We’re Here :: Granbury, Texas

HBO

There aren’t a lot of TV shows that you can call ‘important’, shows that speak to the current social climate and work hard to open eyes, to send a message to the world that people are people, we’re all human, and it shouldn’t matter how we represent ourselves or who we love. There probably aren’t many shows outside of current events series like 60 Minutes that you could call ‘timely’ either, since most series film months in advance of their broadcast. But while the news cycle is constantly changing, social issues evolve much more slowly so that even an episode of a show that was produced back in July is still timely on the day of its premiere four months later, especially after the horrific event in Colorado Spring in the past week, not to mention anti-LGBTQ bills and laws being put into place in states like Florida and Texas. And of course, there are also things going on like book banning and the harsh reactions to Drag Queen Story Hours. All of these on-going social issues make the third season premiere of HBO’s excellent docuseries We’re Here more timely than ever. Bob the Drag Queen, Eureka O’Hara and Shangela are back to dole out their wisdom, to help individuals facing huge obstacles in small, conservative towns, and hopefully open some eyes along the way. The third season premiere sets the queens down in the middle of one of their toughest little towns yet — Granbury, Texas — where the hope to help their drag children and the town as a whole.

They all find that it’s going to be an uphill battle as the episode kicks off showing online reactions from the people of Granbury (and elsewhere) critical of the HBO series ‘normalizing’ drag queens, fearful that the show is coming to their town to ruin the 4th of July parade with the queens making an appearance, suggesting that it’s sick to watch kids watch drag queens who, naturally, are pedophiles and ‘groomers’. There are threats of physical violence if the show comes to Granbury, and they haven’t seen this much local outrage since the series started.

But then we see the queens doing their introductory video and of course they are at a rodeo area in appropriate Western regalia, learning how to crack whips. They visit a local bar, in drag, the schmooze with the locals who don’t appear to be too rattled but one tells Shangela that people are upset about them being in the parade. Shangela assures the local that they are not going to be in the parade, sadly. Bob is told by a bartender that the reaction to them coming to Granbury has been mixed. Some of the locals don’t think the town is ready for a drag show, others are concerned about children going to the show. Shangela rightly feels there are a lot of anti-drag people in town, Eureka senses they are not wanted in town, and Bob describes Granbury not as a ‘sunset town’, where if you’re not white and cis you’d better be out of town before sundown, but a ‘weekend town’ where you’d better be gone before Saturday comes around. The queens, and the producers, have their work cut out for them.

The three ‘drag kids’ featured in the third season premiere are Adrienne, DeShay and Lou. Adrienne is a straight ally and the chair of Hood County’s Democratic club and a hair stylist. Adrienne’s status as a Democrat and a supporter of the LGBTQ+ community has resulted in numerous threats to her and her family, but she feels it’s important for the people of Granbury to see the safety, caring and love of being an ally rather than the hate. Adrienne has had a love for the community since she was younger and into the bar scene, a regular at The Grapevine, seeing her first drag show at the age of 18, and she saw her gay friends deal with the HIV crisis. As a Democratic political leader in a district that voted 85% for Trump, she gets a lot of backlash but she doesn’t give a shit if anyone loves her. She’s got her husband, son, niece, dog and eight cats for that. Her school district was one of the few that actually followed the Krause List which banned over 850 books from school libraries, so she organized a pop-up Pride event to show the kids that there is love for them in the community. With Shangela as her ‘drag mother’, they are going to make some noise with their performance, but Adrienne also wants to learn how to make ‘that sound’ — the tongue pop.

DeShay, who identifies as trans and non-binary and is also Black, was a minister of music for a local Granbury church until they were unceremoniously fired one day for sketchy reasons (tardiness, lackluster piano playing), but they feel the real reason is because they chose to not be silent, to openly be who they are. They are also a minister of music at a church in Dallas where they are much more accepted. Returning to Granbury to do the drag show, with Bob the Drag Queen as their drag mother, is going to be tough because they faced micro-aggressions of homophobia and transphobia from church members (which were reported but nothing was ever done), so DeShay’s mission coming back to town is to show the people the aggressive face of queerness.

Lou is a student in Granbury who identifies as non-binary. They have made it their mission to fight back against the Krause List, buying the banned books at a local bookstore and placing them in classrooms with their name written in them so the teachers don’t get into any trouble. Lou feels that there is an attempt to erase queer people not just in Granbury but in Texas as a whole. Lou participated in roller derby from the age of six and found it to be an incredibly diverse community that was welcoming to everyone. They moved to Granbury with their parents six years ago and has faced verbal assaults, near physical assault and cyber-bullying. Lou started the first GSA in school and was surprised when 30 people came to the first meeting. It was the first LGBTQ+ support group in Granbury, and Lou says there is a large LGBTQ+ community in town but people are afraid to be open. They want to be a shield for the kids who don’t have one, and they want their part of the show to speak to that. Their drag mom Eureka is all for that but she wants it to also be fun and about Lou, who wants to have an androgynous lewk for the performance. Eureka asks if they’ve considered binding, but Lou has not although it is something they are interested in experimenting with. Lou’s parents are also very supporting even though their mom worries that they’ve painted a target on their back. She tells Eureka about how parents who took their kids to a drag brunch in Dallas were physically attacked, and she doesn’t want that for her child, but at the end of the day they are who they are.

