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Feminists Around the World: Lady Shug · Stuff Mom Never Told You

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Hey, this is Anny and Samantha and welcome to stuff.
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: I never told your prediction of I hear radio.
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: Happy still January twenty twenty four, because yeah, in my
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: head it's like April. For some weird reason, like I
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: saw a TikTok like six months in and we're like, wait,
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: this is only January, Sines, this somehow become the longest
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: month in my head? Is it always like that?
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: To me? January and February is the longest month.
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: Okay, it just feels like maybe because I'm still stretching
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: twenty twenty three in my head that it feels super
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: long anyway. But you know what, Happy January twenty twenty four,
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: and we are talking about Native drag artists Lady Sug.
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: I'm very excited about this. So Lady Sugar or Kai Victor,
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: I hope I'm saying that right. I couldn't find their names,
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: so we're gonna stick with Lady Shug, who goes by
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: she Her. Are they in them pronouns? And we're going
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: to stick with they them pronouns. It's a non binary
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  Speaker 2: queer drag activist and is a part of the Navajo
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: Nation or DNA Nation and have been quote fighting for
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: equal rights as an activist for LGBTQ two s to
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  Speaker 2: spirit indigenous relatives to create equal rights in rural areas
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  Speaker 2: and reservations that do not protect those on indigenous lands,
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: nor are there no laws or hate crimes laws to
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: protect us. This is a quote as well as if
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: you're in the same sex marriage, your marriage isn't valid
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: through the DNA Navajo tribe. And this is according to
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  Speaker 2: a twenty twenty two Advocate dot Com article with Lady
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: Sug and bt dubs. Yes, that's still a thing, and
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: that's still a conversation, especially as the new anti queer
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: policies have traveled all over the country. The different indigenous
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: communities have also been affected obviously, or have all it
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: has been affected? Apparently in two thousand and five there
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: was an anti LGBTQ two spirit policy outlawing marriage for
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: queer people. So, yeah, that's not great. And one of
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  Speaker 2: the things that Lady Shug has been really really active
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: and passionate about are these types of policies.
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  Speaker 1: Right, but their activism expands much further back than that. However,
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: before we get into all of that, let's talk about
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: who they are and how they got to where they
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: are today. Lady Shug talked with The Queer Review and
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: told their story on how they were introduced and became
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  Speaker 1: a part of the drag scene. Quote. I went to
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: a boarding school on my reservation, graduated high school, and
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: my goal was for the longest time, I don't know why,
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: but I wanted to go to Vegas. It was like Vegas, Vegas,
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: Vegas for like all four years of high school. Me
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: and my best friends said, as soon as we get
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: out of here, let's go to Vegas. Of course, my
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: senior year came and I went to California, where it
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: was introduce to the club scene, and that's where I
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: got adopted for a little bit, so I dabbled in
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: the artistry of that. I didn't really see too much
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: of the drag scene. It was more like the makeup
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: and the androgyny of the club kid culture club life.
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: I got into that really quickly, and my backbone grew stronger,
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: I guess you could say. And I finally achieved my
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: goal from high school about two years after I left,
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: when I moved to Vegas and went to school over there,
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  Speaker 1: and they go on quote, I just walked into a
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: bar one day and it was a Latin night and
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: I saw my first drag show. It was an all
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: Latin cast, and I saw this entertainer and she thought
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: I was one of the Latin kids. Normally living in
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: these big cities. They assume that I'm Latin, and when
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: I tell them that I'm Indigenous or Native, they are like,
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: what Native like TP. Then I have to educate them
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: about the stereotypes of being indigenous, that we are still
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: walking amongst these people and we're not a taboo. And
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: so my drag mother was performing in front of me
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: at Hamburger Mary's and we just had a connection.
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: Right, And the story continues quote. Three times a week
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: I would go to see my drag mother, Coco Vega.
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  Speaker 2: She's a well known pageant gown designer, and she took
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: me under her wing. I was one of her backstage assistants.
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  Speaker 2: So that's how I was first exposed to drag. One day,
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  Speaker 2: my drag brother said that one of the girls had
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: canceled and she was like, I'm putting you in drag.
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  Speaker 2: So that day, Coco Vega painted me, put a costume
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  Speaker 2: on me and said there you go, go out there,
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  Speaker 2: and it just kind of clicked I felt like I
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: was a transformer, like it just felt so right, and
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  Speaker 2: it just kind of took off from there. I ended
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  Speaker 2: up working at Crave, which is no longer open, but
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  Speaker 2: it was one of the largest gate clubs in Las Vegas.
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  Speaker 2: So I was working on the Las AGAs Strip for
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: like seven nights a week doing drag, having my own night,
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  Speaker 2: and then they had a cabaret drag show I was in,
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  Speaker 2: so I started to be more comfortable in my drag,
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: but it was more on the glamour side. That's how
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  Speaker 2: I was taught. And in another article for Extra magazine,
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: they talked about how they came up with their stage name,
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: and they said, quote, actually, before Sugar, my name was
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: Sugar Booger. I used to hang around a bunch of
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: the kids in Los Angeles and they used to call
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  Speaker 2: me Sugar Booger because they always said, oh gosh, sug,
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  Speaker 2: you know, you're really sweet, but your makeup and your
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: drag is kind of boogerish. Then when I moved to Vegas,
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  Speaker 2: I found my drag mother, Coco Vega. She was like, no, honey,
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  Speaker 2: you're no Booger. From now on, you're going to be
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  Speaker 2: named Lady sug it just kind of stuck. Mind you,
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: I was the Lady before Lady Gaga. That's probably how
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  Speaker 2: long I've been doing drag. I should let out a
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  Speaker 2: quote was one.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, and they have been using their performance and shows
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  Speaker 1: as a way to help not only the LGBTQ two
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: S community, but the indigenous community as well. Throughout their career,
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  Speaker 1: Lady Shug has been on the rise in the drag community,
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  Speaker 1: working to advocate for rights and acceptance from their own community.
