Cumberland, Maryland: Once the “Queen City”, second only to Baltimore for its size and importance in the state. Cumberland is now half of its peak population and hosts some of the worst crime, addiction, and poverty statistics in the state and the region.

Ember Sparxxx performs during Cumberland Pride 2018. What started out as a small gathering, led by the drag community, has now grown to be the largest Pride event in the region.

Maxine Oracle poses near the railroad tracks in Cumberland, MD, historically a hub of industrial transportation, moving coal and other resources to cities on the coast. Maxine is one of the only queens of color in an overwhelmingly white region. She has never won the Queens of Queen City Pageant. “I’m not drag enough, you know. I am pretty. My drag is pretty. I kind look kind of like a girl, and I think they just want to see men on the stage. You know?”

Claire, Mary Jane, and Aradia cool off in a local swimming hole outside of Cumberland, MD. “I grew up outside.” Says Aradia. “I am just as country as anybody is.”

A sign along Interstate 68 near Cumberland, MD. Several churches in the region have hosted online and in-person protests at drag shows, including a recent ‘pray it away’ event.

Christian Diane performs at a drag pageant. Christian, now 60, is a matriarch and a pioneering elder of the drag community. “I try to help out the newcomers, you know,” says Christian, “because it’s hard. It’s hard when you start out. There weren’t many of us when I started, so we helped each other. But I didn’t want drag daughters, because sometimes they can be a real pain the ass.”

French Silk stitches a drag outfit at their mother’s home in West Virginia, just over the Potomac River from Cumberland, MD. “My mom and my grandma are my biggest supporters.” She says. “They’ve been with me and behind me all along. They come out to my shows. I couldn’t do it without them.”

Iva Fetish examines the burnt remains of the shed where they stored their drag outfits behind their home. Iva and their two husbands have received many threats over the years, including threats to “burn them in their home”. They were awakened by the flames at two in the morning and were able to stop the fire before it was able to spread further. All of their drag supplies were destroyed.

Maxine Oracle performs at the Embassy Theatre in downtown Cumberland. For over two decades the theatre has provided a haven for the queer community and was the host of the annual Queens of Queen City Drag Pageant. Due to funding, understaffing, and intra-community conflict, the pageant no longer exists, and the community has had to move the show elsewhere.

Aradia points to a tattoo in remembrance of lost friends. Cumberland has addiction, poverty, and suicide rates substantially higher than the Maryland and the national average. “Mental health problems seem to affect so many people here. We’ve lost so many people, especially in the queer community. I just want to tell them that they are not fucking alone. Even if the family that you were born into doesn’t love you it doesn’t mean you can’t have family. You just have to find them. You have to find who can accept you.”

Christian Diane at a drag event on a farm near Cumberland, MD. “I’ve been through a lot, over the years. My partner got out of jail just the other day and tried to come to my house to get back with me. But I know the drugs will just put him on the street again. So, I turned him away. But you know, you live you just got to keep going on. I'm a survivor. I've survived a lot. You just got to find your bliss, find your friends, find your cat, find out what makes you happy. This makes me happy.”

Envy Divine at their home. Behind them hang several sexual identify flags, including: Intersex, Non-Binary, BLM Solidarity, and Transgender.

Tyred Banks, a drag queen who is new to the scene performs during a back yard event in Cumberland, MD. Local churches had threatened to attend and protest, but nobody showed up.

French Silk poses in a practice bow hunting range on an unoccupied floor of a commercial building near Cumberland. “This place is as country as it gets. Pretty much everyone that I knew growing up went hunting. It never seemed like the kind of place where different sexual identities and things like drag could ever exist. It still blows my mind that this is happening here. But I am proud that it is. I am proud to be a part of this.”

Mary Jane jumps in at a local swimming hole. “Bitch, hold my Natty Lite.”

Iva Fetish blow dries their nails during a drag pageant at the Embassy Theatre in Cumberland, MD. “I'm dirty Queen.” She says. “I'm a dirty girl. I’m not like one of these pretty things here.” She says, pointing towards the pictures on the wall. “It’s ok though honey, I love myself anyway. I embrace my bad side.”

Partners, Claire and Mary Jane. Claire is new to the drag scene

Mona Lott goes shopping for drag gear at the local Good Will, a shot spot for cheap drag finds. Mona was raised on a farm nearby as a Mennonite. She jokes, “The only thing left of me from my upbringing is that I still like three men a night.”

Maxine Oracle by the train tracks near their childhood home.20. Maxine Oracle by the train tracks near their childhood home. “Sometimes this can feel very lonely. It can be lonely to be this different. Having a community like this one helps with that. We hold each other up. We keep each other accountable. We love each other for who we are. Sometimes there is drama, but we get through it. This is how we survive.”

The chaos of drag, behind the scenes.

Aradia LaFay poses in the forest near an abandoned plastics factory in Cumberland, MD. Aradia was once in the military (like her father) and now incorporates camouflage into their drag. “I've been told my whole life I was straight. But I started to accept more of my homosexual side when I was an Army. Whatever I am, it's not straight, you know, but I like a lot of things. And the Army just kind of forced me to see it. Now this town sees me. They know me.”

Tyred Banks performs for a holiday show at a converted barn near Cumberland.

A sign near Cumberland, MD.

Tyred Banks adjusts their breasts before a performance. “The hardest things to get right are the hips and the tits.”

Ember Sparxxx at a drag event in a café in Cumberland, MD.

Christian Diane peaks out through a window at The Safe Space, a new LGBTQ safe house and resource center in Cumberland, MD. Protesters had threatened to show up to a gathering at the house. Some had threatened violence. “For the most part, nothing ever happens.” says Christian, “These people are cowards. But just knowing that the threat is always there, that anything could happen at any time, that is hard to deal with. It keeps you up at night. I brought a knife to my first drag show. I was so scared. Things are better now. But you never know. That is what they want. They want to keep you afraid.”

Haley Hemorrhoid, the winner of the 2022 Pride Queen award, poses in downtown Cumberland, near to the site of a cluster of now abandoned textile factories.

A mattress on a floor in a drag queen’s home. “We don’t have much, but we’re happy.” They say. Months after this photo was taken, one of the housemates relapsed into addiction and began stealing from their housemates. The drag queens fled and moved into a motel.

Haley Hemorrhoid poses with an American Flag. “This is us, babe. This is who we are.”