We’re Here

Whenever Shangela, Bob the Drag Queen, and Eureka O’Hara alight on any given town during any one episode of HBO’s docuseries We’re Here, their purpose is clear: all three queens are eager to preach the gospel of drag. Not just its artistry and its ability to bring the queer community together, but also drag’s ability to allow for personal self-realization. Drag isn’t a mask you hide behind, as they suggest with every new transformation of a local trio tasked with performing at the end of every episode; it’s a way to reveal who you really are. In their travels to places like Jackson, Mississippi, St. George, Utah, and Granbury, Texas, these fearless and fabulous queens have galvanized local pockets of LGBTQ+ folks and emboldened them to embrace who they are, who they love, what they stand for, and who they stand alongside. The series’ message, now more pressing than ever, is a rainbow-colored beacon for all those who find refuge in this once-niche and now increasingly mainstream performance art. In essence, We’re Here is a rallying cry wrapped in sequins and corsets, a political ballast adorned in wigs and high heels. For shedding light on the radical possibilities of drag as a form of artistic protest at a time when this very practice is being attacked by a vocal conservative movement, and for offering poignant and show-stopping performances that showcase the very reasons why the LGBTQ+ community so exalts drag as a quintessentially queer practice, We’re Here is a Peabody winner.