Meet Trailblazer Maya Wiseman

Today we’d like to introduce you to Maya Wiseman.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I am 25 years old, a proud Atlanta native, community organizer & facilitator… some might know me best as a flower child who you can often be found covered in glitter in the corners of various gay & queer spaces yelling, “Yeeessss” & snapping loudly! So, from where I am today… I want to tell the story about having to defend my queer, performance artist identity.

It all started one night a little over a year ago. I remember I was out late, grabbing food from the store, & on the way home, I got a call from my mom. My mom told me that my uncle, who lives in Flordia, was on my Facebook page & concerned & upset by something I had uploaded. The very thing he was upset by was a flyer from a recent performance piece I’d done. On the flyer, there’s a photo of me & my friend, Ash Walsh, where we are burning a streamer American flag, which was an integral part of my piece. It was my 1st performance at HUSSY (a reoccurring show that my friend Paege Turner puts on). The title of the event on the flyer was “No Fucksgiving”, as it was an anti-colonist show. From this piece, we got a wicked photo… taken from offstage, with me looking over my shoulder & Ash with a torch ready under the streamers, which became what I felt was an amazing flyer!

I was so proud of that piece when I was performing. I felt like it was my first REAL performance piece & I had so much freedom on stage to express myself! It involved a 7-minute long track, for my look I was wrapped in metallic duct-tape (in solidarity of drag queens who tuck), hitting a heart pinata I handmade that my friend was holding up backstage while lipsyncing to SZA & Sade, & yes, burning a streamer American flag. My reason for this was the symbolism of the people I was around. Sometimes, we get caught up in patriotism & symbolism so much that we forget the really important things, like the fact that we are our own community & colony who practice being loyal to one another!

Out of all the people I thought in my life, I would have to defend my art to my mom was never 1 of them. She had always been supportive of me & most of my life choices, so to hear her so disappointed, over something neither her nor my uncle had ever seen, & yelling on phone at her about it was so hard! Eventually, she came around & now, I feel nothing but support from her, she has come to some of my shows & helped me with so many different creative projects!

This one incident was the reason why Ash and I, launched the Instagram page… GlitterGayz! GlitterGayz is a Queer Arts Entertainment platform focusing on the local LGBT community of Atlanta! I realized that people individually uploaded events that they are featured in, but there wasn’t 1 place where all the LBGTQ events were being uploaded & shared, so that’s what I aim to do. Instagram still felt new, at the time, I thought it was a better way to share, a place where none of my unwanted family members would criticize me & only the people who wanted the information would follow me, then we’d all get to meet each other!

I am so proud of what it’s become, in just over a year. We have almost 200 posts, nearly 700 followers & I now identify as GltterGayz when I’m out & about! I spend a lot of time looking up different events to upload, happening in Atlanta, but I love when people send me things that are going on! It makes me feel connected, it makes me happy that a community of queers have a way to know how to find each other. What I felt from my family was judgment, & talking to different people in the LGBTQ community I know that’s something that happens all too often, so if we can all stay connected & help each other, I know it means a lot. Some people have cut ties with their families, or have had ties cut, because of how they identify, some of that I will still never be able to understand, but that night, I got a glimpse of it & it hurt so bad! For some people, their community is the closest thing that they have to family, if not closer.

In my personal life, & the lives of other members of the LGBTQ community, I know sometimes just been seen is hard. Not only as someone who has been in queer &/or lesbian, bi-racial relationships, but also as someone who could dress in anything from a hoodie to facepaint & sparkles just to get groceries, I am very empathic… Sometimes, if I’m not wearing my sparkles I feel naked & embraced in a weird way others might not recognize or understand. I don’t know what it’s like be misgendered or having gender dysphoria while getting dressed, but because I love the people I’m around I practice understanding & trying to put myself in their shoes. Putting stickers on my face & gender dysphoria are completely different issues, but from this, I can tell people just want to reflect who they truly are inside & be seen! I feel like I found performance art & the queer community to be so inviting, so much of it is just about respect for each other. You respect how people want to be addressed, their art, even if it’s unconventionally, & how they choose to express themselves… that really resonated with me & I felt loved the moment I started meeting people in my local, Atlanta LGBTQ community & I’m happy to do what I can to help people stay connected.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The one thing I’ve found is that it’s so hard being in a world where you feel different from so many other people, & most of them are just trying to fit in. I think at 1 point in my life I stopped wanting to fit in so much, it’s like now I fit out. I think for people trying to identify with who they really are in such a modern, conventional world that every day is a struggle. To find your art & passion, your definition of realness, feel supported, feel loved & excepted… that’s so hard! We see advertisements every day of skinny, “perfect” women… edited in wedding dresses, power suits or bikinis & we just feel that pressure to have it all… to fall in love & procreate & work while somehow still making time for ourselves! It’s unrealistic, so many things are staged & fake, don’t be a character who fits in because you feel like you have to… you have to be your own, real-life fairytale, you have to create the story & narrative that works best for you!

