A lot has changed in the world since the last season of We’re Here, and not for the better: More legislation targeting trans youth has been filed than ever, as the Washington Post noted in a story earlier this year. In fact, as of mid-October, over 155 bills had been filed nationwide this year — up from 131 last year and a mere 60 in 2020 — all to limit gender expression and existence. That’s not even getting into the rash of violence against trans and non-gender-conforming individuals over the past year, nor the recent hate-driven mass shooting at Colorado’s Club Q.
That’s why shows like We’re Here must exist. Indeed, the show’s third season premiere, “Granbury, TX,†takes place deep within the state’s Trumpiest region, in a county where 85 percent of voters cast a ballot for the ex-president in 2020. It’s incredible that, in 2022, when a major television network comes to a small town to make an Emmy-winning TV show, bringing money and exposure, the town would collectively recoil, threatening talent with violence and calling them everything from “groomers†to “pedophiles.â€
And yet, that’s what happens in “Granbury, TX,†when Drag Race alums Eureka, Shangela, and Bob The Drag Queen strut into town to remind people that, Hey, queer people exist in your community, whether you choose to believe it or not.
When “Granbury, TX†opens, we meet Adrienne, a hairdresser who also volunteers as the Hood County Democratic Chair. She’s listening to a local radio show that promises “truth and transparency from an ocean of liberal tears†and is filled with the kind of scare tactic messaging that wants to remind people that (gasp!) HBO might be trying to make people think drag can be family-friendly. The queens might even (pause for eerie effect) ride in the Fourth of July parade! The horror! The comments in a local Facebook post have the same bigoted flavor. It’s the most local outrage Adrienne has ever seen — shit is about to get real.
That doesn’t stop Bob, Shangie, and Eureka from wearing some sickening rodeo-themed looks, with Bob rocking a particularly fetching rodeo clown-inspired ensemble. They mix and mingle with real-life cowgirls and learn rope and whip skills while admiring their new friends’ trick riding. I must also offer a special shoutout to Eureka’s “Dolly as a big-ass Cowboys cheerleader†vibe, and I’d like to know more about the construction of her oversize ten-gallon hat.
All dudded up, the trio hit the local billiards bar, where they’ll be doing their show later this week. While the presumed owner of the bar seems pretty nonplussed about all the Facebook chatter (“Everybody runs their mouth,†someone says), she does admit that some patrons have told her that if she hosts the event, they won’t be coming back. (You’ve got to imagine HBO’s money talks, though, especially coming on the heels of a global pandemic where so many hospitality businesses shuttered.)
After a brief look at a Confederate monument in Granbury, we hear a little from Eureka about how she was already feeling nervous because she’s “had experiences in Texas†in the past, but that being in Granbury, she’s come to realize how unwanted the show and the queens are. Bob chimes in during his talking head to liken the city to a sundown town, saying Granbury is a sort of weekend town, meaning that if you’re out and proud and associated with the show, the general vibe is “Bitch, be gone before Saturday comes around.â€
Next, Shangela spends some time with his weekly charge, the aforementioned Adrienne, who lives at home with her husband, son, niece, dog, and nine cats. She says that while Granbury seems to be a friendly place, especially if you look like you belong, it’s all a facade because the town and region’s politics are nasty. She says she wanted to do the show because she wants queer people in the region to see “safety, caring, lot, and not just hate,†She and Shangela bond over nights spent at Dallas gay bars like the Grapevine and the Rose Room.
Bob’s drag student this week is Deshay, a trans-non-binary musical director recently let go from their job at a church in Granbury. Deshay believes they were fired for standing up to the church’s micro-aggressions and double standards. Although thriving and embraced at a new church in Dallas, in Granbury, Deshay says, “my identity is not celebrated; it’s tolerated.†Deshay wants to do We’re Here to show those Granbury assholes the “aggressive freedom of queerness.†(Spoiler alert: Deshay is an excellent drag queen!)
The third subject this week is Lou, a nonbinary high-schooler who’s been personally fighting against the Krause List, which is a roster of 850 books some A-hole Texas lawmaker is having pulled out of schools for being too gay. Lou’s been doing roller derby since they were six, and it seems to have given them this sort of fortitude that’s made them a leader not just in their school, where they started the GSA, but also in the community as a whole. “The queer community is big, but they’re scared,†Lou says. “It’s my job to be a shield for the kids who don’t have one.†That’s some straight-up hero shit right there.
Lou says they want to do androgynous drag, and they talk with Eureka a bit about binding, which seems to be something they’re very interested in. We also get to meet Lou’s mom and dad, who are just about the kindest people in the world but are also very relatable because it would be fucking scary to raise such an outspoken child in a world that isn’t always the most kind to tall poppies. Lou’s mom ends the segment poignantly by saying, “I have to stand behind [Lou] and let them know that I’m standing there instead of just standing in front of them,†which is very lovely and a good lesson to all parents.
