Pride Doesn't End In June: Drag Brunch Reno With Donna Sux
Photo by Sam Ray-Johnson.
Every year in July during the hottest day of the summer, the Biggest Little City holds a Pride parade in Reno. The streets fill with colorful floats, people turn out in extravagant outfits and downtown is flooded with colors of the rainbow as far as the eye can see. It’s a beautiful time of love, acceptance and awareness, a time to make new friends whether out or closeted, and for families to find a safe space to be themselves. It’s the one day of the year where joy is free to flow and to be shared. While there’s always the occasional obnoxious protester, the abundance of support overshadows any hatred that appears.
The last time I attended Pride in Reno or drag shows was around 2017. I was a different person back then. So much changed in six years – haircuts and styles, body weight and self-care routines, friendships and partners, locations and jobs, half of it spent in therapy, a whole pandemic. Returning to Reno Pride 2023 felt like coming home, but with new eyes. Older, wiser, kinder, softer.
Live music in Reno wouldn’t be complete without drag shows, and the art of drag wouldn’t be what it is without music. It’s a symbiotic relationship of beauty and satire, but it’s a practice that requires a lot of hard work. Dancing around in high heels that would break ankles, keeping whigs on that probably weigh a pound at least, elaborate costumes and makeup that takes hours to prepare – these are just the tip of the iceberg to the meticulous care a drag queen puts in for good entertainment. As each performer strutted around the crowded venue at Cafe Whitney last weekend, it was clear this was going to be a stellar performance.
The drag show in Reno was made possible by the Haus of Does Moore – a local group. One of the queens, Donna Sux Does Moore, recently received congressional recognition from Nevada Senator Jacky Rosen for her contributions to the LGBTQ+ community, and to the community’s awareness of inclusion, art and culture. She is one of the few Black drag queens in the Biggest Little City, and says there’s still a lot of advancements to make when it comes to intersectionalism in our local LGBTQ+ circles.
“I’ve had a lot of unfortunate racist moments… I’ve walked into many gay bars where I’m just looked at in disdain,” Sux said. “People in Reno dont get microaggressions, or understand what microaggressions are, so… I do my best.”
Sux says everything she does is to uplift women of color, since they are the most marginalized people and face constant fetishization and dehumanization every day. She tries to showcase music that those outside of POC groups might not have heard of before too. Her style was classy and elegant yet sassy, changing from long, old-Hollywood style gowns to a rhinestone tassled bodysuit with thigh high boots. Her energy is one with nothing to prove, exuding confidence and Pride. She said she wasn’t planning on doing the splits since she had emergency surgery on one of her legs last year, but she did it anyway and made it look effortless.
“I like to perform with people that make me want to do better… [I] watch people whose performance is better than mine, I want to learn what they’re doing and put my spin on it.” Sux said. “Drag is, in a sense, the same but not. The difference between drag for everyone is what your personal take is on it.”
Photo by Sam Ray-Johnson.
Sux is talented outside of drag too – she got her Master’s Degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Nevada, Reno, and while she said she’s not ready to sing for her shows yet, that music is something that’s very important to her.
“American society views music as a throw away thing,” Sux said. “We use it for everything, for commercials, to elevators, they think music is just innately there and it is not deemed worthy enough to pay for what it's worth.”
She said Reno drag shows have a lot of progress to make when it comes to compensation too – that business owners don’t pay drag queens enough, sometimes even just $50, which isn’t even enough to fill up a tank of gas here currently, or buy groceries for the week. In a city where inflation keeps rising and wages stay stagnant, art and music are usually the first things that get cut in budgets. It’s seen as a luxury item rather than an essential part of our culture and for Sux, she says on top of the racism she’s experienced, it’s too much for her to remain in Reno.
“Being in Reno is very hard… The drag scene is very small here,” Sux said. “It’s a selfish community. [Business owners] pay you what they think you’re worth, and most people don't think drag is worth that much.”
While this pained my heart to hear about the Reno music community that I’ve grown to love so much, it was good for me to take in a new perspective I haven’t heard before. Clearly, Reno music venues still have a lot of improvements to accomplish when it comes to inclusion, and the city at large has a big task on their hands when it comes to our financial security as residents. The influx of transplants from other states keeps creating a higher demand for housing and landlords keep hiking our rent prices, along with business owners refusing to pay their employees living wages to balance, it’s no wonder why people like Sux and other Renoites have chosen to abandon their hometowns for better economic environments. She keeps her head held high though, and says her future plans are to audition for Ru Paul’s Drag Race, and to find a good paying job (since she currently works three, and is barely getting by – a story many of us in Reno can relate with).
“Every POC here, trans person… you are worthy, you are worth it… any bill that’s being passed means nothing. You are life, you are humans, you deserve rights,” Sux said. “As long as I’m alive I’m going to try and fight my best. Let music flourish, everything is worthy and has a niche, try to understand it.”
To follow Donna Sux Does Moore, visit her Instagram profile here.
Photo by Sam Ray-Johnson.
To find more Reno music events put on by the Haus of Does Moore, visit their Instagram profile here.
