Drag has been around, in one form or another, for more than 100 years.

While in recent decades, drag queens have surged in popularity, both for and against, there are performers presenting all kinds of genders on stage.

“They call it a tomboy when you're young, right?" said Brittany Gray. "But as you get older, you kind of realize that it's more than that.”

Connecting with who you truly are doesn’t come with instructions. Thankfully for Brittany Gray, makeup does.

“I still don't know what half this stuff is called,” they joked, going through their makeup bag.

“As I started to figure out my own identity, and that I'm genderfluid, and that I have a lot of masculine presentation that I want to express, that drag king-ing was a good way to do that,” Gray said.

Freddie Hercury is a drag persona they’ve done for less than a year, but Grey already found their place here in Buffalo.

“I actually only have a home now because my friend and I are actually just making it,” said Gray.

Among events typically centered around drag queens, being a king has its own challenges.

“There's not as many venues that are even looking to book kings,” said Gray.

You can't forget that makeup.

“Most contour is focused on making faces more feminine, and so you're sort of breaking the rules of contour because you're trying to make your face look more masculine,” Gray explained.

But to all that, Freddie Hercury would simply say, as the Queen song goes: "Don’t Stop Me Now."

“You can argue that all gender presentation is drag, so I mean in that way, I'm always doing drag,” said Gray.

With the hard part done, Gray's transformation into Hercury is almost complete. It’s just a matter of a few finishing touches to bring him to life.

As Hercury gets dressed, and throws on a wig and some chest hair, it doesn’t escape him that visibility can be a positive spotlight, but it can also put a target on your back.

“I think we have very toxic expectations of people assigned male at birth, and drag queens really challenged that," he said. "I think it makes a lot of people uncomfortable.”

As Hercury photographs for the Mr. Northeast USA pageant, that’s top of mind.

“I think that the only way to win, or whatever word you want to use, is to be visible and to not be scared and not go back into the proverbial closet,” Hercury explained.

For him, some contour and a bedazzled outfit is drag, not danger.

“It's been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life and the community is very accepting,” he said.

He encourages anyone who has questions, whether getting involved, or just understanding what this community is all about, to ask.

“I think that instead of being afraid or feeling hate, it's better to get to know each other as humans, and just grow together,” said Hercury.

He and his partners at 716 Pride launched “Rookie Knights” for drag kings to try out their personals in a comfortable place. You can find more information by clicking here.