Aho. My name is Curtis Alexander, Jr. My pronouns are He/She/Bitch. I am an enrolled member of the Omaha Tribe. I live in Sioux City, Iowa. I am a father. I am a grandfather. And I am, above all else, an artist in constant motion. In 2018, my drag persona Citrus won Miss Sioux City Supreme, becoming the first Native American to hold the title. Citrus is not a mask. She is a prism. Through her, I collaborated with the Siouxland Pride Alliance and other LGBTQIA+ organizations across Siouxland to amplify Black, Brown, and Latinx queer voices. Because liberation that is selective is not liberation at all. Art has always been my first language. Before I had the vocabulary for gender, I had color. Then came gender-affirming care. For me, gender-affirming care was a reclamation. It was not just medical — it was emotional, spiritual, and communal. It was therapy, yes, but it was also ceremony. It was community members using the right pronouns without hesitation. It was looking in the mirror and, for the first time, seeing continuity instead of fracture.
Being Two-Spirit is not about trend or rebellion. It is about sovereignty — over my body, my narrative, my joy. It is about remembering that queerness existed on this land long before it was given English names. It is about holding my grandchildren and knowing they will see a grandfather who is a full being. Citrus still sparkles under stage lights. The crown still shines. But the real victory was not the title — it was integration. It was understanding that I do not have to choose between masculinity and femininity, between tradition and queerness, between fatherhood and flamboyance. I am all of it. I contain multitudes, and I refuse to shrink them for anyone’s comfort. My life is still a canvas in progress. The brush is steady now. The colors are deliberate. And every stroke is an affirmation: I was always meant to exist exactly like this.
