Chase Ingrande (He/Him) lives the best of both worlds. By day, he is a 28-year-old software
developer for Bravo. Whenever off work hours, he’s focused and working on his drag queen
persona, Chase Runaway (She/Her).

“Drag is a combination of all the things I love put together,” Ingrande said.

Ingrande grew up in Last Vegas Nevada, and was always a very artistic person. As a kid, his
interests included musical theater and painting, and he studied comedy writing in College.
Chase was introduced into the drag world by his first boyfriend as they performed as a duo
together. Once their relationship ended, Chase had to find his own identity and independence in
drag, and Chase Runaway was born.

“I was like okay, what does this look like to do on my own,” Chase says as he uncrosses his legs
and unclenches his coffee cup on the stoop of a random brownstone in his neighborhood.

Chase says that he is thankful that drag is not his full time job because he can rely on it as a
creative outlet rather than burning out and turning an enjoyable hobby into a job he has to do to
make a living.

“I have always thought of my drag as my art,” he said. “And if you are forced to do art it is barely art
because you are pulling it out of you rather than letting it flow out of you.”

Chase says that he feels the most vulnerable in drag because he is the art.

“I feel very much that I am using myself as the canvas,” he said. “And it is the art and the artist coming
together.”

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From ages six to 12, I spent 24 hours a week at Go for the Gold Gymnastics, a warehouse off the highway with giant garage doors and gymnastics equipment spread out at random under heavy fluorescents. Every weekday morning, I woke up and went to school from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m.. Then I went to gymnastics from 4 to 8 p.m. On weekends, I either traveled to a new part of New Jersey for competitions or spent 10 hours a day in the gym. 

I didn’t have a lot of free time to play with barbies or my classmates outside of school. My childhood was filled with chalk, blistered hands, leotards that ride up, a hair-sprayed high ponytail, and pointed toes. I spent most of my time flipping and bouncing in the hopes that I would earn a 10 out of 10 on the judges’ tiny scoreboards. 

Now I’m 23, and certain behaviors from gymnastics have stuck with me throughout my life. I always ask if I can use the restroom because my coach thought the word bathroom was unprofessional. Every time I do something correctly, I make sure to do it again over and over to make sure I don’t lose it. When I walk around the house, I always find my chin up, shoulders back and stiff and my palms sweaty. 

Lauren winning first place on vault at the 2010 New Jersey Level 6 State Championships for age 11 girls. She won second place All Around as well. January 31, 2010.

Nearly every athlete at the Olympics describes how they spent their entire childhood working to get to where they are now. They talk about how, without their sport, they wouldn’t be who they are today. For Simone Biles, Shawn Johnson and Sunisa Lee it all paid off. But what about me? 

I missed sleepovers, summer camp and hangouts every weekend. I trained five to six days a week and spent my Sundays competing all over New Jersey. I faked a smile, never painted my nails and climbed the rope every time I messed up my floor routine at practice. I can’t help but ask myself where it got me. Sure, I’m not a failure, but I’m not a gymnast either. What did I gain from years of physically straining my body and sacrificing a balanced adolescent life? 

The truth is, there are so many people like me- so many people who dedicated their childhood to working hard instead of just being a kid. So many people who didn’t land a brand deal with Subway and national fame. The ribbons and medals were nice and shiny, but I was robbed of building meaningful connections with people. Besides that, I was a young girl who didn’t know who she was without gymnastics. 

I eventually dropped the sport when I was 12 because of the “twisties,” a term for when a gymnast gets a mental block that does not allow their body to perform anymore. I just spent hours staring at the bar, beam or vault frozen in fear. Instead of jumping on the springboard and gracefully tumbling over it, I’d run down the vault track and crash into the horse. I’m lucky to have had parents who supported my decision to stop when I fell out of love with gymnastics, but when I told my coaches that I was quitting they barely looked me in the eyes. They told me I would regret this for the rest of my life. I was 12 years old. Simon Biles announced she had the “twisties” at the Summer 2021 Olympics, and she was applauded for her decision to drop out and take care of herself. Mental Health matters, but only when you’ve made it to the top I guess. 

