A special collaborative event with Indigenous Drag Story Hour!

Joining us for this extra special story hour is Lady Shug, reader with the Indigenous Drag Story Hour chapter.

Lady Shug is a proud Indigenous drag artist, born for the Diné (Navajo) Nation, raised in the Four Corners area of New Mexico. Lady Shug has been entertaining audiences for over 11+ years, beginning her career with nightly performances on the Las Vegas Strip. Recently, Lady Shug felt called to return home to the Navajo Reservation and now lives along the Arizona-New Mexico border. As a community activist, Lady Shug works with grassroots collectives to fight for equal rights for her 2SLGBTQ+ Indigenous relatives living in rural areas and on reservations that have long denied them equal treatment. Lady Shug uses her platform to connect her passions for drag and activism to raise awareness and stand in solidarity with social movements.

In and out of drag, Shug uses both voices to challenge and make change for inclusion, acceptance, decolonization – always within the frame of indigenous resistance. Shug then gained the skills necessary to organize in the four corners area – and from this work, the #ShugChallenge was born. The #ShugChallenge is a mutual aid program that supports the border towns and communities within and alongside their reservation – relatives and folks who are forgotten in the main spectrum of living can find services and support through the #ShugChallenge. 

She was the first drag artist to host a pop-up powwow in Bentonville, AR with Live in America. Lady Shug was recently featured in the Emmy awarded series HBO’s We’re Here, featuring RuPaul’s Drag Race alumni Bob the Drag Queen, Shangela, and Eureka. Currently, Lady Shug is touring the US & international territories Landa Lakes on the all-Indigenous LaLa Land Back tour #LaLaLandBack Tour.

Drag Story Hour (DSH) is just what it sounds like...

...drag performers reading stories to children in libraries, schools, and bookstores. DSH captures the imagination and play of the gender fluidity of childhood and gives kids glamorous, positive, and unabashedly queer role models. In spaces like this, kids are able to see people who defy rigid gender restrictions and imagine a world where people can present as they wish, where dress up is real. 

Emoji Nightmare and Katniss Everqueer, two of Vermont's favorite queer performing artists, will be sure to delight and captivate audience members of all ages as they share stories focused on individuality, activism, gender, creativity, expression, and social responsibility. 

DSH was created by Michelle Tea and RADAR Productions in San Francisco in 2015. The Vermont Chapter of DSH was created by Emoji Nightmare and Nikki Champagne in 2017. In 2021, Emoji joined the national board of directors for DSH. For more information on DSH, visit DragStoryHour.org.