The queens and the entire production found that they really are not wanted in Granbury. Shangela was scheduled to do a Drag Queen Story Hour at a local coffee shop but the event had to be cancelled because of threatening phone calls made by a man who told them that was a good move. Shangela was a bit rattled upon hearing this, but carried on after another business owner offered her space for the story hour. Shangela read a story about a bat to a small group of kids and they had a great time. Shangela said her mission was to bring entertainment and heart to the community to counter the fear people are trying to instill in the allies to push them down. Not wanting visibility for the drag community also shows disdain for the gay community.

Adrienne also faced some issues within her own group as the Democratic club prepared to enter their first float in the July 4th parade since 2008. While she told the members that the float did not represent a single voice but all of their voices, some took issue with the rainbow decorations. One woman accused Adrienne of making the whole thing about gay pride and she wasn’t going to participate because she didn’t feel safe. Another member also had safety concerns and suggested having a police officer walk the route with them. Adrienne is perplexed as to why rainbow ribbons are so controversial. She says that people say they’re fine with gays and lesbians as long as it isn’t put in front of their faces because then it makes them uncomfortable. That just infuriates her.

As the groups being their preparations for the show — wig fittings, learning to walk in heels — Lou is doing the binding of their breasts and says the experience of seeing who they want to see in the mirror is euphoric. Eureka says their whole demeanor has changed and they look like a different person. But the parade is rolling through town so everyone takes a break to enjoy the festivities, something Eureka says their drag kids never felt safe doing before. Shangela encounters a woman with a hilariously, terribly constructed sign that was supposed to read ‘Free Drag Queen Repellent! Prayer!’ but several letters are missing. Shangie asks the woman if she knows any drag queens and the woman says she has a friend at work who is one. When asked how that person feels knowing their friend wants to pray them away, the woman says he understands, he doesn’t like it, but they are still friends. Shangela hopes that friendship and love with supersede all. Bob and Eureka also encounter a man with a sign quoting a Bible verse about the abomination of a man wearing women’s clothing. Bob asks the man if he ever stopped to think how people who are just coming to the parade to have a good time might feel if that sign is the first thing they see. He says he just wants the kids to know there are two sides to the story. Eureka tells him that as a Christian his sign is offensive and what he is really doing is showing people unlike him how he really feels, because kids see and hear that message all the time. Before they get a little too passionate about the topic, they have to excuse themselves from the conversation. Shangela notes that these people in the community who don’t want the drag show are winning because there’s no one to speak out against them, and they want to build that community so they can fight back against the bullies.

The day ends with a rodeo and fireworks. At the rodeo Eureka is asked by an older gentleman if they are movie stars, and they say they like to think they are. They ask him if he’s been to a drag show, and he hasn’t but he says if he came to theirs the few friends he has in town would throw rocks at him. He says if they had come to Granbury in a different time, they probably would have been in real danger. He seems to be very aware that the biases he had came from growing up in a time when he really didn’t know any better but serving time in Vietnam helped him learn the hard way. Eureka could see this man was someone who was open to change, a representation of the people in town who want to be more accepting but are afraid to express that openly. It made them sad to think of the danger that comes with being different in town. Bob became emotional watching the fireworks, watching people celebrate freedom when he knows there are people right in Granbury who don’t feel free. He says you can’t thrive in a town where it feels like everyone is against you.

Adrienne is concerned that she’s heard there may be protests at the show, people threatening to throw eggs at them, so Shangela takes her on a little road trip so that she can see there are people even on the other side of the political coin who support her and her mission. They meet with some conservative but moderate Republicans who have actually become vocal against the party’s stance on LGBTQ+ rights. Shangela asks them if they would consider coming to the show and putting on a wig and some makeup, and one of them says he would but he’ll be out of town, another chuckles nervously, and a third is speechless but his wife says she supports whatever his decision is. Adrienne’s husband supports her 100% but he’s also fearful of the threats she’s received, telling Shangela how a man came to a school board meeting with a gun on his hip and got verbally belligerent before he was asked to leave. Shangela says there are people trying to instill fear in them to push them down. One of the moderate Republicans they spoke with noted that Hood County is the ninth fastest growing county in the country and people are digging their heels in because they don’t want the change that comes with that growth. But what if someone does come to the show and tries to be violent? What would they do? Shangela notes this is happening to a lot of drag entertainers in the United States (and we sadly saw that play out recently in Colorado Springs).

