Man! Can you imagine being amazing? I’d love to be. Amazing things are the best:
The Amazing Spider-man.
Amazing Grace.
Captain Amazing in Mystery Men.
Perhaps you’ve heard of Desmond is Amazing — he’s been covered at RedState once before.
Otherwise known as Desmond Napoles, DIA is an 11-year-old drag queen from New York City, y’all.
As stated on his homepage, he’s come a long way:
“As a toddler and preschooler, he enjoyed playing dress up by taking bed sheets, towels, bubble wrap, his mother’s t-shirts, and anything else he could use to make his own outfits, dresses, and ‘wigs.’ He would endlessly clomp up and down the hallway in his mother’s high heels (and still does).
“At age six, Desmond expressed boundless joy when he received an Elsa costume from Disney’s movie Frozen for Halloween. After that, he often asked for princess costumes or dresses while out shopping. Soon, he often wanted to wear his dresses outside of the home.
“Desmond’s parents quickly and fortunately realized that the source of their uneasiness came not from Desmond’s personal choices, but from their own misgivings about how the outside world would react. It was as simple as defeating those feelings, accepting Desmond as he is, and respecting Desmond’s own tastes and preferences.”
Well, there ya go. Soon, life was a drag:
“[D]esmond also began to show an interest in performing in his own choice of outfits, often including dresses and wigs. His first big break came in 2014 when he was featured alongside the B-52’s lead singer, Fred Schneider, in RuPaul’s Drag Race season 5 winner Jinkx Monsoon’s music video for the song, ‘The Bacon Shake.’ This was Desmond’s first time playing a character in ‘drag’ and he loved it. It ignited a passion within him for entertaining others, as well as an understanding of how important it is for people of all ages to express themselves the way they want to.”
Incidentally, RuPaul is a very charismatic guy — intelligent, smart with his business, friendly, personable, and funny. And I like him.
But Desmond likes him in a different way.
“Desmond’s personal drag style has evolved over the years. Currently, he is most influenced by the colorful club kids of 1990s NYC nightlife, RuPaul and the queens of RuPaul’s Drag Race, the artists Andy Warhol and Keith Haring, the disco divas of the 1970s, fashion designers Alexander McQueen, Comme des Garçons, Vivienne Westwood, John Galliano, Thierry Mugler, and Betsey Johnson, and the Blitz Kids of 1980’s London.”
Just in case you’re wonderin’, he ain’t straight:
“[D]esmond is an unapologetic and outspoken openly gay youth. Around first grade, Desmond began having normal childhood crushes, not on girls, but on other boys.”
Being certain of who he is, Big D is fighting the good fight, to the tune of #Pride activism:
“In June 2017, Desmond attended the memorial rally at the Stonewall National Monument in remembrance of the victims of the Orlando Pulse shooting. Along with Studio 54 drag legend Dame Rollerena, he read several of the names of those who were killed. At the 2017 NYC Pride Rally, Desmond wrote and gave a speech about what Pride means to him.”
Mr. Amazing’s already rackin’ up awards:
“In July, he was the awarded the Marsha P. Johnson Don’t be Outraged, Be Outrageous Award – Marsha P. Johnson was a longtime activist for LGBT rights. … In his acceptance speech, Desmond thanked his mother, the House of UltraOmni, NYC Pride, and RuPaul.”
HuffPost LOVES Desmond is Amazing:
“As Pride month comes to a close, Desmond Is Amazing, the ten-year-old drag kid from New York, is proof that the future is queer. “
As Pride month comes to a close, Desmond Is Amazing, the ten-year-old drag kid from New York, is proof that the future is queer.
pic.twitter.com/6rLhs9qlIz
— HuffPost (@HuffPost) June 29, 2018
Well, here’s a reason for them to love him even more: in addition to his busy schedule as a gay and “drag kid” activist, amazing Desmond’s moved into anti-gun radicalism. That’s right — sometimes it isn’t enough to slap on some rouge, top yourself with a daffodil wig, and pull on a pleather polk-dotted sequined v-neck tapered blousy netted metallic backless cocktail dress; sometimes ya gotta rage against the 2nd Amendment.
Here’s Desmond’s Facebook post from Wednesday:
“Back to School fashion show/protest to show how ridiculous our level of gun violence is with back to school fashions reflecting our culture. Never again. Gays Against Guns”
And also:
“Repost from Gays Against Guns – THANK YOU to Desmond is Amazing and Susan Sarandon for participating in and supporting today’s action! And a special thanks to ALL of the participants, student and otherwise, and the organizers!!! We had students doing a Back to School fashion show/protest to show how ridiculous our level of gun violence is with back to school fashions reflecting our culture.”
Note the 11-year-old’s shirt: “Just f***ing Vote” — what once was a word worthy of congressional hearings with the PMRC is now to be plastered on the chest of a 5th grader.
Here’s a description of Gays Against Guns — otherwise known as GAG — from their website:
“Gays Against Guns NY is an inclusive direct action group of LGBTQ people and their allies committed to nonviolently breaking the gun industry’s chain of death—investors, manufacturers, the NRA and politicians who block safer gun laws. … GAG condemns white supremacy, all instances of excessive force by police, and police militarization.”
Do they really have to make sure everyone knows they’re not pro-white supremacy?
GAG further explains their…distaste…for guns:
“The epidemic of gun violence disproportionately affects LGBTQ people. Most gun deaths in the U.S. are suicides and LGBTQ people are overrepresented among suicide victims. LBG youth are 4 times more likely to attempt suicide than straight youth, 40% of transgender adults have attempted suicide and 92% of them attempted suicide by age 25 (The Trevor Project). Suicide attempts with guns are overwhelmingly lethal (Harvard School of Public Health).”
So…they’re trying to outlaw guns in order to keep themselves from killing themselves?
Whatever the implications, on September 11th, Desmond was amazing via anti-gun organization Change the Ref’s downtown “die-in” protest.
We’re living in a different time. When I was 11, being “active” meant playing outside. Today, it means cross-dressing and f***ing fighting against the Constitution. At least it does, apparently, if you’re Amazing.
Thank you for reading! What do you make of all of this? Please sound off in the Comments section below.
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And please read more — I’d be honored if you’d check out these three articles:
September 11th: Remembering Not Only Tragedy, but Something Greater
Maxine Waters Spills Out ‘Impeachment! Impeachment! Impeachment! Impeachment! Impeachment!’
Run for the Border? City in Mexico Legalizes Public Intercourse — and I Don’t Mean Conversation
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