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Drag queens are out, proud and loud in a string of coal towns, from a bingo hall to blue-collar bars

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Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Members of the Daniels drag family pose for a photograph during their "Daniels Family Values" drag show at the Heritage Restaurant in Shamokin, Pa., Saturday, April 16, 2022. They are, from left, Xander Valentine, aka Gwen Bobbie; Harpy Daniels, aka Joshua Kelley; Alexus Daniels, Tequila Daniels, aka Tony Nahodil, and Trixy Valentine, aka Jacob Kelley. Lawmakers in many red states are pushing to restrict drag, yet deep in Pennsylvania coal country, performers in the Daniels drag family are firmly woven in the fabric of the larger community. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

SHAMOKIN, Pa. ā€“ Deep in Pennsylvania coal country, the Daniels drag family is up to some sort of exuberance almost every weekend.

They're hosting sold-out bingo fundraisers at the Nescopeck Township Volunteer Fire Co.'s social hall, packed with people of all ages howling with laughter and singing along. Or they're lighting up local blue-collar bars and restaurants with Mimosas & Heels Drag Brunches for bridal parties, members of the military, families and friends.

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Or they're reading in gardens to children dressed in their Sunday best ā€” Dolly Partonā€™s ā€œCoat of Many Colorsā€ is a favorite book for performers and kids alike.

In a string of towns running along a coal seam, the sparkle of small-town drag queens and kings colors a way of life rooted in soot, family and a conservative understanding of the world.

Here two very old traditions mingle ā€” and mostly happily, it seems, in contrast to the fierce political winds ripping at drag performances and the broader rights of LGBTQ+ people in red states from Utah and Texas to Tennessee and Florida.

One tradition is the view of family as mom, dad and kids, plain and simple.

The other, back to before Shakespearian times, is drag, a loud, proud and seismically flamboyant artistic expression of gender fluidity. Not plain, not simple, but also bedrock, rising above ground only in culturally adventurous cities.

Yet the Daniels drag family is firmly woven in the fabric of the larger community in this area, where voters went solidly for Donald Trump, a Republican, in the last election. Their trouble is more apt to come from politicians who are increasingly passing laws restricting what they can do.

So far, no bans have surfaced that curb the Daniels familyā€™s performances. A bill was introduced in the state Senate aimed at banning drag shows in public places, but it remains stalled in a committee with little prospect of advancing.

Alexus Daniels, the matriarch, was the child of a coal miner and a textile worker who was ā€œborn with a female spirit." She works at the local hospital as an MRI aide tech.

Jacob Kelley, who performs as drag queen Trixy Valentine, is an LGBTQ+ activist and educator with a master's in human sexuality.

Harpy Daniels, Trixy's twin, is a U.S. Navy sailor whoā€™s had three deployments on the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan. Soon that seaman, Petty Officer 1st Class Joshua Kelley, who just reenlisted, moves from a base in Norfolk, Virginia, to one in Spain, with plans to pack a wig ā€œand maybe one or two cute outfits but nothing over the topā€ for Harpy-style shore leave.

Apart from the twins, the drag performers in this circle are family by choice, not genes. Theirs is an oasis of belonging.

ā€œI never had a person like me growing up,ā€ Trixy said, ā€œand now I get to be that for everyone else.

ā€œThere was a curse being a queer person in a rural town ā€” the curse is that weā€™ll move ... because thereā€™s no one like us here, thereā€™s no one that can understand us.

ā€œAnd drag now can be a place or a thing to show people like you that you donā€™t have to go to the cities. Itā€™s here in your backyard.ā€

The Associated Press followed the Daniels family for more than a year. Among them:

Alexus Daniels, drag queen

Danielsā€™ first memory is of her great-grandmotherā€™s jewelry box. With Cyndi Lauper and the Pointer Sisters blasting, she would wrap herself in knitted blankets to lip-sync and dance for her family. ā€œI had no idea that it was drag or gay,ā€ she says. ā€œI was just having a day!ā€

Alexus hit high school and upped her Halloween game. She soon entered her first drag performance in the small Pennsylvania coal town of Weishample.

