For LGBTQ youth across the country, organizations like The Trevor Project are vital when it comes to suicide prevention and bettering young lives. So, a few queens from RuPaul’s Drag Race decided to make sure that the world knows about the work being done at The Trevor Project.
On Monday (August 26), a new video was released showing Drag Race season 11 alumni Silky Nutmeg Ganache, A’Keria C. Davenport and Soju out of drag and volunteering for a day at The Trevor Project, and having an important discussion about mental health among queer youth with The Trevor Project’s director of public training, Chris Bright.
During the conversation, each of the queens recounted their experiences with bullying and coming to terms with their sexual identity. For example, Davenport revealed that he briefly thought he wanted to transition when he was younger. “I attempted to transition for a year, where I lived every day as a woman,” Davenport says, highlighting the importance of experimentation. “I’ve just come to find out that I’m a dude at heart…drag was my outlet, drag was something that made me feel love.”
Soju revealed that when he was growing up, he would often bully other gay kids in order to hide his own insecurities about his sexuality. “When I saw the gay kids, I was like, ‘They get to live their life as openly [sic] and happy, why can’t I do that?'” he says. “I regret so much of that…I wish that I had something like The Trevor Project, because I felt so alone.”
Ganache spoke openly about his struggle with being open, saying that his brother was the only person he felt he could talk to. But, he said that his community “nourished” him without even knowing it. “I felt very supported in my community, in a way,” he said. “Unfortunately, as I got older…everybody didn’t think everybody was okay always.”
Along with speaking to Bright about the importance of having an organization for young queer people to come to and speak about their struggles, the queens received training in order to become crisis hotline volunteers. The service provides struggling LGBTQ youth a call-in line where they can speak to a member of the Trevor Project volunteer at any time. If you’re interested in becoming a Trevor Lifeline volunteer, you can apply here.
Check out the full video of Silky, Soju and A’Keria volunteering at The Trevor Project below: