In the latest episode of Teen Vogue’s FaceTime YouTube series, trans icon and Drag Race winner Sasha Colby linked up with cover star Vivian Wilson for a deeply personal conversation about drag, resilience, and flipping the bird to online hate. What started as a heart-to-heart quickly turned into a masterclass on authenticity, with a few laughs (and some truth bombs) along the way.
From Healing to Heels: Colby’s Journey Through Drag
For Sasha Colby, drag has never just been about rhinestones and runway walks. It was the lifeline that pulled her out of addiction. She opened up about hitting a turning point when she booked a show at Chicago’s legendary club The Baton.
“I quit everything the day I got that call,” Colby shared. “It was like a divine intervention in a pair of heels.”
That moment marked the start of a new chapter, one where performance didn’t just entertain, it empowered. For Colby, drag was both a career and a form of spiritual realignment.
Wilson on Drag, Femininity, and Finding Her Power
For model and Gen Z trailblazer Vivian Wilson, drag was less about escaping and more about arriving, as in, arriving into her femininity, her power, and her identity.
“I used to be this anxious little fem boy,” she said, describing her high school years. “Watching drag, watching people like you, gave me a reason to believe in myself.”
Since then, Wilson has leaned fully into her gender expression, her voice, and her refusal to be silenced. Drag didn’t just affirm her identity, it built it.
A Masterclass in Not Caring What the Right Thinks
Colby, no stranger to right-wing backlash herself, asked Wilson how she stays so composed under public scrutiny. The answer? Radical indifference.
“If conservatives are talking about me, they’re making money off my name,” Wilson said bluntly. “They should be thanking me. You’re welcome.”
She went on to explain that tuning out the noise is a skill that comes with time, and trauma. “Once you’ve been dragged across burning coals, regular coals feel like a spa treatment.”
Colby laughed, admitting the quote alone “just saved me ten years of therapy.”
Drag as Chosen Family and Cultural Resistance
Beyond the jokes, both women returned to a shared truth: drag is family. Whether it’s the sisterhood on stage, the mentors who light the way, or the audience members quietly finding courage in the crowd, the drag community offers more than sparkle, it offers survival.
“You can be a trans woman and still wear a tux, or a ballgown, or both,” Wilson said. “Drag taught me there’s no wrong way to be me.”
Colby nodded in agreement. “That’s what we’ve always done. Show people what’s possible.”
The Future Looks Fierce
Since her Teen Vogue cover debut, Wilson’s star has only risen, with campaigns for Wildfang and Tomboyx under her belt, plus a debut drag performance that solidified her status as a Gen Z icon. But it’s her candid honesty and fearless outlook that will likely leave the biggest impact.
Their ‘FaceTime’ chat wasn’t just a moment, it was a movement in miniature, proving once again that drag, in all its glittering defiance, remains one of the most radical forms of joy.
