By Rosemary Ford, and Caitlin Agnew

NH PBS, Granite State News Collaborative

Click here to watch the full conversation on The State We’re In

On The State We’re In, Juicy Garland who performed at the Teetotaller Sunday Drag Story Hour as well as capturing clips of the group protesting before and during her story hour talks about what happened.

Melanie Plenda:

Thank you so much for being here. So Juicy. Can you tell us about your background? How did you get into drag performance? And how did you come to do the story hour on Sunday? 

Juicy Garland:

Yeah, so I had always been interested in drag. I was always a fan of Drag Race. But I actually held off from doing drag for a long time. Part of that was limited resources. Part of that was limited time. But I had friends who started doing drag and who encouraged me to do it around 2018, 2019. So I really took a deep dive in 2019. And then, over the pandemic, I really took a deep dive, started sewing and started working on my makeup and started performing as soon as the pandemic started to ease up. And then, as I was performing, I started doing brunch at Teetotaller. And they invited me to start doing story hours because they felt like my drag was family friendly. And they had been looking for someone who could be family friendly, and who could tailor what they were doing to a different kind of audience than an adult audience. So I was eager to do it. Because I love working with kids, I used to work with kids with disabilities, I used to want to teach and I went into the industry instead. And because of that, I was thrilled to be able to do it and started doing that in November of last year.

Melanie Plenda:

Excellent. And let me ask a little bit about it sounds like you sort of got into drag in 2018. Over that time, what did you learn about drag? I mean, it really is an art form. And I think sometimes that gets lost in these conversations. So maybe we can talk about that a little bit like what is it as a form of expression or as an art form? What is it for you? 

Juicy Garland:

Yeah, so I've always struggled with my self image and my self expression. And I saw it as an outlet for me to really find an alternative way to be myself. But also, I don't know, I'm the kind of person who likes to find boundaries and find out where the edge is, and then push that boundary every single time. And I don't know, my favorite drag queens in history are people like Devine, who really do extreme things with their art and just go well beyond that boundary of acceptability. But also, I don't know, I also love camp. And I love Queens like Ben dilla crem, a famous Drag Race Queen, who really do goofy smart things, aesthetically. And that's something that I've always really just wanted to be able to do. In addition, I don't know, I see gender as a big old joke. We all put ourselves into neat and like convenient boxes. So we're comfortable with the roles that are assigned to us. And I think that often, these labels that we apply to ourselves are really for the convenience of other people. So they're comfortable knowing where we stand. And there's something I think useful and important and interesting, about challenging what those neat little boxes, say about us and say about other people. And drag is a way to challenge those ideas and find new ways of reshaping them. 

Melanie Plenda:

So that kind of brings us to Sunday, so what happened during the story hour on Sunday. And when did you become aware of the protests? 

Juicy Garland:

Yeah, so I show up early. When I get ready for this particular event, I put my face on. And then I drive up to Concord because I don't live in Concord. And it's tough to drive an hour and so I drive up in my face, I take my suitcase with my drag queen in a box. And I then go into the cafe and I get into the rest of my costume. Then I go downstairs and most of the space is set up there's a microphone with an amp. And then there are the chairs arranged, the cafe has excellent management so I don't have to worry about a thing. 

And then I go sit down, I arranged my books at that morning, there was this amazing small family there was this mother with her adult kids, they had just moved to New Hampshire I believe last week, the two kids were adults, the younger had just matriculated into Dartmouth College in to study I believe genetics and biology. The older had just finished school in genetics, and was actually going to work doing genetics research at Dartmouth College. And they were there, moved in from the Bay Area to just be at Dartmouth, and they wanted to see a drag queen. So they came to my show as we were talking because I come from a background in the sciences in my day job. 

These organized men in khaki cargo pants, the goal of them to wear cargo pants, and their uniform T shirts with their little Neo Nazi symbols and their masks and their hats started to make noise and bang on windows and start shouting obscenities and slurs. So immediately this family of three left the space smartly. I am glad they did. And I decided to immediately document what these goons were doing. So I took a brief video, which is what I ended up posting online. And then I stopped that video and immediately sprung into action to touch base with Liam, the manager of the cafe, which we immediately discussed, how do we keep these kids safe when they arrive because none of the other families had arrived yet. And then we assessed we could keep them safe. We made a plan on how we would modify the event. We executed that modification, I remained downstairs to maintain the attention of the fascists outside as they were seen heiling and shouting obscenities. And then after we had arranged the event, we had confirmed with the families who had arrived that they did want to continue with the event. I moved to the alternative space within the cafe. And we hosted the event. 

And despite the noise that these fascists made, after the police arrived, they were moved away from the windows to make sure that they didn't cause any damage to the cafe. They were moved to the front sidewalk where the street is. So that way while they could execute their First Amendment rights, as stupid as they are for these people, they have that right. They were disruptive, but we were able to keep these kids effectively oblivious of the problem. Although they were aware of the noise. We kept these kids safe, the most important part because the event is of course about them. And I was able to not only entertain these kids and read stories about family to them, because it was Father's Day, and that was the theme we had chosen. But I was also able to make sure that the parents were comfortable, and that the parents felt safe as well. And we read through every single story I brought. And I was able to have a great time with these families, and they left happy and thankful. 

Melanie Plenda:

So what was going through your mind? I mean, I know I hear you kind of went into action mode where you were taking care of these different steps. But what was going through your mind either as it was happening, or even once the dust settled? Like, what were you thinking about?

