Nadine Hughes has always been fabulous. “I was always me,” says the drag queen and Texas All American Goddess, Miss Texas USofA at-large, and formerly the youngest drag queen ever to win Texas Entertainer of the Year, at age 22.
Hughes, who goes by his birth name, William Cass, when he’s not performing, was born in New York. “My parents divorced when I was younger, and my mom got remarried and moved us across the country to Leander, Texas – Block House Creek, specifically.”
“I started third grade, and the first day, I was asked, ‘are you a boy or a girl?’” I had never experienced that in New York before,” said Cass. “I was always flamboyant and happy. I loved the Wizard of Oz, I Love Lucy, Broadway, Disney – I was just that kid.”
Cass came from a very supportive family. “My mom and I have always been a team. For a long time, it was just me and her. She’s my biggest cheerleader. From day one, it was ok to be who I was.”
My mom and I have always been a team. She’s my biggest cheerleader.
But, the rest of the environment changed in his new city. “It wasn’t until a few years later that things got really ridiculous. In high school, you’re coming into yourself. I loved theater, was flamboyantly fabulous and people didn’t understand that.”
Cass began freshman year at Leander High School in 1997. Students entering the theater department at that time could audition into the Advanced Production class, skipping Theater 1 and 2. Cass did so along with 2 others, joining a group of upperclassmen and the educator who would have the greatest impact on his life. “That led me to Linda Major, the most incredible woman. Linda helped save my life at Leander High School.”
“People I met in theater my freshman year are some of the most amazing people I’ll ever meet. My friend Rachel is two years older than me and has also changed my life. Since my friends were all older, they were going out to clubs sooner, and I went along. I actually performed for the first time in drag at sixteen, and I haven’t stopped doing it since!”
The drag community became a second family to Cass, and a welcome respite from some disapproving classmates at school. “When you’re called a ‘fag’ and everything in the book, it’s so draining, and when I was able to put on a dress and a wig and lip-sync a song I love, and have people clapping for me, why would I give that up? I felt so at home on 4th street, in that chosen family I was accepted in, that I didn’t want to leave.”
Still, challenges at school continued. “All my friends who were cool to be around graduated in 2000. Being successful at performing downtown made me extra fabulous junior and senior years of high school. Knowing that I was doing drag performances and coming to school during the day, people were just brutal. I had different bad things happen to me. And to my car. I was an obviously-flamboyant person, and people were not nice. Things started really sucking then.”
Another student reported to Cass’s mother that their teacher, who happened to be a leader in a local religious group, had begun to antagonize him in conversations within the group. “It turns out he was using me, by name, as an example of a gay person who he believed would burn in Hell.” The comments continued even after Cass’s mother alerted school administrators, and the teacher was later let go.
During Cass’s senior year, the September 11th attacks happened in New York and DC, and authorities were on high alert about an anthrax scare. One morning, as Cass stopped in the bathroom while running late to school, another student entered and poured an unknown substance over Cass’s head. He went to the office and reported the incident, asking administrators for a pass to go wash off, but instead was sent directly to the gym.
“It led to this huge situation where the school was locked down, I was quarantined, and health authorities had to come. They assumed it was anthrax. Then, on the last day of school, my tires were slashed. I hated it so much and could not wait to get out of there. My mom and my amazing step-dad, best friends, teacher, and my love of performing got me through.”
“I was told specifically I couldn’t dress a certain way at graduation if I wanted to walk. I had to be very toned down and respectful. So, I graduated, got my diploma, and basically told Leander to fuck off.”
“The saving grace was Linda Major and that theater room where I ate my lunch for those 2 years, because otherwise, I would have had things thrown at me. If I didn’t have her, my mom, or my friends and family, I wouldn’t be here. They were all fighting for me to make it through all this. And I just never wanted to look back. Ever. That was my Leander experience.”
Cass has since made a successful career as a drag performer, earning scores of titles, and rising to Show Director at Austin’s Rain on 4th. Returning to Leander to perform at Leander Pride draws a welcome contrast to his years growing up in town.
“Things like Leander Pride didn’t exist back then. It’s amazing. This may not affect everybody, but the quantity isn’t important. It’s the quality of the effectiveness. That could change somebody’s life – or save it.”
“It’s just so cool and I will probably get emotional that day because it’s surreal compared to my Leander experience. And my mom is just as excited as I am. She already has her Leander Pride t-shirt!”
People are trying, and that – right there – is everything in the world.
“I’ve been in awe of all these people reaching out and doing local Pride events. From Leander, Round Rock, Taylor, and Pflugerville to Dripping Springs. You may not get hundreds of thousands of people like we do at Austin Pride, but people are trying, and that – right there – is everything in the world.”
This June will mark 22 years of performing for Cass. For students or anyone struggling today, he says, “I don’t want to use a cliché that ‘it gets better.’ It’s not about that. You have the ability to leave or choose a family of your own. Do what you need to do, graduate, and go do what makes you happy.”
“At the end of the day, you wake up and you’re happy, and that’s all that matters.”
Don’t miss Cass’s performance as the award-winning drag queen Nadine Hughes, accompanied by other kings and queens from the legendary Rain on 4th drag club on Saturday, May 14th, 2022 at Leander Pride.