The advice I wanna give to young women on their journey is to listen to your instincts… listen to your heart & your gut instead of what other people are telling you if your feelings are telling you something different! Even if it’s just a little thing that seems silly, LISTEN TO YOURSELF! I am someone others feel really comfortable opening up to & I’ve learned that when people are talking to me, giving me advice or love or hate, most of it is just them projecting. We are only what we’ve been taught & some people can’t help, haven’t tried or don’t want to change who they are. So, keep the right people, with good energy, who are willing to evolve with you, around you because people will reflect & redirect your life & shape who you are. I think I used to spend a lot of time caring about what other people thought, but now, that I know who is important to me & I just tune in with those people instead.

Self-love is the most important kind of love! It can be the toughest, but it is so worth it! If you learn how to love yourself, & know your own self-worth, then it’s harder for others to steer you in the wrong direction. It starts with having the patience for yourself… sometimes, we have so much patience for others (bosses, co-workers, kids, family, friends, etc.) it’s like we forget to reserve some for ourselves. You are worthy of all the love you want to give away & see in the world… it starts with you.

And last, but not least, STOP APOLOGIZING SO MUCH! I did a whole performance piece on this. I have a lot of women in my life who ‘over-apologize’… they apologize for things they did or didn’t do or said or didn’t say, women, apologize to me for things they truly have no control over. I know a lot of it is deeper & may stem from guilt, but I feel bad when women do this. I have to tell them it’s ok every 10 minutes they’re apologizing to me for silly things, it’s like ‘secondary guilt’. It lessens the power of the apology… it lessens your personal power & mostly wastes a lot of energy & time. I save my sorries for when I really mean them, I think it’s more impactful that way. I put it on my Facebook status a few weeks ago, something I observed that bears repeating… “Men don’t apologize enough, women apologize too much.” Don’t be sorry for existing.

I also just wanted to add that last year we lost some very good friends & community members. When this happened everyone fell apart, but then came together in a way I’ve never seen before. It was so good to know that we could be there for each other still, in the worst of circumstances & I think it brought a lot of people closer together. We remember & honor those who came before us always… the original trailblazers!

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Glitter Gayz – what should we know?
GlitterGayz is all about bringing community together! Even if that’s just being supportive at a drag show. I guess you can say bringing people together is in my nature. Wow… I do a lot. For my day job, I’m a caregiver, I have worked with children & on farms in different capacities over the years. I would say that’s so much of who I am… the children have taught me how to play & see the magic in the world, the plants have taught me how to care for & “water” myself & others & to reconnect with the Earth. That’s why I want to bring people together, I feel like taking care of people has always been a part of who I am.

I would say I’m known for knowing where to find good food & people in the city, my performance pieces, my handmade flower crowns, going out dressed how I feel, being a great dancer, usually having glitter on hand & lifting people’s spirits!

I bring people together! So, this year, I’ve started hosting community dinners with the support of SFQP (Southern Fried Queer Pride) which is a fantastic organization! It’s really nice because it’s in a sober space, so people get to bond & eat together without getting trashed or having to yell over each other & the response from it has been amazing! We also host a party called No Boys Allowed, which is opened to anyone who doesn’t identify as a man. Being a cast member of HUSSY, which is a show that prioritizes femme & POC performers. It gives people a place to do things & perform pieces you might not see anywhere else. I try to share all the information I can.

I’m really proud of the healing spaces I started hosting recently. During the latter part of last year, I went to a few therapy sessions & it was really nice to have a place to vent & open up about what was going on with me. I think those are conversations that get missed out on in the backs of crowded clubs & venues, so I’m really glad to have a space where people can come & be vulnerable & heal. It’s important to share how we’re really feeling & check on ourselves & each other.

What sets me apart is… caring. I really care about my platform & the people in my community & most of why I do what I do is because I care.

So much of the media coverage is focused on the challenges facing women today, but what about the opportunities? Do you feel there are any opportunities that women are particularly well positioned for?
I feel like women are in positions of opportunities, but also at pre-disposed disadvantages because they’re women! Women are powerful, strong & capable, but torn down because they are being told to sit down, look pretty, & not speak when they want to run the world! Finding your voice is so important, so many women have opportunities their foremothers might not have had, but sometimes, they need extra support. We are positioned to support, help, connect & reconnect with each other. We have to start holding people up instead of putting them, & ourselves, down. Once more women feel that way then we can really do anything.

Contact Info:

• Email: mayawiseman1212@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/glittergayz/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mochamonkeymaya

Image Credit:
Photo- Patricia Villanfane (Photos in purple blazer), Makeup- Mikayla Wiseman (Photos in purple blazer), Jesse Pratt Lopez (Photo taken from afar & photo with mask), Ash Walsh (Photo taken of 2 people- Paege Turner left, Kim Walsh right), Aidan O’Reilly (Photo taken on stage of me & Ash Walsh), Selfie by me, Rolling in paint (unknown)

Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.