9 Gorgeous Queers Tell Us What Beauty Means to Them
What does beauty mean to you? Is it painting a fantasy for the club? Constructing a stunning illusion for the stage? Walking down the street and just knowing you're hot shit? Is it about energy, power, or truth? How does the world change when you're feeling your oats? What does it mean to be really seen by other queer people and to see them in return?
These are the question we asked nine of the loveliest queers we know and honey, they had plenty to say.
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MiscAlleneous DomTop
Performer, They/Them
"I feel beautiful when I feel seen by a person, as opposed to being treated like an object: when someone gets to know me and they say, 'You're beautiful,' but in response to something that they see shining through. When I was younger in California and I was going out in West Hollywood, everyone used to tell me I was 'cute for being Black.' No one ever told me I was cute for being good looking. I feel more beautiful and confident when I'm beating somebody up, domming somebody, or kicking an old guy in the balls. That's when I feel the most beautiful, that's when I feel more confident." Follow MiscAlleneous.
Photographed by Oscar Ouk
Photo assistant: Alex Kalb
West Dakota
Drag artist, she/they
"I've come to understand that we're conditioned to find things beautiful and that beauty is a construct. I'm a perfectionist. I'm such a critical person. Being in drag makes me a lot more comfortable with the idea of beauty because it gives me a level of separation. People would always say I should be a model, but I didn't want to be a prop, a face that someone finds attractive, and sells someone else's shit. Doing drag has allowed me to be comfortable with the idea of being beautiful because it's something that I work on. It's a craft for me, and it's not something that's just projected onto me. It's something that I put my work into." Follow West Dakota.
Photographed by Oscar Ouk
Photo assistant: Alex Kalb
Austin Smith
Artist, He/Him
"Whenever I add anything onto my look, it's not usually to look better. When I first started to do makeup, I would always do bruises, or things that were kinda scary. So my idea of beauty has never really been the more straightforward view of it. I find beauty in whatever form I'm in. I do like being extra and putting on a show, and that does make me feel beautiful, but I also like being in the background too. My perception of beauty is that, literally, anyone can be beautiful. I'm drawn to people living whatever their fucked-up truth is. When you know that's their fucking tea, and you can tell, and they're living it, I love that. Whether it be splattering themselves with blood, whether it be staying up till 9:00 a.m. at a weird fucking goth rave -- just seeing people doing their shit is what I like." Follow Austin.
Photographed by Oscar Ouk
Photo assistant: Alex Kalb
Ita Segev
Performance Artist and Writer, She/Her
"There was a moment where the 'mones and the hair settled, where beauty became this thing that the world very much responded to, which was not like my experience growing up at all. And suddenly it became this thing that I have to navigate -- my relationship with beauty. There was a moment where it had a lot to do with visibility. I knew I would be stared at, and a lot of it is, 'Well, I'll give you something to look at.' And now, it's more about how I want to be seen, and also a lot about labor. The whole idea of trans women working and stunting is exhausting because all the labor is on us. So, I'm navigating that currently, and just how to feel good when I wake up in the morning and not five hours later when I tuck, pluck, and re-arrange." Follow Ita.
Photographed by Oscar Ouk
Photo assistant: Alex Kalb
Merlot
Musician, They/Them
"I know a lot of people naturally feel beautiful without makeup, but beauty is in the routine for me. I like working through the makeup and playing with my look, changing my hair or eyebrow color. Once I'm done up in the look, I feel the most beautiful because I like the process of evolving. Beauty standards are such a strong narrative in the world, but I never paid attention to them. Not to say that I wasn't made to feel not beautiful, but it didn't affect me as much. I never agreed with the standard of beauty, so I never held myself to it. I never really wanted to look like what I saw on magazine covers. It's so hard to truly be unique because everything has been done before, but I appreciate people's ability to stick to their guns, own, and play up their individuality." Follow Merlot.
Photographed by Oscar Ouk
Photo assistant: Alex Kalb
Cody Jue
Model, He/Him
"I'm half-Chinese and my mom is Irish, I grew up in a small farming town, and I was one of the only Asian people at my high school. In line with representation in the media, I actually thought that, as an Asian man, I could never be considered beautiful. I didn't think it was an option for me. I'd come to terms with the idea that no one's ever going to find me attractive. Even when people started flirting with me, I never took it seriously. I always thought it was a joke. I really first started feeling it for myself when I discovered K-pop, because it was the first time I had exposure to Asian media and seeing Asian men touching on femininity and being glorified and having people screaming for them. It really expanded my mind. I used to think there was such a cookie-cutter definition of things that were beautiful and things that were not, and that's not the case at all. Anything can be beautiful in the right context." Follow Cody.
Photographed by Oscar Ouk
Photo assistant: Alex Kalb
Alok
Artist, They/Them
"When I get told that I'm beautiful from cis people, or that I'm strong or brave, I kind of just roll my eyes. It doesn't mean a thing. But when other transfeminine people tell me that I'm beautiful, it means something really different. I've put a lot more in finding affirmation in people who actually understand the context of my struggle versus people who just want to set it aside. When I first moved to New York and I had the opportunity to connect with other trans women or transfeminine people of color, and they were like, 'Oh, you're beautiful,' beauty wasn't about passing or even my physical experiences -- it was about my energetic presence. That was the first time I really started to feel it." Follow Alok.
Photographed by Oscar Ouk
Photo assistant: Alex Kalb
Serena Tea
Model and Drag Queen, She/Her
"I feel the most beautiful before I leave my house; that's when the fantasy is at its fullest. All the validation I'm receiving is coming from myself rather than other people at my gig saying I look so good. I spent so long creating something, and that's the best it's going to look -- later on in the night my eyebrows are going to start lifting, my wig is gonna get all messy and ratty. It took me a while to see myself as beautiful. Even to this day, I don't always see it. I'm very hard on myself, which helps me sometimes. It's gotten me to where I am today. If someone is feeling their fantasy, you can always tell. If someone feels beautiful, you can't tell them anything -- they're beautiful. Beauty doesn't always have to be polished; it can be messy and personal. Honesty is beautiful. Vulnerability is beautiful. My drag name is a pun...on serenity, so when I see serenity in other people -- that's really special." Follow Serena.
Photographed by Oscar Ouk
Photo assistant: Alex Kalb
Cherry Jaymes
Artist, She/Her
"The first time I said I was beautiful and actually felt it (and wasn't just something rolling off my shoulders) was probably when I started estrogen -- just because it's the rush that goes through you. In the moment, you're like, 'Oh my god, I'm feeling my oats.' The femininity jumped out. I really lived for myself for the first time. And even with this huge journey ahead of me, I'm beautiful and I know that now. And I'm only going to get to know that even more as time goes on. My sister -- whom I grew up with -- we're the only two queer ladies of the family. One night when I started transitioning she saw how happy I was (even though she wasn't on board with it at first). She told me that I was beautiful. It was the first time that it actually struck my heart and a nerve where I was just like, 'If someone I look up to and admire so much can believe in me and think that I'm beautiful, then I believe that I can do that." So now I'm just hot shit.' Follow Cherry.
Photographed by Oscar Ouk
Photo assistant: Alex Kalb
