After a long day of speeches at the Arizona State University speech tournament, sophomores Juju Ling and Lisa Fan listened to and cried over an adaptation of “Epic: The Musical.” Although Juju did not know Fan very well, the two quickly bonded over musicals like “Epic: The Musical” and shows like “Alien Stage,” as well as other interests such as drawing. This scene is representative of some of the things that Juju considers to be the most important parts of her identity: theater and friendships.
Another aspect of Juju’s identity is being queer. Juju wasn’t comfortable sharing that she was lesbian around her middle school friends because they were straight, which made Juju believe they would not accept her identity. This changed when Juju began attending MVHS, where she found queer friends who share similar interests.
“They influence who I am and how I act around people,” Juju said. “They’re a really good influence, and they’re always kind of just a reminder that I should be proud of who I am and just be unabashedly myself — and that’s solely because of them.”
Juju also considers participating in performing arts to be a major part of her identity, particularly plays and musicals. As a member of MV Drama, Juju has participated in school and community productions including “The Reluctant Dragon,” “Aladdin” and “Julius Caesar.” Throughout the productions, Juju has noticed ways in which her queer identity interacts with her life in theater.
“In musical theater there’s a lot of queer, non-binary, gay, bisexual individuals,” Juju said. “They’re all very expressive of who they are and I think that also inspired me to be more expressive of who I am as a queer person. Theater just offers a really welcoming and safe community for everyone.”
Fan, who shares Juju’s interest in theater and is nonbinary, says she is comfortable bringing up being queer in casual conversation with Juju. Fan and Juju were originally acquainted through Gender-Sexuality Alliance, and ended up becoming closer friends after they stayed in the same hotel room during the ASU speech tournament. Even though Fan believes that Juju can be reserved in front of others, she says Juju is always forward with her identity.
“During GSA meetings she is comfortable discussing her experience being queer, and we’re also able to have conversations that aren’t entirely focused on being queer, because being queer comes with a lot of challenges,” Fan said. “I feel like theater has made her more able to express herself because theater is about performance, so she’s very good at expressing herself and her identity.”
Juju’s brother, junior Rocco Ling, describes their relationship as very close — he attends some of Juju’s productions and celebrates Chinese holidays with her. Rocco says he has also noticed a change in Juju over time due to her joining clubs like GSA.
“At Monta Vista in freshman year, she felt lonely, because I know when she was in eighth grade, there was not a lot of people like her and she separated from everyone else,” Rocco said. “There are a lot of people in GSA who are different and not really considered ‘normal.’ And she felt like she belonged at Monta Vista.”
Another part of Juju’s identity that often connects with other parts of her identity is politics, which she considers important to who she is. She believes that her upbringing and values relate to her queer identity. Her values are similar to that of her friends, so Juju often enjoys having political discussions with her friends.
“For a lot of my friends, at worst, they’re just centrists,” Juju said. “I think a lot of queer people are leftists, and that’s why they are so open to other communities and other minorities. And it’s a queer history thing where a lot of minorities who are already being marginalized welcome queer people.”
Although Juju is unsure of her future, she knows that she wants to continue her passion for theater by continuing to participate in community productions. Though Juju believes that her interest in theater, along with her other interests, may be seen as unconventional, she has found a community of friends who also have niche interests.
“My interests are a big part of who I am,” Juju said. “And it’s something that I am now allowed to express, like my friends do, and poke fun at because it is cringe. I will admit that I’m not ashamed. I may be cringe, but I am free.”
