'We're Here' Episode 3: Queens arrive in Missouri in search of their struggling drag daughters
This week on HBO's 'We're Here' saw Shangela Laquifa Wadley, Bob the Drag Queen, and Eureka O'Hara travel to another midwestern town, Branson, Missouri. Their search for their drag daughters led them to the town that is also known as "Las Vegas of the Midwest".
They got off to a bumpy start in the town with an Indian jewelry and craft store owner asking the three queens to move out of his premises and summoned the police to the spot. But that did not deter them and taking the incident in their stride, they continued their journey to meet with their mentees.
The episode featured Tanner, a young guy, who "struggled with same-sex attraction" throughout his life. Even though his family was extremely supportive and he "had an easy coming out", the issue is that Tanner "identifies as Christian" and "doesn't identify as queer". Tanner opened up about struggling with his "out of control drug habits" and had to quit abruptly. Post which he turned to the church and "had to come to terms with being gay and following Christ".
Then there was Charles who had an affinity towards performing arts jazz, ballet and performing theater. He woefully rued to Shangela about the treatment of queer crowd in Branson. He mentioned that even though there is a bubbling queer presence under the surface in Branson, whether there is space for them in the town is something that the queers have struggled with. He stated that Branson is largely a Christian town and the people show that "they don't fully accept the queer people". Even as an openly queer person, Charles struggled with having to suppress himself a lot while living in Branson and he just wanted to be proud of who he was.
The episode also featured Chris who while growing up had just a single male role model to look up to — his grandfather. Chris's grandfather asked him to bottle up his emotions and taught him that it was not okay to cry which left him with serious anxiety and depression and suicidal thoughts. Out of all things, Chris admitted that the thing that hurts him the most is him not being present for his daughter on many accounts like he should have had been. He also opened up that his marriage went through a rocky patch and he and his wife are just trying to piece their relationship back together. Chris was now very open and eager to be aware of his mental health situation for the sake of his daughter and to strengthen his marriage as well.
Shangela, Bob, and Eureka serve as a safe space for their drag daughters and help them let go of all the emotional baggage that has been weighing hard upon them all these years and help them see things in a new light while offering a wider perspective.
They also helped get them stage-ready for their drag performance but did face issues finding a 'stage' for them in the first place. The episode sees the queens been turned away from a theater by someone who appeared to be a caretaker, saying they only allow "clean wholesome entertainment". They, later on, arrived someplace else to seek permissions for the theater but the confederate flags on the windows guaranteed no hopes, and the lady present over there turned them away while threatening to call the cops.
However, all's well that ends well and they did find an "accommodating" space, and all three of them along with their drag daughters danced the night away to a full house.