After some nonsense about a democratic parade float and rainbow ribbon, we get the consults with the glam team, who bring it with the boots, the binding, and the big, fun energy. It’s a nice ray of sunshine before we dive into the 4th of July Parade, which the queen team attends with Deshay and Lou, who have never felt comfortable going on their own. It’s a pretty quintessential small-town parade, with its military vehicles, scary camo-wearing “living in Christ†teen clubs, and floats full of crosses, but the queens are noticeably weirded out, especially considering people nearby are holding up signs offering prayer as “free drag queen repellent,†and spouting off bible quotes about how men shouldn’t wear women’s cloaks or something.
As we find out later in the episode, there was some other pretty shady shit going down on the fourth, as some woman seems to have snuck into the show’s workspace in the Granbury Conference Center to take “scandalous†pictures showing the horrors that were going on right under the community’s nose. There were wigs! And mirrors! Gasp! The comments that follow her post on Facebook are horrifying, though, with Bob and Shangela recoiling at one person’s suggestion that they “drag the queens through the sagebrush.†Shangela says that it’s still important for the team to “do the show for the people we’re in the show with and for the people who show up to show love,†but seems to agree with Bob and the glam team that “once we do what we’re here to do, it’s a wrap.â€
The night of the show goes well, thanks perhaps to metal detectors and a pretty extensive wall of security. All the town’s “queerdos and weirdos†are out in full force for what’s supposedly the first-ever LGBTQ+ event in Granbury, and they get a pretty bitchin’ show. First up is Eureka, who has never met a slow, emotional song with overtly expressive lyrics that she didn’t love. This time it’s a cover of Radiohead’s “Creep,†which she performs as a sort of massive alien bug creature before stripping off all her armor for a freaky dance megamix. There are high kicks, a bearded lady, and a strongman, so it’s a show, to be sure.
Deshay looks like absolute perfection as what I think is Miss Petty Crocker, though I couldn’t 100 percent make out the name through the audio. She and Bob tear through Aretha Franklin’s funkadelic cover of Otis Redding’s “I Can’t Turn You Loose,†bringing big church choir energy to the whole affair. There are riffs and runs, plus a truly massive wig courtesy of Wigs And Grace, and all seems right in the world.
Lou is next with their performance which is a riff on the banned book situation set to Panic at the Disco’s “I Write Sins Not Tragedies.†Lou seems particularly fond of this track, nailing the lip sync while looking like a wild, mustachioed David Bowie teen. Eureka is in total Miss Trunchbull drag as the naysaying school administrator before Lou swoops in mid-set on roller skates and turns her into a neon-wearing evangelist. The pair end the set holding a big book that reads, “Teach the truth,†and we see that both of Lou’s parents are crying, and thus I am also crying, especially after Lou gets on the mic and tells the audience that “I’m really lucky because not a lot of queer kids in Granbury get this.â€
After that tear-jerker, Adrienne’s pink-hued take on Britney Spears’s “Do Somethin’†is whatever, but it’s nice that some moderate Republican dudes showed up to wear wigs and hair capes and bop along in the background, I suppose. Adrienne is a good dancer, though she doesn’t seem to embrace the show as much as Lou or Deshay. Still, Shangela introduces her as Mighty LaQuinn Wadley, and the new queen tells the crowd, “Please stop voting for people with policies that are hurting people that we love,†which is as good a message as any to end on.
Stray Observations
• My name is Marah, and you may have read my Vulture recaps of shows like The Bear and The Resort. I’ll be covering We’re Here weekly all season. I can’t wait to read everyone’s thoughts in the comments, too, especially if they assure me that I’m not the only person who sobs during every episode of this damn show.
• There’s a brief storyline about Shangela attempting to do Drag Queen Story Hour at a local coffee shop, which goes about as well as you’d expect. Someone calls the shop’s owner and makes vague threats of harm that cause the owner to shut the event down, send the kids home, and call in security. Later, Shangela reads Wake Up, Little Bat! to four fun kids in a local vintage shop as a dog in a rainbow costume looks on. In an interview later, Shangela says, “I was successful in creating a space in which children thought it was okay to engage in a story hour with a drag queen. That’s it.†Shangela is amazing. I’ve never been a full-time Shangie stan, but she is the glue that holds this show together in these weird small towns, and I am thrilled about how well she did on Dancing with the Stars, even if she was robbed in the end. Bless her Texas-size heart.
• Shoutout to the guy who told Bob, “As handsome as you are, there’d be a lot of women after you,†because while that is total nonsense, it also led to a great reaction shot from Bob.
• At a rodeo, Eureka gets a chance to chat up an older guy who tells them that years ago, Granbury wouldn’t have even let black or gay people in town. Since returning from Vietnam, this guy has tried to be a little more accepting. Eureka says that she feels like people in Granbury “want to be more accepting, but they’re afraid to,†which she says is a little sad.
• Even sadder is the next scene, which finds Bob crying during the July 4th fireworks. He always has a rough time on the holiday because it’s hard to “watch people celebrate freedom while knowing a lot of people don’t feel free.†One hundred percent amen to that, and it’s nice that we got to see Shangela and Eureka genuinely comfort their TV sister.
• Shout-out to We’re Here season-two heroes Bruno and Estella, who you can see in the audience, too. If Bruno Lozano were ever to run for office and I could vote for him, I would. Just saying.