Queer Joy Interview #12: KayCee Counts
I met with KayCee Counts (any pronouns) in Longview, TX on 1/19/25 to talk about mental health, drag kings, and being the author of two LGBT+ books!
“Queer joy is being yourself, being able to live as yourself, and expressing yourself- whether it's through clothing, hairstyles, or if it's in your day to day actions. Whatever makes you happy without causing harm to other people.
My passion for expression and advocating through art, dance, and theater is a big part of who I am. I was a dancer and cheerleader my whole life. I didn't know really about being a drag king until I came out and my friends said, “You need to start watching The L Word” and there's a season where they really focus on the drag community. I was like, “Oh, you can be a drag king. I didn't know this world existed.” So I was able to combine my two passions of dancing and performing, and I got to perform in a different persona.
The drag community welcomed me with open arms and my drag mom eventually adopted me. I got to perform in a way that you traditionally don't get to when you're doing dance or cheerleading in school. I got to do my own choreography and interpret things the way that I wanted to. I wanted to open people's eyes to seeing situations differently to how they think they might happen; their thoughts about a situation versus actually seeing it or really knowing it. I had one performance where I performed a domestic violence situation; there are so many misconceptions about those situations. So being able to bring attention to those kinds of things is important to me.
There are kids books that talk about diversity and same sex families, but there's not really something for adults that are coming into the community, who are just now coming out and learning about themselves. My first book is The ABCs of Gender and Sexual Identities, and it is a handbook that provides an intro into different terms. There are so many different identities, so trying to put yourself under one category is difficult. This book is for learning, adventuring out, and realizing that you don't have to identify as one identity and your identity changes throughout your entire lifetime.
My second book is the ABCs of Pride Flags and it goes through the history and meaning of the flags. There's more than just the rainbow flag and I don't think a lot of people realize that, so when you dive into it there are so many different styles of flags and they all represent different things.
I had a booth at Pride this past year and it was one of those surreal moments being at Pride, having these books, and being part of the change was a really cool experience.”
-KayCee (any pronouns)
Buy KayCee’s books! The ABC’s of Pride Flags and The ABC’s of Gender and Sexual Identities
