Check Out Mario’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mario.

Hi Mario, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My name is Mario Wanna and I use He/They pronouns! But I wasn’t always this confident individual that you see before you today. Most of my life I lived in Colorado Springs, raised in an ultra conservative Christian (Nazarene) home. While being queer wasn’t blatantly said to be wrong it was the constant subtext growing up. I lived a very sheltered and restricted life as a child. Gender was a struggle for me. Since a very young age I was often asked “Are you a girl or a boy?” And this would always shake me. I spent so many nights staring at myself in the mirror wondering if I was put in the wrong body and wondering why people kept asking me that question. So I fully leaned in to hyperfeminine social standards in an attempt to be seen as my assigned gender. Gender stereotypes were very strictly enforced in my home. I was raised to believe that it was my responsibility to dress appropriately “not to cause my brothers to stumble”. Which looking back I see this as an extremely problematic and harmful view on bodies.

The way that religion was taught to me set me up to feel a lot of pressure and anxiety. Being told “god is always watching” “he knows your thoughts and even your thoughts can count as sin” it felt like a mental prison and like no matter what I did I was never good enough, never feminine enough, never Christian enough.

I did find peace in art and music. The church was my first stage and I always remember that singing on stage was one of the few times I felt “close to god”. I vividly remember the first musical I watched live was Suessical put on by the high school my older sister was at. Ever since that moment I too wanted to be on the stage. I joined choir and theatre when I was old enough and I loved the stage but this time rather than feeling close to god I felt close to myself. I met so many people and had friends who lived differently and opened up new perspectives on life and how to live. The stage felt like home and the theatre geeks were my family, people that didn’t make me feel guilty just for existing. But this caused internal conflict. ‘Why did I feel better around these people than I did amongst the church people and my own family?’

I always struggled with the hypocrisy in religion. The Bible would say not to gossip but that church was the place where I learned to gossip. They said to love thy neighbor but would bad mouth immigrants and people outside of their religion. I always wondered why they would tell us to be like Jesus but condemn so many around them while making excuses for the harmful behavior of men in the church.

It wasn’t until I left for college that I gained the freedom and space to begin to unlearn the toxic ideals that had been drilled into my brain. I met people who were vibrant and full of life who lived at peace with themselves.
My whole world began to open up. Originally I went to school for Musical Theatre. I got intimidated by all the requirements for the degree and ended up dropping out. I didn’t think I had what it took to make it to Broadway. My self doubt took it out of me. My brain was still torn on what to believe and the mindset of my roll being what my parents and the church and taught me was still at the forefront. ‘Find a good Christian man, get married and have kids’ so that was what I focused on.

Being so uncomfortable with my body growing up my standards were not the best. I always saw myself as fat even when I wasn’t. My body type was just different than my friends, my hair texture unique. I didn’t understand my worth and I settled with a man who was pretty nice for the most part at the beginning in hopes that my parents would be proud. I got married I had babies and still I felt empty, angry, unworthy and alone. My marriage wasn’t the healthiest, a lot of mind games and emotional manipulation and I got to a point that I began to drink every night. I remember one night standing in front of my freezer as I secretly poured myself a shot of fireball and thought “Is this really what you want in life? Do you want to feel like you need to be drunk to relax? Like you have to drink to be ok with what is happening in your life and in this marriage?” And that was when the lightbulb lit up. I had been repeating the same toxic relationship cycles my whole life, living to attempt to please others, walking on eggshells as I considered others emotions above my own, losing myself to what I thought others wanted from me. The discomfort was familiar and familiarity was predictable. At the time I had two children and I thought “Is this what you want for them, to have a mother who constantly drinks? Do you want them to see your marriage as an example of what they should expect from relationships” No! No more. And that was when the real shift happened. I began to choose myself. I found out a few weeks later that I was pregnant once again and while I was tempted to stay and “make things work” I knew that this was a crossroads choose yourself or choose to keep faking it and try to drown yourself in liquor to cope. I chose me. I was afraid to be a single mother of 3 but I knew I couldn’t stay in a relationship that had both of us becoming worse people. Shortly after that I moved in with my sister Doily and we figured things out together. I began to unlearn toxic beliefs and began to find myself and allowed my real self to come forward.

Even now I am grateful for my religious upbringing as it taught me what I didn’t want and allowed me to have such an open minded perspective. I can now see the good essence within myself that lives within all of us. I have a broader understanding of religion/spirituality acknowledging that what might work for some may not work for others, not one size fits all. Our existence and our connection to all of existence is a personal journey. Some people require the beliefs in a god outside of themselves in order for reality to make sense while others witness our connection to everything in the universe as a cosmic bond within all of existence. In the same way that not all children connect to education in one way (Some are hand on learners, auditory learners, some visual learners, ect.) our connections to higher powers will look different as well. I hope that the future of religion is one that let’s go of the need to force others to believe in the same way and allows people to have their own beliefs and respect that we are all unique individuals worthy as we are!

