Flame has been a Queens resident for the last 20 years. Born in Ecuador and raised in Yonkers, they moved to Queens to find safety in community and allies. Aside from being a talented hair stylist/colorist making house calls all over the New York City area, specializing in gender affirming cuts and styles, they also work as a drag storyteller with Drag Artists for Expression, formerly Drag Story Hour NYC, help­ing empower and inspire LGBT youth.

In their downtime, Flame loves to stay home and cuddle with their four dogs and three cats and go on international adventures. Their goal is to be a world traveler, so far having visited 120 countries. They also love to learn foreign languages and try exotic cuisines, their favorites being Asian and African.

NB: Other than the amazing diversity, what do you love most about living in Queens (or Queens in general)? How has Queens changed over the years?

FLAME: So I moved to Queens to be in a safe environment first and foremost. I grew up in Yonkers/Bronx and later moved to Inwood and Bed-Stuy before settling in Queens and I have never felt safer, happier, and more comfortable as a queer per­son and nonbinary person who often sticks out in a crowd and can be made an easy target to homopho­bic and transphobic violence, as I often had been in the past before moving to Queens.

 

 

I feel like it’s only gotten more progressive, more queer-friendly, and more migrant friendly throughout the years and I’ve seen many new LGBT organiza­tions spring up which makes me very happy.

NB: How does Queens inspire you? What are some of your favorite places to be inspired in Queens?

FLAME: Queens has always inspired me, not just because of its diversity but because of how everyone from different cultural backgrounds, reli­gions, genders, all can live harmoniously in peace here. I have not seen that anywhere else I’ve lived.

Some of my favorite places in Queens starting from west to east are Gantry Plaza in Long Island City. I love to go relax, read a book, and catch a tan here in the summer. I love Sunnyside, Woodside, and Jackson Heights for strolling, dog parks, and they seem to have a great food scene especially Jackson Heights. I love Corona and Flushing as well for an authentic Mexican, Ecuadorian, Asian experience. Basically, everywhere off the 7 train lol.

But I do sometimes work in Jamaica which is nice too for strolling and a good Jamaican/Caribbean scene as well.

NB: What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

FLAME: Some of the best advice I have re­ceived is: “what other people think of me is none of my business.” I had to learn to just be myself and love myself in a world that constantly tries to make us ashamed of who we are, too tall, too short, too thin, too heavy, too dark, too light, too queer, what­ever it may be.

Point is, no one else’s opinion matters but your own so just be you, do things that make YOU happy and make YOU proud of yourself and eventually that leads to learning to love yourself. And that makes it that much easier to drown out the haters.

NB: What are your favorite queer spaces or communities in Queens? Favorite places to perform?

FLAME: Some of my favorite community spaces in Queens are ACQC Woodside. They have an office in Jamaica and Rockaway as well. Some­times they host inclusive meet-up events for every­one and are very LGBT inclusive. They work helping migrants and people living with HIV gain access to free resources and I’m proud to say I work with them from time to time to help better the com­munity.

I also really like Colectivo Intercultural Trans­geriendo, who provides free resources specifically for trans Latinx community members. Astoria LGBT Network is also a wonderful community space that hosts fun events like game nights, movie nights, and support circles. It’s a wonderful, fun, safe, and sober space to meet other members of the LGBT commu­nity and they offer a youth program also, wonderful for teens looking for resources.

NB: What do you wish more people knew about being a drag artist and hair stylist?

FLAME: I really enjoy being a drag artist and a hair stylist because I get to fully express myself and honestly, I got into it for those selfish reasons but I quickly realized that I can use these platforms to also make others happy and that has been the most re­warding part of it all.

NB: Can you tell us more about being a world traveler and visiting 120 countries?

FLAME: Being a gig worker has also provided me with the freedom to travel and see the world. Having now been able to travel and meet so many people all over the world, I’ve never felt more con­nected to others and to the world we live in and I have learned how similar we really are while the things that separate us (race, gender, orientation, re­ligion, ethnicity, social class) they are all superficial.

In the end we all want to live and love freely, be loved and be happy. That’s it. We only have one life to live so make it a good one.

If you’d like to see some of their work as a drag artist or as a hair stylist, please follow Flame­HairNYC on all social media including Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.

—Nicollette Barsamian

For the complete story, visit QGazette.com.

The Local-Express interview series was origi­nated on July 3, 2013 by Nicollette Barsamian.