LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Drag queens have been a part of Las Vegas entertainment for nearly 100 years.
For one local drag queen, she marches to her own beat in high heels and a tiara that she can't hear.
From the performances to the music, dress and makeup, drag is giving many like Jolene Secrets the chance to truly express herself.
"I just want to be who we are," Secrets said. "People all over the world, they need to be who they are, and so for me, Jolene Secrets, I am drag."
Secrets lives in Las Vegas and has been performing for the last seven years, but she has another story to tell.
She was born fully deaf. She says being deaf never gets in the way of her performances. She practices in front of the mirror using the vibrations of the music to help guide her, singing the lyrics of the song as she performs.
She communicated with KTNV anchor, Abel Garcia through her friend and interpreter, Penny McGee. She is a child of deaf adults, also known as CODA.
"For me, I feel like I can show people that anybody who has disabilities or handicaps or hard of hearing or deaf or any other kind of disability all over the world can do the same thing," Secrets said.
Secrets was born in Guam and raised in a military family. She says being openly gay or lesbian was not common. Her family was always supportive, but it was not until she found drag that she was truly able to express who she was.
"I felt warm and then it just picked up really fast," she said. "And I just want to show people that they can do the same thing, you know, like, just be like me."
When Secrets is not performing in drag, she is a sous chef at a local senior living home taking care of people and spending her time volunteering with Las Vegas PRIDE.
For her contributions, she was crowned as Miss Las Vegas PRIDE in 2022.
"I felt I had encouragement from friends and socializing," she said. "That made me feel so much better and blessed with my own self that I wanted to be a Miss Las Vegas PRIDE."
Secrets says she is honored to hold this title, with it she is working to create more events and spaces for people with disabilities like herself for expression.
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"Whether you're hearing or deaf, it doesn't matter," she said. "The important thing is just to love each other."
Secrets worries about the current backlash with drag queens in our nation right now.
Montana is the first state to ban people dressed in drag from reading books to children at public schools and libraries. Other states are considering similar laws.
Secrets says now is the time to step up and make sure that love wins over hate.
"I really, really just love people and I love children," she said. "And anybody that makes you happy, reading books, telling them stories, making them happy, making the children love their face and who they really are on the inside, you know, that we're the same."
Whether it's performing in drag or participating in a PRIDE parade, Secrets says it is critical to always make sure to be yourself.
"You just got to have love," she said. "You got to be you, got to love each other and support the people that do support you. You were born that way as a baby, and that's who you are."
