Beyond the Red Door is a collection of wisdom and photos of queers in the High Country of North Carolina. Created in March 2024, this collection of stories wishes to connect those who need to be connected, and to interrogate the notion of the word ‘queer.’
There is so much we feel we cannot share in this modern day - still after the Stonewall uprisings, legislation changes, and seemingly capitalistic acceptance, queer people are still silenced. However, we deeply need one another’s support to feel real - to feel protected.
We exist in the shallows and in the depths of society and I aim to represent that in this book, unveiling what is so natural and honest about queerness, it being a normal part of humanity.
I desire for people of all the intersections of queerness and other identities to surface and step forward, and to allow me to shed light on their existence.
I ask the viewers of this book to broaden their definition of queer into a place of connecting with every version of oneself. To understand the restraints of the gender binary and rigid sexuality. To commune, communicate, express, and free one another. To give permission for a free world of which we are all deserving.
Link to purchase a hard copy from Lulu.com above.
QUEER UNCHURCH
Em, she/her ~ Leo
Grapes, they/them ~ Scorpio
Em and Grapes are the coordinators of Queer Unchurch, a group that started because of a missing sense of queer spiritual community. The meetings began in December 2023, created with themes such Chosen Family, or Celebration of the Divine Feminine and Divine Masculine, and has brought in different pillars of the community such as High Country Movement Collective, local musicians, and drag families.
Em defines queer as “changing the word from meaning sex and gender extends the definition to anything outside patriarchal, capitalistic norms. My thesis is about queering church - taking church as such a patriarchal, heteronormative, capitalist structure and flipping it on its head and doing something that counters the institution.”
CALLUM CONCLAN
they/he ~ Libra/ cusp Virgo
Callum is a mud puppy, dirt person, and double major in geology and studio art ceramics. He has always been fascinated in how the world works and enjoys finding beauty in the way the world expresses itself. He had an uncle who was gay growing up, though queer wasn’t a word growing up. It was either lesbian or gay - it took them a while to understand that “binaries are stupid.” He’s 25 and originally from Northern Virginia.
Callum identifies as a nonbinary trans man, and has transitioned to be more masculine than when they were born. He says, “the old me is not dead, they did their best, and they’re the reason I’m here - even if they don’t exist in the forefront of who I am. This is something that is deeply different with every trans person. I feel comfortable saying that I used to be a girl, I was a weird little girl!- and I grew up to be a weird little man, but I’m so much happier now.”
QUEER: ‘Contentious, many people still think of it as a slur; it depends on the environment you’re in.
‘Someone else doesn’t get to dictate how I live my life, and it’s called ‘queer theory’... I’m not using it to disrupt people. I’m using it to describe myself. It’s retaining its roots in being something different, strange, abnormal - and there’s nothing inherently wrong with it, and there’s solace in finding others like that. What makes us different must be celebrated.”
HAUS OF LIQUEUR
Bubbles, any pronouns ~ Missy V, they/them ~ Jo Lean, she/they, Brandi Maxx, she/they ~ Lil Tito, he/they
Based out of Boone, but performing all around North Carolina and beyond, the Haus of Liqueur is a drag family that began in Spring 2023. Started by Bubbles with great support from their fiancé Missy V., the two have curated a collective of artists and performers, their children, Lil Tito, Brandi Maxx, Jo Lean, and Rosebush. The group is full of gender non-conforming individuals that support alternative authentic expressions in and outside of performing. Getting together weekly has allowed bonds to form, connections to flourish, and familial relationships to grow.
Missy explains the culture a little bit, “that’s the thing about gay bitches - we all have five names.”
Upon asking who we are, Bubbles answers “Our collective is a drag family of gender non- conforming people who have a passion for performance, fashion, and expression.” As for the origin story; Bubbles/Donovan states, “It was me, Missy, and someone who doesn’t perform anymore sitting in a room deciding we wanted to team up as a group and be better. We all had a drive to do drag and wanted a group of performers who really honed their craft. Over the course of a couple weeks we had Tito and another join - and it just grew.”
“It was a pseudo confidence thing - we didn’t know how it would work but Bubbles just became a mom.” Missy chimes in.Bubbles continues, “I’ve been doing it for three years - I’m a covid queen. It was the blind leading the blind into doing drag.”