Juicy Garland:

Honestly, for me, and maybe this is a uniquely weird thing for me. And this might come from my background. For me, when I'm faced with a crisis, I immediately go into problem solving mode. And this is something I saw in Liam, the manager of the cafe, he did exactly the same thing. We met with each other, we both had the same, like look on our face, which was, let's solve this problem and figure it out. We did that. And then I think the biggest struggle for me was maintaining the compartmentalization to execute on that. There was a moment I distinctly remember, I don't remember which story it was. But I was like turning a page. And the fascists outside were loud. So I could hear individual words, they were chanting, they were chanting things, like, get off our streets get off our streets, they were clearly organized. These were different people than who had protested before. Before the protesters were effectively lazy is the best word, we had to describe them previously. 

Liam and I had ultimately joked about it. We had been less worried about our safety and organizing anything to like, prevent them from arriving because they had stopped arriving. These were different people. But then also, they chanted, F, slur, F, slur, F slur, that was, in the back of my mind, like part of my mind, recognize that consciously. At the same time I'm reading, like, the first book I read was like, Heather Has Two Mommies, which I did as a joke to myself, I do that a lot, where I'd have a joke that only I know. And no one else gets it. And I'm thinking it's funny. So that's fine. But I'm like turning a page in one of these books. And I'm making a funny voice and entertaining the kids. And I'm like, saying something to make sure that the parents are laughing along with their kids, and that everyone feels good and happy and is having fun. And in the back of my mind is just that word being chanted at me. And like maintaining the compartmentalization to be able to execute on making sure people are safe and feeling safe, was tough. 

But I had a very busy day. So not only did I have the event that I had to execute on successfully, which we did, and then immediately everyone left, one family stayed for a little while, and I chatted with them. And it was wonderful. I love these people, the community of Concord is amazing. I immediately got out of drag, I packed everything away, I got a bite to eat. I planned the next event with Liam like, he and I are both like the same people. We both immediately had the conversation. Not do we do this, again, that never once was discussed. It was when do we do this again. And then immediately after I got in my car, I drove right home as fast as I could to my partner in Massachusetts. I finally sat on my couch in the dark, and was able to have the space to just sort of emotionally react to the whole day. And at that point, I was allowed to feel rage. 

And I just did that for an hour just being angry at the goal that these idiot fascist goons had to think that they could stop me from just letting some kids have fun and hear stories about different kinds of families. Like they even had the power to achieve that end. And they did not. And I won. Yeah. Well, and you talk about doing this again. But I mean, you know, are you talking about keeping the family safe, keeping the kids safe? Or were you afraid for your safety and even going forward? I mean, of course, like that has to be a consideration Right? Like, I'm not dumb. Like I'm a smart person. I know that my safety is at risk. These are violent dangerous people who were dumb enough to put that at risk, clearly. But at the same time, we live in a dangerous time where there's never been more important for me to be an advocate for my own and other people's rights when other people are in a similar position to me. 

And I am already putting myself out there as a loudmouth stubborn person in a wig. Just sticking out like a sore thumb being queer and brightly colored. And I'm not about to stop that. Because even if I tried, I couldn't, I tried that when I was 13, struggling with the fact that I was gay, and it didn't work then. And it's not going to work now, no matter how hard I try. And, ultimately, I feel like it's an obligation for all of us to recognize that Fascism is a problem. And it's not going to go away if we stop pretending to be gay. And passive activism isn't enough. Like we have to put ourselves out there and show them that we're not going to stop being queer because they want us to. And obviously, if the families of Concord don't want to show up, I can't make them. But I'm going to continue putting myself out there to welcome them if they want to keep coming back.

Melanie Plenda:

What, if anything, would you say to this NSC 131 Group and the other groups that are like them,

Juicy Garland:

Ultimately, their views, their fascism has no business in Concord or anywhere else in this country. We fought a war about 80 years ago over this. And I think we settled that pretty harshly with them, then. And I don't think that has changed. There is no space for that kind of bigotry, or that kind of violence anywhere in our culture. And there is no room for tolerance of that kind of viewpoint. We cannot allow that kind of fascism to inhabit any kind of space in our country. It does not belong here. My grandmother lost brothers to that fight. And how many of our grandparents lost family because of that fight? We're not about to tolerate that kind of violence and nonsense now, when we still have family missing because of it. 

Melanie Plenda:

So what generally should people know about attending story hour and what would you like to say to parents and kids who might be thinking of coming?

Juicy Garland:

So, ultimately, I do not broadcast when it's happening again, publicly, online. And that's ultimately because it's meant for the local community and I don't want to publicize it, to keep it as safe as possible, right? So if you are local, go to Teetotaler and make sure that if you are interested in going seek that information out from the cafe itself. I let them manage that information directly. And I have every ounce of trust in Teetotaller to do what they can to keep this event as safe as possible, ultimately use your own discretion. But I have no doubt that there will be additional support and resources from the local peacekeepers, and I'm assuming the local police as well after the last event. There will be plenty more advanced support in order to make sure that this group and others can't disrupt the next event like they did this one. And I am eager to see the next one, simply because I know it will be far more safe and secure than the last one because we will be far more prepared. 

The State We’re in a weekly digital public affairs show is produced by NH PBS and The Marlin Fitzwater Center for Communications. It is shared with partners in the Granite State News Collaborative, of which both organizations are members.