As time went on the parts of me I was told were shameful came to the surface and the beauty that emerged from that is something I couldn’t have predicted. I let myself be. I acknowledged my queerness. I went to a local drag show and was enthralled! I didn’t realize that was something grown ups did locally, I had only seen Drag Race up until that point. Then I saw him. I witnessed my first ever Drag King at a show called Stripped put on by Mr. Valdez. I had no idea male impersonation was a thing until that moment and I knew I was gonna be on that stage soon. Ironically enough I reached out to an old church friend that I knew did drag and asked how I could get involved and she directed me to Porsha DeMarco Douglas who ran an open stage at Club Q at the time. I was performing any chance I got, I was hooked! My little theatre heart was finally being fulfilled while I also was able to explore gender in such a unique and freeing way! I met my first nonbinary person shortly after that and things locked in like the missing piece to a puzzle, it all began to make sense. No wonder I had always felt off. The language I needed to describe myself had finally made it to me. I am non-binary!

Drag truly saved me. It helped me grow and learn more about myself and learn to love my body as it and appreciate who I am. Club Q was one of the first places I felt truly free in and I am so grateful for the time I had there and people I met along the way. Then the worst fear became a reality in November of 2022. We lost 5 beautiful souls to fear and hatred. While the tragedy shook the community to its core it has showed me how resilient we are, how strong my friends are, how courageous we are. While I miss Derrick and Daniel every day I am reminded of their love and light and sass and strive to keep their impact alive in the way that I move.

I am 4 years in to drag now and have accomplished many things that I am proud of. I am the son of Burlesque Legend Mr. Valdez and Drag Icon Porsha DeMarco Douglas. I Produce a monthly show at Friskys, co-produce and Open stage called Wanna Drag at Wagon Wheel and I perform weekly all over the state of Colorado. I have made a name for myself and my drag children in Wanna Haus! I created an all Kings Drag Competition called The Lord of the Kings! I competed as the only King in Colorados Drag Royale Season 3 and made it all the way to being a finalist. I have won local acknowledgments including ‘Not so Fresh Faces’ and ‘Best Live Vocalist’ of 2024 in the Colorado DIVA’s. I have a platform to speak on so many things as I sit at the intersection of many marginalized communities as a Black Puerto Rican Dominican Non-Binary Drag King.

I am so grateful for my journey as it has all lead me here to a beautiful bountiful life that I get to live with my wonderful partner Sasha who sees me and respects me, my sister Doily and my chosen family including my 8 amazing drag babies! I am a proud non-binary mother raising 3 confident children and teaching them to follow their dreams and that their voices matter! I am so thankful to be a part of the Colo Spgs community! It truly is something special, there is a different level of closeness and support that we give one another as we collectively went through such trauma after losing our friends and our safe space. Seeing how far we all have come, the community we continue to build, the network of support both on and off stage is truly incredible.

Though it can be frightening to live authentically the impact is profound. I take comfort in the fact that if we were not powerful they would not be trying so hard to convince us we are inferior. Queer joy is power! Puerto Rican and Dominican Joy is Power! Non-Binary Joy is Power! Black Joy is Power! Ultimately it took time to curate and I love the life I live. I hope the cliff notes of my life can inspire others to choose themselves as I have found this to be the key to unlocking so many of life’s wonders.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Some of the struggles I have faced include racism, sexism and homophobia. Consistent micro aggressions. As a Drag King we still have to fight for acknowledgment as the main drag media typically focuses on queens. This creates many issues for Kings in the community as Kings are often treated as less than. The violence hatred and vitriol spread from the current government leaders truly hurts our communities in so many ways and is destroying resources and encouraging violence against queer, trans and BIPOC people.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am an androgynous Drag King. Ultimately Drag holds such a broad spectrum for artistic expression. Personally I use my drag to perform, to sing, to speak up about important topics including political and human rights issues, I do my best to educate people on being inclusive and supportive, I emphasize consent and the right to bodily autonomy. I produce drag shows, drag brunches, bingo nights and trivia nights. I am most proud when someone comes up to tell me that my story has helped them feel seen and represented as I didn’t have that growing up and I honored to be that for others. What sets me apart from other performers is my passion and drive to improve life and normalize inclusion. I am very vocal about issues like intentional inclusivity and social issues and I speak up for my communities. I am a thicque boi baddie who is confident in my skin!

How do you think about happiness?
What brings me happiness and joy are the people around me, my chosen family and the community we have all built together. I love performing and seeing my people come out and support and I also ice seeing my people out their getting incredible gigs and going to support them. I am happy to be a parent who allows my kids to be cost as they are and teach them about the duality of life. I am happy that I exist in this life and that I get to perform so consistently!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themariowanna?igsh=MW5xNmJxZGljZ2EzbQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/15upHzMdXs/?mibextid=wwXIfr
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@mariowannadragking?_t=ZT-8xfiwZ4fAqs&_r=1

Image Credits
Photos by Colo Spgs Community