ā€œI still was not out at this point,ā€ Alexus says. ā€œI wasnā€™t even sure if I was gay. I knew I was attracted to boys and loved all things feminine! I kept this side of me to myself and my best friends growing up, who really didnā€™t see anything strange about it.ā€

Trixy Valentine, aka Jacob Kelley, drag queen

In their teens, Joshua was the first to turn to drag. Jacob started about six months later, in a white Marilyn Monroe dress at an amateur pageant in 2014.

Trixyā€™s drag style is eclectic, but whether silly or fierce, thereā€™s glitter: ā€œI just want to shine when the light hits me."

ā€œI came out as non-binary a few years ago because I started learning, like, what do I love so much about drag?" Kelley says. "Itā€™s that femininity, that so-simple touch.ā€

ā€œIā€™m not a man,ā€ Kelley says. ā€œI never will see myself as a man. And I donā€™t see myself as a woman, either. But I see myself as beyond that.ā€

In March, the Daniels drag family hosted bingo at the Nescopeck fire hall, packed with more than 300 people in a fund-raiser for a nearby theater.

A small group of protesters could be watched on social media from the bingo hall, holding signs and praying the rosary across from the theater. Trixy addressed the bingo crowd.

ā€œThereā€™s hundreds of us in this room and only nine of them on that street," Trixy said. ā€œSo all I have to say is I donā€™t care what you believe in. But do not force it down my throat and tell me I shouldnā€™t be here because you think Iā€™m wrong.

ā€œThe Lord gave birth to me, too."

Trixy was in a long blue wig and Morgan Wells catsuit with an overskirt, a raised fist in the colors of the Pride flag on the chest.

ā€œAlright, letā€™s call some numbers!ā€ Trixy said. ā€œLetā€™s play some bingo!ā€ The crowd cheered.

Harpy Daniels, aka Joshua Kelley, U.S. Navy petty officer first class, drag queen

Until 2011, the armed forces applied the ā€œdonā€™t ask, donā€™t tellā€ policy, which accepted LGBTQ+ people only if they stayed mum about their sexual orientation.

But after Kelley enlisted in 2016, he encountered the opposite ā€” call it ā€œask and tell.ā€ A commander asked what pronoun they prefer. Joshua, relieved by the acceptance implied by the question, told him any pronoun will do.

Now, the sailor is a social media sensation who was named a ā€œdigital ambassadorā€ by the Navy, doing outreach to the LGBTQ+ community and others who have been marginalized: ā€œIā€™m very proud to wear this uniform.ā€

Kitty DeVil, aka Emily Poliniak, drag queen

Kitty, a trans woman, describes her drag style as ā€œpunk and a lot of storytelling.ā€ Her inspiration: Adore Delano, a 2014 finalist on ā€œRuPaulā€™s Drag Race."

ā€œShe was what I wanted to be ā€” this badass punker chick looking gorgeous without sacrificing her style,ā€ Kitty says.

Kitty says her performances are high-energy fun but also ā€œa lighthouse."

ā€œBecause even in our LGBTQ community, there are outcasts and people who donā€™t feel like theyā€™re like anybody else," Kitty says. "So I wanted to make a beacon for all those people who feel weird and feel different and canā€™t really find their place in society.ā€

Xander Valentine, aka Gwen Bobbie, drag king

More than a decade after she was transfixed by seeing her first drag show, Xander was invited by Trixy to join the drag family.

Xander has an energetic, family-friendly side as well as a sexy, sultry side. Confusing people about gender is intentional, a barrier-breaker.

ā€œI try to create a consistent theme of masculinity in my performances," Xander says. "Although I paint my face, wear wigs and adorn myself with rhinestones, I usually perform to songs sung by men and tailor my costumes more toward suits and ties.

ā€œMy personal goal as a king is to have the audience question my off-stage gender identity."

Why? It's to convey the message, Xander says, that "it's OK to not immediately know how a person identifies or who they are attracted to, and still be kind to them.

"Itā€™s OK to accept someone as different, even if you donā€™t fully understand it.ā€

___

Woodward reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Lynn Berry contributed to this report from Washington.


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