April Flowers is bringing BYU showers… of controversy with her defiant drag act

From going viral online for violating Brigham Young University’s (BYU) honor code to her kooky Marge Simpson drag numbers, April Flowers is not your average drag performer or college student.

At the infamously Mormon university, Flowers has created a space that is uniquely her own: queer and unapologetically resilient. We spoke with Flowers about all things Mormon drag culture, queerness on campus, and being a niche internet celebrity. Check out our conversation…

QUEERTY: As a student at BYU, and a trans person, and a drag performer, how do you balance your identity and being a student in Provo, Utah?

APRIL FLOWERS: It’s hard. I just do my best to follow the rules that BYU puts out there as closely as I can. But still, I allow myself to explore inside of those rules and really do whatever I want with makeup and clothing. Self-expression and drag are things that are not disallowed. Being mixed, trans, and queer at BYU, and discovering that I’m trans while here, has just been a crazy experience.

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What is the queer community like at BYU?

It’s kind of rough. We have our little groups. We have a back-to-school pride every year. We have an end-of-school pride. We have the drag pageant that happens almost every year. I feel the same way about being queer at BYU as I do about being a person of color. BYU doesn’t want us here, but they can’t really do anything to stop us because, legislatively, they can’t not let someone into BYU because they’re a person of color. And so many people realize they’re queer as they become adults. So even if you don’t let any queer students into BYU, there are going to be people who didn’t know that they were until they got here.

In one of your recent videos, you spoke about being reprimanded for your hair length. Tell us a little more about your interaction with the Honor Code Office.

I asked very explicitly about my hair length and about being trans and how that works. In 2021, the Honor Code Office told me that because I was a woman, because I identified as a woman, I could follow the dress and grooming standards for AFAB (assigned female at birth) people. So that’s what I had been doing. And then that changed. They changed how dress and grooming standards are enforced in 2023, so you could only follow the dress code for your assigned gender at birth. And that’s how I got reported for being trans to the Honor Code Office.

While at BYU, have you felt safe expressing your gender on campus?

I get stares, I get slurs, I get sayings, nothing I’m not used to. The Honor Code is only enforced when a student or staff member reports you for it, and so cis men with long hair are totally fine. I had a psychiatrist’s note that explained I was diagnosed with gender dysphoria and that having my hair long greatly curbed my suicidal ideations. They wouldn’t even read the letter. So I don’t know, some things are bad, some things are fine. It’s just a big maze where you don’t know where the booby traps are.

I’m sure you get this question a lot, but why did you choose BYU?

It all comes down to money. I originally came to BYU as a computer science animation major, and BYU has one of the best animation programs in the nation. I ended up not enjoying it because of some interactions with teachers. Now I’m at BYU for theatre and media arts with an emphasis in hair and makeup design, and it is wonderful. Not to mention the social pressures: two out of three of my older siblings went to BYU. My parents went to BYU. Both my mom’s parents went to BYU, they met there. For Mormons, it’s just expected that you go to BYU. And if you don’t, something’s wrong with you.

And why do you stay, even in the midst of all of this?

I felt so alone when I got to BYU in the midst of COVID. I felt so invisible. There are so few queer students on campus, especially queer students of color. To know that I can be part of the network that helps them not feel so alone, whether they’re on campus seeing me walk around in my colorful themed outfits, or scrolling in their dorm and seeing me being loud and queer and Mexican as a BYU student, I would never want to give that up. If I can share my shoulder for another queer student, another student of color, another trans student, if I can give them my shoulder to cry on I’m going to choose that every time.

What’s next for April Flowers’ drag career?

I would love to be the next Jenna Marbles… but a drag queen. I love that drag provides the opportunity to mess around and play with gender. Gender as an art form is so interesting to me. Like this Halloween, I’m going to perform House Tour by Sabrina Carpenter as Dr. House, M.D. Where else are you going to see that other than drag? It’s art, and it’s self-expression in a way that I didn’t have access to as a little closeted Mexican boy.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Nick Fulton (he/him) is a freelance journalist who covers queer political moments. His work appears in Salon, Prism, Common Dreams, Sojourners, Convergence Magazine, and more. Follow him on Instagram, Bluesky, and LinkedIn.

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