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: In that same Queer Advocate article, they say, quote, on
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  Speaker 1: our reservation, we have little fares in the fall. So
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  Speaker 1: there's an Eastern fair, a Western fair in the different agencies,
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  Speaker 1: and these fairs are big. Our relatives come from small
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  Speaker 1: communities from all over to these towns to these fairs.
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  Speaker 1: They're like the Texas State Fair or something like that.
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  Speaker 1: They have traditional dances, they have powows, they have rodeos, carnivals,
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  Speaker 1: they have four h and a lot of people that
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  Speaker 1: parade from the little children to the elders. I thought,
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: you know what, I'm going to bring drag to that.
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  Speaker 1: So I was trying to hit up all these fareboards
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  Speaker 1: and organizers to say, hey, I can produce a show,
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: give me a space I can fill it, but they
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  Speaker 1: never wanted it. They never approved it or even responded.
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: So in twenty sixteen, right after I won Miss New
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: Mexico Pride, I started performing in Arizona where they have
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: a fair which is the Navajo Nation Fair held in
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  Speaker 1: Window Rock, Arizona. I performed outside of the gates, and
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  Speaker 1: I remember the first time I performed there. It was
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: raining like cats and dogs, but people were into it.
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: They had blankets and umbrellas and they had to wait
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  Speaker 1: for an hour before the show could start out in
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  Speaker 1: the dirt. There were no lights, there was no stage.
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: We just had a good sound system and we were
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: excited to perform for our people. By the end of
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: the show there was a rainbow over as it was
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: so beautiful.
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and they continue on after that. I just kept
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: plugging away, trying to get inside fairground, but they never
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: would allow me until this last year when Tuba City,
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  Speaker 2: which is the Western Navajo Nation Fair, finally picked me
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  Speaker 2: up and put me on the main stage to be
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: the opening act for Snow the product. I mean, we
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  Speaker 2: had our own banners, we had the headline stage. We
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: weren't in the corner. We were actually on the main stage.
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  Speaker 2: We were on the lineup, and we were treated like
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  Speaker 2: one of the main entertainers. I broke down after that show.
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  Speaker 2: Of course, when I do those shows on my reservation,
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  Speaker 2: I have an all indigenous cast, and they talked about
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  Speaker 2: how sometimes they get flak because they don't put white
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  Speaker 2: drag queens in the show. But I think that makes sense.
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: This is for an indigenous group. But you know, and
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  Speaker 2: when asked of what their heritage meant and why it
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  Speaker 2: was important to them, ladies show said, I was raised
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  Speaker 2: by a really strong matriarchy. I had my mom, my grandma,
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  Speaker 2: my dad's grandma, my aunts. I was always around strong women,
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  Speaker 2: and I think that's where I developed my backbone and
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  Speaker 2: my love and passion to give back to my people.
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  Speaker 2: I always see it with my queer and trans friends.
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  Speaker 2: They're the caregivers. They're the ones that take care of
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  Speaker 2: grandma and grandpa. They're the ones that cook the meals.
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  Speaker 2: But then they're also the ones who sometimes have to
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  Speaker 2: go to chop the wood or fix stuff because they're
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  Speaker 2: the ones who are there helping their elders or helping
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: their nephews, nieces, their brothers and sisters. And then I
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: have drag children, and one of my dragged daughters, she
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: does traditional dancing and she dances for both sides of
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  Speaker 2: the spectrum. She dances on the female side and the
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: male side. We're the caregivers. We are the people who
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: are able to be on both sides of the spectrum.
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  Speaker 2: I guess you'd say the man and a woman part
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  Speaker 2: of it. Were considered five finger people and there are
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: five different genders of masculinity and femininity, and then intersects
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  Speaker 2: then you have your more masculine and more feminine. So
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  Speaker 2: it's something that I totally see within myself, but also
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: within my peers. Those are also the ones who are
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: trying to keep our language proud and our heritage alive.
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  Speaker 2: And yeah, they've been able to do all of that
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  Speaker 2: throughout their career, including being on the Emmy Award winning
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: HBO series We're Here, which follows drag queens as they
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: quote continue their journey across small town America spreading love
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  Speaker 2: and connection through the art of drag. This was from
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: HBO where they were able to highlight their queer culture
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  Speaker 2: in indigenous spaces as well. And with all of this,
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: they have continued to fight for the rights of quick
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: people not only on a local community level, but federal
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: level as well. They've been speaking up about the discrimination
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: they've been facing, large in part to the latest anti
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: queer policies in the United States. They're also really big
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: about advocating for healthcare and accessible healthcare for everyone, including
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: and especially for the Indigenous people because we know what
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: happened during COVID and how little was done for them,
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: and they are very big advocates in talking about getting
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: access to that. So really cool to see. I did
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: see and I don't know if this is true that
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: they were renewed for a fourth season, but I feel
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: like they got canceled at one point. We're here.
• 10:14
  Speaker 3: It could be HbA just listed their they like big
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: shake ups of the cancelation's continuation right new shows, So
• 10:24
  Speaker 3: I'm not sure, but.
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a really cool story. Again, someone will be
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: checking in see what they do in the future. Yes,
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: in the meantime, listeners, If you have any suggestions for
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: this segment or anything at all, you can email us
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: a stuff Media mom Stuff at iHeartMedia dot com. You
• 10:43
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• 10:45
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• 10:48
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• 10:51
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• 10:55
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• 10:57
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