s
around in our days. But
for a young queen who
doesn’t know about that
shadiness, being able to
go to a space that’s like a
utopia. You can really be
who you are inside. For
Freddie in this play, this is
his playground. Not only
can he prance around in
his bellbottoms, but he
can get in his dress and
be fabulous, and look
like Marilyn Monroe, and
really live who is inside,
which is this woman, this
inner being. So that’s who
I am, and I get to put on a
fun drag show within the
show.
I just bet you do...
It’s really fun, and I’ve
never done drag. It’s an
amazing experience, and
a learning experience
too.
Did they assign you a
drag mother?
No, not yet. I’ve had a
lot of drag inspirations
from going to Fire Island
and hanging out at the
Ice Palace. You see all
of those drag queens
perform, and throughout
the summer I’ve gotten
to know them both in
and out of drag. What’s
interesting about playing
a drag queen now, I’ve
had crushes on drag
queens for the past five
years. Interesting, weird,
like “Why do I like you?”
I really admire them,
especially the funny
ones. The ones that are
beautiful, and then all of a
sudden they are hilarious.
You have to admire
someone that can make
a crowd laugh, especially
in times like these, when
we’re laughing and crying
at the same time. Cont.