Sasha Colby looks back on the moments that shaped her career and reflects on her journey to finding her "safe place" in the industry. From getting her start in beauty pageants to becoming a legend after her historic 'Drag Race' win, Sasha breaks down some of the most memorable highlights from her life.
Photos courtesy of:
Chris Nightingale
Kristofer Reynolds
Clint Clark
Preston Meneses
Photos courtesy of:
Chris Nightingale
Kristofer Reynolds
Clint Clark
Preston Meneses
Category
š ļø
LifestyleTranscript
00:00 Everyone's like, "What is one advice you could give someone who wants to break into drag?"
00:03 Do it.
00:04 Do it when you're not good.
00:06 Do it at the clubs and embarrass yourself in front of everyone and you get red and that's
00:10 how you figure it out.
00:11 We only read the ones we love, darling.
00:14 Hey, I'm Sasha Colby and today I'm taking a look back at some of the moments that have
00:19 shaped my career and my identity.
00:23 This is Becoming Sasha Colby.
00:28 It kind of came naturally, I guess you could say, to someone like me.
00:34 It was kind of my first therapy or safe space to go to.
00:39 Being more than half Hawaiian, I don't look it.
00:42 So already being queer, very flamboyantly feminine, being light-skinned, and then a
00:49 weird church kid.
00:53 School was like a minefield for me, I must say.
00:57 Being queer, you find your friends, you find the other queer kids and the allies.
01:02 I had so many girls that allowed me to live a girl experience and we would play pretend
01:08 or dress up on the jungle gym.
01:10 We would play Sailor Moon and I got to be Sailor Venus.
01:13 So I was already finding my space that allowed people to let me feel the most comfortable
01:18 in my skin.
01:20 The first experience of understanding my transness would have to be in high school.
01:24 I never really had a coming out.
01:26 I was closeted because of religion and then immediately I would say, "I'm going to be
01:30 a girl" as soon as I graduated high school.
01:32 But the reason why I knew that I wanted to so quickly was I met my drag mom, who's an
01:38 amazing trans woman, and her friends, who are now my drag aunties, my trans aunties.
01:44 It was those women that I got to see have healthy relationships with their families
01:49 and with significant others.
01:50 They had a career and they were functioning people in society, which is not what the media
01:56 or the government likes to paint for us.
01:59 So when I realized that there was a really safe space and you could still be successful,
02:06 I was like, "Sign me up."
02:08 The wild thing is that drag and me transitioning were hand in hand.
02:14 It kind of happened all in the same time.
02:16 I grew up in the dance studio, so I was dancing in high school.
02:19 And that was my gay awakening.
02:21 I met my first friends, who are still my friends to this day.
02:24 They showed me my first drag show, which happened to be mostly trans performers in them, which
02:31 is very common in Hawaii.
02:32 So really transitioning and doing drag kind of all flowed together from my experience.
02:42 So like I said, I was in dance and we were always down for a good competition.
02:48 We actually used to dance for the Miss Hawaii pageants.
02:51 And I found that pageants, because before Drag Race, if you wanted to be in the drag
02:57 world and make a living, you had to do pageants.
02:59 So I found that as my way to still be able to perform and use all the things that I learned
03:05 through dance while still maintaining my queerness.
03:11 I soon after ran for Miss Hawaii Continental, was my first prelim for Miss Continental.
03:17 I was 21 years old, brand new baby, and was able to win the prelim and then go to the
03:25 nationals where I placed fifth place, which is insane for the first-timer and so young.
03:33 I did make quite a bit of waves there.
03:36 And that kind of just gave me a lot of momentum to have a lot of eyes on me.
03:40 And I'm a Leo, so I like them.
03:42 I like an audience.
03:43 Okay, let's keep going.
03:45 Period.
03:51 Walking into the workroom was wild because it's like drag race.
03:55 You're turning that corner and then you feel people that are your fellow competitors and
04:02 your contemporaries and they already know who you are.
04:04 It makes you feel old.
04:06 That's what it makes me feel like.
04:09 Iconic, iconic.
