The show must go on

LEWISTON — Staging a drag show in a conservative state like Idaho may seem daunting, but to Tatiana Rexia, it’s one of her favorite places to perform because, she says, Idahoans just love drag.

Drag queen Tatiana Rexia, who is known as Andrea Wabaunsee when she’s not on the stage, and the Lipstick Divas performed earlier this month at a packed Boomtown American Saloon in downtown Lewiston, and have been performing in Lewiston for more than a decade.

Wabaunsee has shown with the Divas since the beginning, and said she’s never had a problem performing in Idaho. Recently though, after lawmakers, both nationally and in Idaho, considered bills targeting the drag and trans communities, Wabaunsee said it’s made it difficult to feel as comfortable performing in the state.

Wabaunsee, 32, performs primarily on the West Coast, and is best known for her edgy looks, playing with gothic styles. She got her start in her hometown the Tri-Cities in 2009 fresh out of high school. She said performing gave her a break from hiding her real self.

“I got taken out to a drag show with my friends and I was so mesmerized by what was happening on stage,” Wabaunsee said. “I asked one of the drag queens there if I could do a drag show just one time. I told myself over and over again it would only be once, but I ended up never leaving.”

A little more than four years ago, Wabaunsee publicly announced her transition as a transgender woman. She said though she came out recently, she’s always known she was trans.

“For the longest time before I transitioned, I kind of used drag as a buffer to help me not feel so out of place in my own body,” Wabaunsee said. “I had always known I was trans, I just didn’t know how to express it or explain it. I used drag as an outlet to kind of give myself a break from hiding. When you’re in drag, you just feel so much like you. And, after I did it I always thought, ‘Is there a way to be a drag queen forever, like every second?’”

A couple years after she transitioned, Wabaunsee said she didn’t feel like she needed to get back into drag to feel like herself anymore and stopped performing. She said not only did she miss it, but she realized drag became more to her than a way to escape real life.

She said drag is a way to express herself and “be in your face” about it. It took her out of her shell and showed who she really was to herself.

Performing is Wabaunsee’s passion; she said she never feels like she’s working when doing drag shows. But her livelihood, and the art of drag itself, is under attack.

A bill on Idaho’s legislative floor this year would have made drag in public places illegal. It passed in the House, but was rejected by the Senate. The proposal was an effort to protect minors from the “sexual exhibition” of drag shows, according to reporting by the Lewiston Tribune. The legislation was denied after some lawmakers thought its language was too broad and would prohibit constitutionally protected performances.

Bills similar to this legislation were signed into law in Tennessee and Kentucky, although Tennessee’s was temporarily blocked by a lawsuit. In Florida, lawmakers passed a bill preventing children from attending drag shows.

Wabaunsee said she never thought it would hit home, until recently when her hometown of Kennewick started trying to ban all-ages drag shows.

“I’ve spoken at council meetings and my speech essentially consists of telling them, ‘Not only are you infringing upon our personal rights, but also you are telling parents that they no longer have the right to decide what is OK for their children,’ ” Wabaunsee said.

Drag ban bills, said Wabaunsee, don’t just affect drag queens, but trans people too.

“The really scary part about this drag ban is that everyone’s focused on big, shiny, flashy drag queens,” Wabaunsee said. “What’s really happening though is these laws are so open to discussion about what they actually mean, trans people could get arrested in certain places if a police officer decides that’s what they consider drag.”

Wabaunsee pointed out this is one of many pieces of legislation that targets trans people.

A bill signed by Gov. Brad Little this year will restrict anyone in Idaho who may provide gender-affirming medical care to transgender youths, according to past Tribune reporting. Starting next year, people could be charged with a felony for supplying transgender minors this form of health care. Physicians could face up to a decade in prison if they provide hormones, puberty blockers or other gender-affirming care to anyone under 18.

Idaho is one of 13 states to pass a law restricting or banning gender-affirming care for minors, and almost two dozen more states are considering similar bills.

“There’s all kinds of really nasty things going on all over the country,” Wabaunsee said. “I’ve said in a speech at my own club, all these things that are happening right now is like a slippery slope to trans genocide. They’re taking away medication, and they’re taking away our rights to be ourselves. It’s completely absurd.”

With all that is happening, Wabaunsee said though it may be a little more difficult to feel as comfortable, she can say with complete confidence she’s not afraid.

In the 14 years Wabaunsee has been doing drag, her skin has thickened, and she said she’s built herself up to be at this moment. She said she feels good knowing she’ll be able to stand up for her community.

“I would rather stand in front of a bullet than let somebody tell me what I can do, 100%,” Waubaunsee said.

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During the Lipstick Divas drag show April 15, more than 100 people came to Boomtown to watch many queens perform. The Divas are run by Jerid Weinberg, who grew up in Potlatch.

Wabaunsee heard 80-year-old Toni Henderson, of Clarkston, came because watching a drag show had always been on her bucket list. She went with her daughter, Amy Willows, who’s been coming to the divas’ performance since the beginning.

Wabaunsee stepped off stage and danced with the audience, stopping by Henderson, who was smiling ear to ear. Willows handed Wabaunsee cash on Henderson’s behalf, who said she was delighted with the show.

“I’ve been coming since the beginning and the talent has gotten better and better,” Willows said. “And, it’s amazing watching the community outreach grow more each year. The girls deserve every buck they make, they’re just so talented.”

Pearce can be reached at epearce@dnews.com.