Lauren with coaches Vivian (left) and Juan (right) after competing at
The Shining Stars invitational. January 6, 2008.

Gymnasiums need rules that will protect child athletes and limit the amount of time a child or teen athlete can train per week. As it is, parents and coaches alone determine a child’s schedule. If state regulations were created it would allow athletes to have their own time for a life outside practice. 

Project Play’s Children’s Bill of Rights in Sports was developed by human rights and sports policy experts, and it corroborates the argument that former child athletes like myself are making, that children need to be allowed to be children first. The bill has eight rights, with number four emphasizing the need for developmentally appropriate play. 

“Children have a right to play at a level commensurate with their physical, mental and emotional maturity, and their emerging athletic ability,” the bill says. “They should be treated as young people first, athletes second.”

Besides providing more time for kids to just be kids, this will level the playing field. If everyone has the same amount of time to practice each week this will ensure everyone has a fair and equal chance at succeeding. It will also allow more time for child athletes to relax, rest and focus on improving their mental health, which is just as important as physical health in the sports world. There are regulations for child actors, why not child athletes? 

Coaches and competitive training centers need to emphasize the small percentage of athletes who make it to the top. According to the NCCA, less than two percent of student-athletes make it pro. It’s important to tell young people to follow their dreams, but if their dedication to a sport is impacting their mental health and ability to grow in other ways, then maybe they should be encouraged to consider other career and life options. 

Finally, the gymnastics world needs guidance counselors and human resource representatives in gymnastics. There needs to be an outlet besides a coach or a parent that an athlete can go to for open and honest communication. There are conversations that children need to have that they might not be comfortable having with a parent or a coach. Children need proper resources to ensure their health and protection. It would also give children a safe space to speak up if there are incidents with peers or coaches. 

Gymnastics made me who I am today, but it also defined me when I was a child. Those are two very different things. 

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That’s why leaders of the organization Black Leaders Organizing for Communities (BLOC) said they knocked on doors, had personal conversations, and showed up to support the candidates that align with their values. 

BLOC was founded in 2016 by current Executive Director Angela Lang in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She chose Milwaukee because it is one of the most incarcerated and segregated cities in America. 

Nov. 5, 2022- Racine, Wisconsin. JoVonna Lue, the Community Organizer of the Racine branch of BLOC talks about the day-to-day routine her line of work entails during election season in her office in Racine. Photo by Lauren Peacock

“We’re building up what Milwaukee started, and we’re bringing it to Racine and Kenosha,” said JoVonna Lue, Community Organizer of BLOC. “We’re having those day-to-day conversations and making sure we are present in the communities where we live.” 

Lue said she got involved because she wanted to help people improve their lives. She emphasized the importance of having simple, genuine conversations in her line of work. 

“We want to build those relationships,” Lue said. “These are our communities so we really have to care in order to find solutions to work together.”

Kyle Johnson, Political Director of the Racine branch of BLOC, said that in the 2018 midterm elections BLOC contributed to the Democratic sweep of the constitutional offices as well as Tammy Baldwin’s win. 

“In the last midterm election in 2018, BLOC knocked on more than 175,000 doors in Milwaukee,” Johnson said.

Nov. 5, 2022- Racine, Wisconsin. Kyle Johnson the Political Director of the Racine branch of BLOC discusses their hectic schedule days before the 2022 midterm elections in Wisconsin. Photo by Lauren Peacock.

BLOC leaders are open about the candidates they support and endorse publicly. Johnson said they work to show communities how these candidates can help residents more than their opponents. 

“You can see the hostility through the policy,” Johnson said.

BLOC worked tirelessly for the 2022 midterm election by making phone calls, sending text messages and knocking on doors. 

“We sent over 620,000 text messages, and knocked over 55,000 doors,” Johnson said. “We reached out to people with a sense of education and an intent to inform.”

Johnson said the organization works this hard to ensure certain candidates don’t get voted into office —Candidates like Tim Michels, the Republican who ran for governor of Wisconsin and lost to incumbent Tony Evers on Nov. 9, 2022. 