DeShay and their fiancé discuss facing their fears about returning to Granbury for the show but even if they get some harsh words, this is the time to make some change. Fiancé Zane is nervous but also a bit excited about being open about their relationship since a lot of people didn’t even know they were dating. DeShay says returning to Granbury brings up those moments of feeling small and they don’t deserve that. During rehearsals with Bob, he tells them that when he’s on stage he’s the most powerful person in the room. Pick out one person in the crowd and make eye contact because when a drag queen looks at you there should be a little excitement, fear, joy, submissiveness in that person. DeShay likes that. Bob tells DeShay that they should consider continuing to do drag because they’re good at it, and the make-up artists jokes with Bob to take notes, making DeShay squeal with laughter.

Production also faces a major shock when they discover a Facebook post with 21 photos of their work room area that someone had taken and posted, saying they were just trying to enjoy the parade and turned around and saw all of this because there were no curtains on the windows. One of the ‘offensive’ photos was of a mirror on the floor. No one was in the room when the photos were taken but the dozens and dozens of negative, threatening comments — one warned about dragging drag queens through the sagebrush — has given the crew and the queens a bit of anxiety. Bob says that once they have done what they’ve come to town to do, it’s a wrap. He notes that Granbury has been the most contentious place they’ve visited yet. DeShay thinks the experience is exhilarating but also fears that someone is just going to disappear. Shangela asks Adrienne if she thinks they’ll have an audience or if they’ll be doing the show for themselves, but she believes they will have a full house of enthusiastic supporters. She notes that this is the first LGBTQ event ever held in Granbury. What she doesn’t know is that Shangela has a surprise for her that will be revealed during the performance — two of the Republicans they spoke with did show up to support her and are getting into some quick drag for her performance.

HBO

The show starts with Bob dressed as a ringmaster to introduce the ‘We’re Here Freakshow’ and first up is Eureka dressed as some kind of freakish creature with huge arms as part of the costume, performing Kelly Clarkson’s rendition of ‘Creep’. It really was a remarkable visual that had the crowd cheering. After the number she tells the crowd how challenging Granbury has been for them but if they look to the left and to the right, this is their tribe, celebrate being different. DeShay, as Petty Crocker, is up next performing ‘Can’t Turn You Loose’ by Aretha Franklin. The number was conceived to highlight their musical roots, joined on stage by Bob as a conductor and a back-up ‘band’ in addition to the two very cute dancers. DeShay, as Bob noted earlier, is a pro even though it’s their first time in drag. After the number, they tell the crowd that they might have been fired from their position in Granbury, but they can’t turn them loose. That is why they have to speak out. DeShay calls Zane to the stage saying they can’t turn loose from this man, and they are going to fight, they’re not going to be anyone’s doormat, no one is going to step on them. ‘We’re here, some of us are queer … get used to it.’

Before taking the stage, Lou says Granbury needs drag, they need to see queerness isn’t dangerous. The hatred is poisoning the children. It’s just art, it’s empowering. Their number is ‘I Write Sins Not Tragedies’ by Panic! At the Disco, which does have a banned book theme. Eureka joins the number dressed as Miss Trunchbull, the villain from the Matilda musical, tearing pages out of a book and tossing them into the audience. During this part Lou had to make a quick change from shoes to roller skates so they could roll around the stage and it all worked out perfectly. The cameras caught Lou’s dad getting emotional in the audience. The number ends with Lou and Eureka opening a book that says ‘Teach the Truth’ inside. Lou tells the crowd that they came to Granbury six years ago and they decided they weren’t leaving, they were staying to fight. Both of their parents are emotional at this point and Eureka calls them on stage and they say who proud they are of Lou. Lou says they are lucky because not a lot of queer kids have that support. It matters, they matter.

Adrienne begins her beauty salon set number, performing to Britney Spears’ ‘Do Somethin”, hoping this show will help bring people together. Her costume starts off with a pink smock but that has a tearaway reveal to a very Britney-esque outfit, and Shangela joins her in a similar outfit. Adrienne is surprised when the ‘customers’ join them on stage, and they all seem to be having a lot of fun as the crowd goes wild. Adrienne is touched that these great allies in the community took the chance to join them on stage, saying this is her Granbury. Shangela also invites a student from a local school up who wants to say a few words to Adrienne, who had been outside the school with a group of people to show their support to the LGBTQ kids. Jack tells her that it meant everything to see that support, and even if you don’t get that kind of support at home there are people like Adrienne willing to support you and who you are. It all made Adrienne very emotional, her voice cracking as she told the crowd that no one in Granbury should have to feel like they have to hide who they are. It’s up to all of them to stand with them, and her one message for anyone listening is to please stop voting for politicians and policies that are hurting the people they love.

Backstage Adrienne is still emotional but grateful that the people who need to hear this message will hear it. She hopes that the community will see that LGBTQ people and allies are living out loud and living true, and maybe we’ll go through this rough period but ultimately will come out to the light. That is certainly a message we all need to hear and hold in our hearts as conservative and far right forces continue to wage a war on the community.

What did you think of the season premiere? Tell us in the comments section below!

New episodes of We’re Here premiere Fridays at 10:00 PM on HBO, streaming on HBO Max.