Often, those who tread off the beaten path are misunderstood or mischaracterized and so we asked folks from the community to reflect and tell us about the times they’ve been misunderstood or mischaracterized.

The Lady Qtip D Chanel

Embracing the Evolution of Drag: My Journey in Pageantry In the early days of my pageantry journey, the path was relatively smooth. As a biologically born female, I competed in femme pageants where the expectation was to embody the essence of drag queens, but my competition was solely other cisgender women. We shared the same makeup artists, designers, and a similar flair in our styles. At that time, it felt like the only lane available to me. Read more>>

Uno Montana

If I’m being real, I feel I’ve been often misunderstood as a person all together not specifically just in music per say. My music has been received with lots of love from the audience, whether it be through social media or at my live shows. I can see the people really connect with my art. That shows me that there are a lot of people in the world that feel misunderstood, and my music serves as somewhat of a voice for them. So now I look at being “misunderstood” as being a representative for the people that don’t fit in, because we were never meant to fit in. God made us different for a reason. Read more>>

Meng Tian

I want to talk about the film and photography that I have been primarily focused on. I aim to present my work through 3D mediums for the images I produce and in other diversified ways through multi-media. I never think to label myself as a photographer, at best I am just a recorder of a community and culture that is not yet been fully accepted, understood and therefore comprehended by society at large. Most of the people I photograph are exiles whom have been barred from popular and mainstream networks, like me who exist on the fringes and margins of what is considered acceptable.  Read more>>

Jordan Scruggs

Starting as FourTenIndo on Twitch, I faced the challenge of building from zero viewers, which felt like shouting into the void at first. Streaming helped me find not just an audience, but a community. Early on, my work was misunderstood—people saw me as just another streamer, not realizing how deeply my music and personality were intertwined. Over time, the supportive Twitch community began to resonate with my journey, allowing me to grow beyond the limits of local support in Baltimore. Through consistent effort, authenticity, and connecting with viewers, I cultivated a fanbase that genuinely understood and appreciated my music. This experience taught me that finding your people, even virtually, can create meaningful connections and help others see the full picture of who you are. Read more>>