If there’s a theme to season three of We’re Here, it’s looking like it’s going to be something about the power of noisy bigots. That’s always been the theme of the show, really, but this year the HBO production seems to be facing more opposition than ever from catty local Facebook groups, catty town councilmembers, and people who seem to only know the word grooming.
That’s certainly the case in the show’s third stop this season, St. George, Utah. Known for some reason as “Utah’s Dixie,” the town sits near the Arizona border just south of Zion National Park. That means it’s beautiful, full of sandstone cliffs and natural wonder that inspires, I would argue, some of Bob, Shangela, and Eureka’s best outfits yet. That also means it’s full of Mormons with their many kids and their seemingly friendly attitude which is so over the top that Bob refers to it as “‘What’s going on?’ friendly.” Spoiler alert: All that sunshine is just on the exterior, as we find out about three minutes into the episode when Eureka ventures into the visitors’ center of the town temple and is encouraged to watch a 30-minute movie about “God’s plan for the family.” It’s quickly clear that while some people in St. George put up signs that say “Everyone’s welcome,” that’s not at all what they mean.
This week’s first subject is Toni, a trans man whose family won’t let the cameras into their home. They’re only just coming to terms with their identity, though they’re really killing it with that grown-out green hair. Toni is often misgendered at home, something we learn more about later when we meet his maybe well-meaning mom who, it’s clear, really doesn’t get — or understand how to get — who Toni is. Shangela, Toni’s drag mom, tells him, “You don’t have to be able to explain [your gender] to everyone,” but Toni’s actual mom would certainly seem to love that, dropping multiple excuses about how hard it is to just stop calling someone their dead name. It also turns out Toni’s mom “couldn’t find” a book about dealing with a trans kid (cough, cough) and consulted some cousin who’s a counselor of some sort that then sent her information about people who have transitioned and then regretted it. In short, Toni’s home situation seems toxic, so it’s good that he has his friends who seem to be much more of a family than anyone he grew up with.
Speaking of families, our next subject Gaby has got a big one. She’s one of five kids and says that growing up as often the only brown girl in her class at school, she was often put into ESL class even though English was her first language. She’s proudly bi and has recently left the Mormon church after reading about how she’d have to reject that part of her life to enter the kingdom of heaven. Almost everyone in her family has now left as well, save her dad who seems to still be hanging on for whatever reason. We learn a little bit into the episode that Gaby’s mom also identifies as bi, though she’s only come out to Gaby and to her husband. She’s a joy and Eureka talks her into doing the show with Gaby, not just to show support for her daughter but also to learn to embrace who she really is inside.
Bob’s charge this week is Micah, a queer parent who identifies as nonbinary and recently had top surgery. They grew up in the area and that’s where their wife’s family is from, too, but they’ve struggled with leaving the church, losing friends and family, and being isolated from those around them. Micah says they were dragged out of a restaurant bathroom last year for being too masculine for the ladies’ room and tells Bob they still struggle to use public restrooms. They’re also the chair of Pride of Southern Utah, or “queermander in chief,” in Bob’s terms. Through that organization, they’re working to make the area safer and more accepting for queer people, though they say that they’ve had protestors at every single event they’ve ever done. Ugh.
And on that protesting tip, let’s meet St. George councilperson Michelle Tanner, whose page on the city website says they’re “involved in keeping this amazing community free from government overreach and centered on constitutional principles.” After We’re Here secured a permit to have their show in the middle of the town square, Michelle urged her constituents to rally against it, posting a letter that said “drag is sexual” and suggesting that it would be obscene to do the show “outside a children’s museum.” As Eureka rightly points out, though, “You can’t convert anyone to be gay. If that was the case, we’d be doing missions, too.” Bob also comes through with a classic “You might like it, Michelle,” which I think should join the ranks of “Patty don’t start” in the drag lexicon.
Anyway, Michelle’s bullshit leads to an eventual showdown during a city meeting, which none of the show’s big three queens attend. That seems like a smart move, because while some people come to argue for “MAGA month … if the city is going to take on agendas,” even more people show up to talk about their own queer experiences, the importance of allyship, and rally around keeping the show in the town square. Ultimately, the gang gets to keep their permit and all the hullabaloo helped draw over 1,000 RSVPs for the performance — so take that, assholes. Eureka rightly notes that while it seems like more and more people are choosing to “discriminate in sneaky ways,” the best way to deal with that is, in their opinion, to “tighten [your] motherfucking laces and do a show.”
And what a show it is. Micah dazzles with a gender-bending performance of Queen’s “I Want to Break Free” in which she dances a tango of sorts with Bob, who’s clad in very good half-and-half drag. Toni tackles Lil Nas X’s “Industry Baby,” complete with body rolls and a very cool look that’s a take on a playing-card king. His friends are crying in the audience while his mom films it on her phone because it’s not like there’s going to be some better-quality version of the show that she could watch somewhere someday.
Finally, there’s Gaby and her mom who are duded up as witches with big wigs and little hats. Since they’re Eureka’s daughters they do a pretty literal version of Wrabel’s “The Village,” though there are cool flying-broom effects and tear-jerking shots of the rest of the family sobbing in the audience. When the backdrop flies out to reveal the words love is magic, the crowd seems to lose their shit and it’s a nice moment. Equally nice is the show’s big conclusion, which is when Gaby’s high-school classmates join her for a performance of “Seasons of Love” from their thwarted presentation of Rent. It’s a silly, old song, but it still chokes this silly, old gal up, so sue me. Measure your life in love, indeed.
Stray observations
It’s pretty fucking weird that the town canceled the school’s production of Rent, a musical that first went to workshop in 1993 because “the community wasn’t ready for a story like that.” Not to tell a town what it should or shouldn’t be ready for, but it seems like you should be ready for something that happened 29 years ago.
