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We’re Here visits Del Rio this week. No, not Bianca Del Rio but Del Rio, Texas, a small border town about 10 minutes away from Acuña, Mexico. Eureka, Shangela and Bob the Drag Queen have their work cut out for them in a small town with no formal LGBTQ+ community, and where the emphasis is on strong family bonds … which is a real challenge for two of this episode’s subjects.
Bruno
Bruno is an out, proud, queer Tejano born and raised in Del Rio. Bruno has a strong connection to his mother, but he had to leave the town for about fifteen years because it’s not easy being gay in a small conservative town. And now Bruno is actually the mayor of Del Rio, but that journey was fraught with pitfalls, including his opponent using photos from Bruno’s Instagram account at Pride events to shame him out of the race. The ploy backfired and Bruno won the office with more than 60% of the vote. And from all appearances, the town has not been wiped off the face of the Earth by God’s judgment, and he seems quite well-respected after three years into his first term. Bruno now just wants to show the entire town of Del Rio that it’s okay to be whoever you want to be, including mayor by day and drag queen by night. With Shangela as his drag mother, that mission will be easy to accomplish.
Joey
Joey, a biological male, is struggling with gender identity in a small town. Joey, at the time of production on the episode, was using the pronouns he/him while outwardly presenting himself as a very femme boy, right down to wardrobe and makeup. But Joey is only doing this for his parents, not himself. Joey feels that he can’t be his authentic self because, while his parents have come to accepting who he is, he’s afraid that going further with his gender identity will undo all of the work they’ve done to get to this point. Eureka is going to have to tread a fine line as things progress with Joey much faster than expected.
Esael
Esael has struggled with coming out … to his parents. Everyone else in his family knows he’s gay and are supportive, and if the situation arose, he has aunts who have offered him a place to stay. Bob really has his work cut out for him because Esael has no familiarity with drag whatsoever, and didn’t even know who Bob was before this process started. He feels that doing this drag performance will be the ‘gayest thing’ he’s ever done (but is it though?). His biggest concern is how his parents will see him when he does come out to them, not wanting his sexuality to define who he is.
The Preparation
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While making their way around the town, our three queens visit a local sort-of snowball stand and are greeted with great excitement from the town’s queer population. There is no gay bar in town, no real queer culture, nowhere for them to hang out and mingle. They all know of each other but they don’t know each other, so Bob proclaims the location the town’s new gay bar.
Later, Eureka pays a visit to Joey and his family at their home, including Joey’s grandparents. None of them really know what drag is, but Joey’s dad is very impressed with Eureka’s photos in full drag. His grandfather’s reaction is cute too. As they eat and talk, Joey’s father explains to Eureka that it was hard for them at first when Joey came out. This was something completely foreign to them and it was hard to grasp but, importantly, they did not was to be sad in front of him. They really did want to show him acceptance and deal with their own feelings separately, and have really progressed to a good place where they accept and love Joey for who he is.
Esael takes Bob across the border to Acuña to meet his sister, and she encourages him to come out to their parents. Everyone in his family knows about the upcoming drag show and they are all going to be there to support him. But at this point his parents aren’t because he won’t be honest with them even though he wants his performance to say, ‘I’m gay as fuck’. Bob says that at some point they’ll probably find out about this show, and his sister says their mom might be more upset if she wasn’t invited.
Bruno has had one of the easier journeys even though when he first came out to his mom she didn’t speak to him for three days and he was afraid he’d lose her. His father was a different story, and not for the better. Going out to his car one morning, he saw that the bumper was torn off and the car was badly damaged … by his father who was so enraged by Bruno’s coming out. They eventually made amends and Bruno then learned the truth about why his father was so angry — one of his cousin’s died of HIV and another to suicide because of his own issues with coming out and not being accepted. Bruno’s father said this life was going to be a challenge for him. And one night, Bruno was out with friends, got drunk and woke up to being sexually assaulted, and he was terrified to say anything because he had made his father’s warnings come to fruition by being careless. But they were there for him and supported him through his trauma and now Bruno no longer feels like a victim. And now Bruno is thrilled that he’ll be performing to a Selena song, representing his Tejano culture.
In between the wig tests, costume fittings and choreo rehearsals, Bob has asked Bruno if he’ll talk to Esael, act as a mentor, give him some advice about how to handle his eventual coming out to his parents. Esael looks up to Bruno because he is out and the mayor, and he learns that the town actually does have an LGBTQ organization that he can take advantage of. But more importantly, he now has a friend in Bruno
Before the night of the performance, Joey has decided to come out to his parents as non-binary and it doesn’t go well. It took them long enough to accept their son as gay, but now having to grasp the concept of they/them pronouns is too much for them to handle in the middle of everything else that’s going on (perhaps they may have even felt a little ambushed that this took place on camera. Joey’s mother insists that he is her son, he is a grandson so he is a boy, and his sister is a girl. While Joey’s parents are shaken but remain calm, it’s Joey who’s emotions flare up requiring a producer to diffuse the situation, trying to make Joey understand that their parents just need a little time to understand all of this new information. It will be a road of understanding for all of them.
The Show
HBO
The show opens with Shangela, whipping the crowd into a frenzy, and commenting that this town is all about showing the love, and now it’s time to show some love to Joey performing to ‘Vogue’. We keep seeing Joey’s parents in the front row as their mom cheers but dad is pretty stone-faced for the entire performance. He does eventually clap at the end of the number when Joey publicly acknowledges their non-binary identity, saying we only have one life and we have to make the best out of it.
Backstage as Esael is getting finishing touches applied, he calls Bob over to tell him that his parents are coming to the show … because he came out to them! And they completely supported him. His dad even said he was going to win, even though it’s not a competition. Esael took to the stage in a hot pink chiffon gown to Doj Cat’s ‘Boss Bitch’, had a costume reveal and segued into Thalia’s ‘A Quien Le Importa’ and let everyone know he didn’t care what anyone thought as long as he loved himself. And his parents absolutely loved Esael, his mom running to the stage with a smile a mile wide, giving his a kiss. Esael was happy to share the experience with his entire family.
Bruno closed the show with ‘Como La Flor’ and ‘Last Dance’ by Selena. Bruno’s message to the crowd is to never give up trying to make a better life in this community, represent and stand proud and tall for who you are, feel the energy in Del Rio, this is their historic moment and they are going to live it freely. Halleloo!
After the show, Joey’s dad did come backstage to show his support, really making Joey happy. Bruno’s mom was there and she loved the show, and Esael’s parents were all smiles as they embraced him. Esael jokingly asked his dad if he won, and the answer was yes. And the moral of the episode is that seeing people in your community like you gives you validity you may need to go out and be who you are. Bruno certainly sets a good example in the community of Del Rio, Texas.
And weeks after the show wrapped production, Joey came out again to their parents as a trans woman. According to the on screen text, they have never been closer. And that is some wonderful news. Perhaps going through this whole experience has helped change the way the people of Del Rio see others like Bruno, Joey and Esael. Now it’s time to spread that love across the land.
What did you think of this episode? Tell us in the comments section below!
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