Teen Vogue’s special cover star Vivian Wilson sat down with our favorite drag queen’s favorite drag queen Sasha Colby to discuss chosen families, the art of drag, being trans, and much more in the latest episode of our YouTube series “FaceTime.”
“Drag has always been a mirror to pop culture,” even long before it entered the mainstream, says Colby, who was crowned winner of season 15 of RuPaul’s Drag Race in 2023. As the two reflect on coming into their own and navigating hate — especially online — Wilson says that watching Colby’s and other queens’ performances helped her throughout her years as a shy and anxious high schooler. Now, Wilson is unabashedly herself, unaffected by internet trolls and negative comments. “After you get dragged across burning coals, being dragged across normal coals is a massage,” the 21-year-old jokes.
Watch the full conversation below.
Though the two have their unique relationships to drag, to say it’s been influential to their lives is an understatement. Colby reflects on how it brought her out of her struggle with addiction and how she quit cold turkey after landing a gig at The Baton. For Wilson, it has transformed her perception of gender expression and gave her confidence in her femininity. “Watching people like you…was kind of life-changing,” she admits to Colby.
“You can be a trans woman and also do drag. You can wear suits, you can wear tuxedos,” Wilson adds. To viewers and performers alike, the liberation and sense of community that drag brings reverberates throughout Wilson and Colby’s conversation.
In the episode, Vivian Wilson also notes that being on the Teen Vogue cover “changed [her] life.” She has since starred in campaigns for Tomboyx and Wildfang, made her debut drag performance, and cemented herself as a Gen Z icon. Read the cover story here.
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