But I've always been very strong-willed. Even though I knew I was different, I stayed very firm in just being me. Something that my mom would say all the time growing up — and I don't even think she realized — was, "Oh, Jaren, boys don't talk like that." "Boys don't stand like that.” Boys don't do this and boys don't do that. She was basically saying that some things that came very naturally to me were qualities that were only to be exhibited by a girl. That was really confusing, because it never really felt like it was so black and white, so this or that. I just felt like I was being me. Those were some of the first signs at a young age that I knew that my personal feelings about gender didn't quite fit into the status quo.

There's a quote from Darnell Moore's “No Ashes in the Fire” that resonates with what you're saying. He says that claiming ourselves is “a quest for history, because we come to be the people we are within the context of a larger world ruled by powerful, insidious forces.” How did you come to define your own identity in opposition to those forces?

Drag was me embracing the feminine, and in typical masculine culture, that's treason. Why would you want to give up the privilege given to you by being born male? That was really frightening to me. I felt really vulnerable because I remember saying to a friend before I even ventured into drag, "I feel like I have this feminine personality that lives inside of me, and I just really wish that I could let her out." Even using a feminine pronoun when referring to myself in drag, that was something that felt really radical to me at the time, when I was 21 or 22.

It was through drag that I really started to understand that I have feelings that don't necessarily lean toward what is considered stereotypically male, but I also have feelings that are very much what some would consider to be masculine. I thought, "My duality exists within who I am as Jaren and then who I perform as as Shea," but as I continue to do drag, the difference between the two isn't [so divided]. Shea is a part of me and very much who I am. The only difference is that I put on makeup and a wig.

Something that I'm learning to do more with my drag and my art is to lift the veil of drag culture as a parody or an impersonation. I'm using it as an opportunity to give people a deeper look into me and who I am.

How has coming out as non-binary changed your approach to drag?

It hasn't changed my approach to drag at all. If anything, it gives me more freedom to not think in binary terms about my work. In so many ways, drag is a visual artform. You hide this because that makes you look masculine. You amp that up because it makes you look more feminine. You go to the gym, and you only do cardio because muscles will make you look masculine. But recently I've gotten really into weightlifting, and I realized there's nothing wrong with that. Think about women like Serena Williams. She has a really powerful body and one that some might think is masculine, but there's something beautifully feminine about how powerful it is.

That started to change my outlook. I allowed myself to develop a different gym routine and not care if my biceps got bigger. Because so what? I am who am I am. It's given me a certain sense of relief to not try and fit into such a specific mold in my drag.

"RuPaul's Drag Race" has sometimes been criticized for a lack of non-binary representation. For instance, there has yet to be a bearded drag queen on the show. What do you think the program could do to expand opportunities for drag queens who identify outside gender norms?

I think they need to stop worrying about whether or not the fans are ready, because I think they are. I understand that the show’s viewership has gotten much younger as the franchise has grown. The creators of the show, they have family and young kids and there are things I feel like they think could potentially be confusing, but I don't think it's too hard to explain that there are many different people of different gender identities that perform in drag. If they were to open up and give those individuals opportunities, that would help solidify the entire concept that “we're all born naked and the rest is drag.” Drag comes in so many different types of forms, and we have to be open to giving opportunities to everybody — because we really could be shutting out amazing talent.