04:11 When they call me legendary, that's just nice for old.
04:16 Your first entrance look is so important because that's kind of your brand.
04:22 It's like what your first snapshot if someone was to say, "Who are you?"
04:26 I'm the first native Hawaiian to ever get on the show, which is such an honor.
04:30 So for me to literally walk in with my ancestors, with these tattoos, I had the Hawaiian islands
04:37 actually on my thigh to show where I'm from.
04:40 In Hawaiian culture, we have a lot of tattoos and body tattoos and it usually marks a big
04:45 point in your life.
04:46 And the big thing with kanaka maoli, with Hawaiians, is that we mark those things as
04:53 a transition and knowing that we're always all in transition for our entire life.
04:57 And I thought that was really powerful for me as a trans person to put that out there.
05:01 I've been doing drag for about 22 years now and Drag Race has been on for about 15 seasons.
05:09 It felt really wild to watch your career that is your passion and also your therapist and
05:16 the love of your life and this really special queer thing to be celebrated and become a
05:24 monster in pop culture, much like myself.
05:28 I only auditioned once for Drag Race and we got on and we got to win.
05:34 And I just take that all as timing and I had to wait for a bit for my turn, for me to also
05:42 have life and live life a bit and have real life trauma and things that build your character
05:49 so that when I go on here, I knew it wasn't, don't take myself too seriously.
05:53 That's what Ru always says.
05:55 To get on, it was really because I saw my daughter, Carrie Colby, the season before
06:00 in season 14, she was the first person ever to walk in as a trans woman and not have to
06:08 come out on the show, which is really powerful and really beautiful to see my daughter just
06:13 blossom and be so hilarious.
06:18 And we're both Leos and I could not have her be the most famous Colby, so I had to audition.
06:25 Sorry, Todd.
06:26 Actually, she was the one, she's like, "Ma, they want you.
06:31 Just submit."
06:32 And I have a hard time submitting.
06:36 By the filming of Finale, it became not about me.
06:39 It became about what was going on in the world at that time and the crazy rhetoric going
06:46 around about trans people and drag queens and wanting to eradicate us.
06:52 I could not actually even focus on the finale and trying to win a competition.
06:57 I was focused about our livelihood and I was actually really angry about it.
07:03 What is the best form of protest?
07:05 Drag.
07:06 So I figured I would use myself as a protest and do what naturally comes to me, saying
07:14 F off naked to the people.
07:19 So I am going on tour on my first nationwide one-woman show.
07:26 And I just had a really good time this past year.
07:30 I had a really great reign and I'm enjoying all the perks.
07:35 But really what I want to do with this privilege and platform is do my art and create.
07:44 And a lot of people just think that this just happened.
07:46 I just came out as mother.
07:48 But there are so many people that mothered me and gave me all the knowledge that I can
07:53 be able to be successful and of use now.
07:56 And I really want to pay honor to that.
07:58 And I really want to honor the new generation of drag in whatever shape and form that is.
08:04 And I'm actually having an open call for all those 22 cities.
08:08 If you're a local drag performer up and coming, have not been on stage very often, have not
08:12 had opportunities to do drag in your city, here's a chance for you to perform with me
08:19 on my own tour looking for drag kings, looking for non-binary, looking for AFAB queens, looking
08:24 for everyone.
08:25 I want to see good drag.
08:30 I love telling stories and that's what I hope to be doing 5, 10, 20 years from now, hopefully
08:36 with a few awards.
08:38 But really just being able to use this opportunity to be that little kid again.
08:44 That little kid who locked herself up in her room, in her bathroom and got into drag without
08:49 even knowing that it would save her life a few times.
08:52 It would give her a life and a career and allow a lot of people through my pain and
08:58 queerness to relate to me and feel empowered after watching me.
09:02 If I could go back in time, I would say, "Sugar!
09:06 Honey!
09:07 You did it, babe."
09:08 Well everyone, thank you so much for hanging out with me today.
09:11 This has been Becoming Sasha Colby.
09:14 (whooshing)
09:17 [BLANK_AUDIO]