Drag Latina<\/a>,\u201d broadcast on Revry.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cI was so tired of being controlled and condescended to,\u201d Almanza said. \u201cThe way we were talked to and the way we were made to feel that mattered more to me than the money.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As Queen Andrew Scott, Almanza is a \u201cfuturistic chola\u201d and the self-proclaimed \u201cChicana baddie of Seattle.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He works as a drag queen full-time, performing three to four nights a week in between his marketing, choreographing, writing, and costume designing gigs, which are all drag roles that many performers take on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Giles described him as \u201cone of the hardest working people in the city.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moreover, nurturing new bonds with other Seattle performers encouraged Almanza to explore his Mexican heritage through fashion and music, something he previously felt disconnected from professionally and emotionally. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBefore 2020, I was a severe alcoholic, and my drag suffered a lot. Once I got sober, I realized that my culture and my roots\u2026that is an advantage,\u201d Almanza said. \u201cThat is a spiciness. That is an extra ingredient to my drag that I can really pull from because I grew up Latino, and there\u2019s so much to it that I can play with.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Almanza\u2019s struggle to embrace his culture was rooted in deeper conflict from his childhood. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy parents, growing up, didn\u2019t want us to learn Spanish because they wanted us to do very well in school,\u201d Almanza said. \u201cBefore I was almost embarrassed, which is crazy. I wouldn\u2019t even pronounce words in Spanish. I wouldn\u2019t even let my natural accent come through because I\u2019d be afraid to stand out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nSeedy performs at a drag brunch at Flying Bike Cooperative Brewery in Seattle\u2019s Greenwood neighborhood.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nPhotography:<\/strong> Mead Gill<\/p>\n\n\n\nOther Seattle Latino performers had experiences similar to Almanza’s. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Local drag king Elijah Baehr, 34, also known as Sid Seedy, grew up in Hawaii with little connection to his Latin culture despite being half-Mexican. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Baehr recounted a childhood memory in which he asked his father, \u201cIf we\u2019re Mexican, how come we don\u2019t have that Mexican culture?\u201d His reply was, \u201cBecause there is nothing to be proud of. We\u2019re not Mexican; we\u2019re American.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Baehr is now a full-time performer who draws on his years of experience growing up in theater and is inspired by an array of people, including the Marx Brothers, Charlie Chaplin, and Vaudevillian Theater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All of this helps bring the effervescent Sid Seedy to life, though Baehr only recently began embracing his culture through performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen I think about celebrating Mexican culture\u2026within my drag art, it feels like a graveyard in my own body [has] started to come back to life,\u201d Baehr said. \u201cTo discover you\u2019re Indigenous is an incredible and sad and wonderful experience, and to be able\u2026to find your community within it feels like I\u2019ve been like a lost child my whole life finally walking into something familiar.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Baehr\u2019s incorporation of Mexican culture is seen in his costumes and makeup, often inspired by skeletons and Dia De Los Muertos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As meaningful as culture is to him, Baehr created his drag persona from many different experiences that make him who he is, a sentiment echoed by Giles and Almanza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being Latin is an important aspect, but only one aspect of many, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A gathering space for Latin drag was born when Almanza was approached by Stetson Wilson, the events manager at the bar Unicorn in Seattle\u2019s Capitol Hill neighborhood, to kickstart a Latin drag night in Seattle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Three years later, Unicorn\u2019s Latin drag night \u201cLeche\u201d (\u201cmilk\u201d in English) is a staple in the community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hosted by Almanza on the first Wednesday of every month, \u201cLeche\u201d is a platform for both established and new Latin performers to celebrate their art and culture through drag with support from the queer community and their friends and family. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a long time coming, but I think our community is at the best it\u2019s ever been, period,\u201d Almanza said. \u201cRespect the art, love the artist, get curious about it, ask questions, and go to a show. Go support local drag!\u201d
\n
Mead Gill is a senior at the University of Washington majoring in journalism and public interest communication and minoring in music. As a Pacific Northwest native, he is passionate about highlighting the diverse voices that make up his community.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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