Photo/Allison Young
Have you ever sat in a Mellow Flow yoga class and pondered the mystery that is your yoga instructor? Behind his perfect warrior’s pose, there must be a history that involves either a supernatural understanding of the universe or a zenlike upbringing in the mountains. For Chris Daniels, a.k.a. the redheaded yogi, this assumption is only half right. Although Daniels seems to have a firmer grasp on the universe than most, his background is not zenlike by any stretch. As Ginger Devine, the playwright and actor has been voted the best drag queen in Reno by the readers of this newspaper. Growing up gay in mid-’90s Detroit is not an affirming environment. Daniels describes it as “kind of tough.” “Like most gay kids, there’s a through line with the story,” said Daniels. “You knew you were off and a little bit different. I was always flamboyant, I always hung out with girls and liked feminine things—things that, as a child, I didn’t know it was incorrect for me to like.” But Catholic school has a way of correcting these kinds
of misunderstandings, and soon Daniels created a barrier between his inner identity and the life he led. On the surface, he was a “socialite” who made friends easily, but on the inside, he was a severely depressed young man with suicidal thoughts and a talent for suppressing his identity. “I spent so much time doing this song-and-dance routine, trying to convince everyone that I was OK, when secretly I’m dying on the inside because I’m trying to figure out who I am,” said Daniels.
Queen and country Eventually, Daniels figured out who he was and came out as gay in high school. He spent his first two years at the University of WisconsinMadison campaigning against
the Same Sex Marriage Amendment, which—contrary to its name—would put legislative barriers in the way of same sex marriage. The amendment passed. “We lost,” said Daniels. “Madison and Milwaukee were the only two [cities] that opposed the amendment. For two years, that was our life. The day afterwards, it was kind of like, ‘What do we do now?’” Most people would wring their hands. Or take a pottery class. Instead, Daniels went to Amsterdam to study “Drag Queenery.” There, he traded one form of activism for another as he learned about the role of drag queens in LGBT history, developed a persona named Ginger Devine, and debuted on stage. “Everyone has an origin story, and I experienced a second coming-out where it was so freeing to dress as a woman,” Daniels said. “I went through the process of deciding ‘Am I transgender? Do I want to transition?’ And I didn’t. It
“You’re never done,” Chris Daniels says in reference to yoga as well as the quest for inner healing. “You’re never, ever done.”
N I V E D 18 | RN&R |
JULY 16, 2015
N O I T A R I P S N EI
ing yoga h c a e t d n improv, a g n i o d , s lay writing p s i ANO t u b , ter SIE LUCI c O a J r a Y h B c g pular dra o p s i h d ire r has ret e m r o f r e A local p
