The Trevor Project caught up with Jinkx Monsoon and BenDeLaCreme at the start of The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show tour. The award-winning musical comedy is back with a new show in its seventh year, and will stop in 33 North American cities this November and December. Along the way, the duo will encourage fans to donate and support The Trevor Projects life-saving work.This isnt their first time on stage or in front of the camera. Jinkx won RuPauls Drag Race season five and RuPauls Drag Race All Stars season seven the first All Winners season of Drag Race. She made her broadway debut in Chicago and became the first ever drag queen to be in a major broadway musical. Jinkx also starred in Little Shop of Horrors as Audrey and played Maestro in Doctor Who.BenDeLaCreme competed on RuPauls Drag Race season six and RuPauls Drag Race All Stars season three. DeLa created and toured a number of solo shows Committed, Terminally Delightful, Inferno A-Go-Go and Cosmos. Both queens have a history of supporting The Trevor Project and protecting LGBTQ+ young people.Huge congratulations on the return of The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show! What inspired you both to create this humorous and entertaining show, and how does it stand out from other holiday performances?Jinkx: I think what inspired us most is that we really like working together. We worked together for many years before we started The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show, but this show was us deciding, Lets go into this as partners, and create something new between the two of us. It was our first project like that. And us being who we are, we decided that it also has to be meaningful and impactful to our audiences, and that we would write a new show every year. Seven years later, I think thats why were here now.DeLa: Exactly. I had been creating and performing holiday shows in Seattle for a while before Jinkx and I started doing this together, and for me, it had always been about making a queer reclamation of the holidays. It can be a hard time of year for a lot of people, but especially the queer community, as a lot of us can feel alienated by themes of family and homecoming. So, when it felt like it was time to put something really big together with my drag sister, it was really cool to be able to carry that message in, have her really resonate with it, and us be able to elevate it on a much larger level.Touring can be grueling both mentally and physically demanding. While you are on tour, how do you both prioritize your mental health and self-care during a busy schedule?DeLa: Well the first week or two on the road is the craziest because were still in a creation process doing previews, and then adjusting to the rhythm of living on a tour bus and performing every night. But once we get through that first part, I would say that my self care is making sure I sleep in until at least noon on the tour bus any given day, and then I roll-in to the venue. Somebody hands me a coffee, I put on my makeup, and we do a show and meet-and-greet after. And then of course being with our tour familywho really mean a lot to usgives both of us so much energy to move forward, because this whole cast and crew also believes in this project. Jinkx is the opposite thoughshe wakes up at dawn! [laughs]Jinkx: On tour I have a couple mantras, like one day at a time and tour life. I have to say tour life a lot, because you have to do certain things you wouldnt normally do staying in one place. Youre gonna sleep weird hours, youre gonna eat weird food. Youre gonna be hungry for the weirdest shit at the weirdest times. And you just have to just say to yourself tour life! You got to give yourself permission to be just a little bit indulgent when you find the time, because you got to give yourself rewards for the hard work youre doing. I do that with video games.DeLa: Yeah, tour life is like being pregnant but seven months shorter.At The Trevor Project, we know the holidays can be a particularly hard time for LGBTQ+ young people. How do you believe humor can help us get through tougher times and provide a sense of support?Jinkx: I think the queer community, and drag queens in particular, are especially apt for turning trauma into comedy. I think its a survival mechanism and a coping mechanism that a lot of us have formed after years of generational queer trauma. Not everyone handles life in that way, but since some of us do, it is a very cathartic way to address some very, very heavy issues in a non-threatening, non-aggressive, accessible way.DeLa: Yeah, humor is such a deep and guttural emotion. So when we are able to make people laugh, I think that its healing for both us as artists and our audiences on a major level. Laughter brings down our walls, and when we can take those walls down, it allows us to dig into our deeper feelings.Jinkx: Yes, exactly. What did that one witch say? A spoonful of sugar.How can allies show up and support young people around the holiday season?Jinkx: Alright, allies, number one thing is: its not about you. If you want to be an ally, remove yourself from the center of the conversation. Thats step one. Then, look at what that person needs and just be present for them. Sometimes we just need someone to hear us and know that were seen and that youll stand up for us when we need it.Also I want to speak to the parents, aunts, uncles, and grandparents who want to be allies to the queer children in their life this time of year. I know from firsthand experience as a visibly queer child that there was always a conversation about gift giving. Its like, do you get them the present they want, or do you get them the present thats socially acceptable?All I say in those moments is just really think about what the kid is feeling in that moment, and what the kid is thinking and all of their anxieties and insecurities around what gifts theyre gonna get. When I was a kid, I cant tell you how many stars were named after mebefore video games were finally a thingbecause no one knew what to get me. Just ask the kid.DeLa: Yeah, I think everything Jinkx says is absolutely right. Queer kids just want to be seen for who they really are, and they dont want it to be like a ticker tape parade. They just want to get the same recognition everyone else gets. So, dont make some huge production out of their differences. Just let their differences be part of the way that we all are coexisting.Do you have any words of affirmation for young LGBTQ+ people as they head into the holidays?DeLa: All the things that other people make you feel different and strange about now are your superpowers. And they will continue to be throughout your life. So just remember that right now youre a young person. Being young is finite, that moment where you dont necessarily have options about your location or the company you keep, but you will have those options one day. And if youre not celebrated now, you are going to be. If you just really, really know that we are out there waiting for you. Were here and were ready to lift you up and be a family with you.The post Jinkx Monsoon and BenDeLaCreme on Their New Holiday Show & Allyship During the Holidays appeared first on The Trevor Project.