Michels said that Republicans would never lose another election in Wisconsin after he was elected. 

“He’s willing to sacrifice democracy for his party,” Johnson said. 

Evers supports the work that BLOC does. 

“I don’t care what side of the isle you’re on, getting people to vote is what democracy is all about,” Evers said, just days before the election. 

Johnson says that some people of color in Wisconsin that he met expressed feeling shut out of specific areas by white people. 

“They’re trying to turn Wisconsin into a Sundown state,” Johnson said. “ Know your place, stay in Milwaukee, stay in Racine, stay in Kenosha. The rest of this is ours.”

Johnson believes that the Supreme Court banning ballot boxes in Wisconsin is one obstacle blocking people of color from having easy access to voting.

“We have so many barriers already to jump through,” Johnson said. 

Bryan Tanayo, a 23-year-old resident of Kenosha, believes the work that organizations like BLOC do is essential because voting is not as accessible in communities of color. 

“For example, limited access to voting places,” Tanayo said “Some voting places are put far away in communities where people rely on public transportation.”

Johnson said that BLOC’s support for the Democratic party in the 2022 midterm election was based on harm reduction for communities of color. 

If BLOC didn’t endorse Democratic candidates like Tony Evers and Mandela Barnes, Johnson  feels that it would run the risk of having a representative who doesn’t support people of color. 

“If Tim Michaels gets in, or Ron Johnson gets in, we’re the first person in line with targets on our backs and they’re coming for us,” he said.

The results of the 2022 midterm elections in Wisconsin showed that most of the candidates that BLOC endorsed ended up winning, including Tony Evers, Sara Rodriguez and Josh Kaul.  

“We saw Democrats maintain control of at least the Senate, bucking decades of the trend of midterms yielding large losses to the party that held the Presidency,” Johnson said.

The Republican candidate Ron Johnson won the senate seat over Democratic candidate Mandela Barnes by exactly 1% of the vote.  

BLOC openly supported Barnes and regardless of his defeat, Kyle Johnson said BLOC is proud of the work and role of Mandela Barnes.

“This was one of the closest Senate races we have seen in this state and it is a testament to Mandela that he lost by 1%,” Johnson said. “We need to continue the conversation around racism in this state and country if we want to truly understand many of the factors that played into this defeat.” 

Nov. 5, 2022- Racine, Wisconsin. A flier hanging on the front door of BLOC’s office in Racine lists the candidates the organization supports. Photo by Lauren Peacock.

Johnson and Lue feel that the chaos of elections brings distraction to important issues, such as getting justice for Black Lives Matter cases like Breonna Taylor and Jacob Blake. 

“We need to make sure people don’t forget what we were marching for in 2020,” Johnson said. “That fight’s not over.” 

BLOC has an agenda with 10 points for issues that they believe need to be addressed on a federal level to create thriving black communities. 

These points include the creation of rent controlled housing, moving towards 100% renewable energies, raising the minimum wage to at least $15 per hour and various other reforms. 

“I like how they’re telling people what it actually entails, registering to vote,” Aidan Kiely said. “When I graduated high school at 18, they told me to go vote, but didn’t tell me what that actually entails.”

Kiely, 22, works at a cannabis shop in Kenosha and firmly believes in the importance of voting in the midterm elections. He applauds BLOC for teaching specific details about the voting registration process. 

Lue described what BLOC specifically outlines for voters what the voting registration process entails. 

“Sending out information on how, when and where to register, request ballots, vote early and times and locations on Election Day,” Lue said. “We also made phone calls from home on Fridays reaching out to voters and potential voters.”

Outside of election season, BLOC focuses on asking people of color what a thriving community looks like to them. Johnson said that these conversations can go anywhere. It may be about adding a stop sign at the end of a street or ensuring more public safety in areas that see a lot of gun violence. 

Johnson believes that voting should mean more to people than carrying out a civic duty. 

“You care about climate change, you care about student loan debt, you care about legalizing Marijuana, you care about incarceration,” Johnson said. “That’s the reason why you vote,” John said. “When it becomes personable, it becomes real. Voting is the last step.”

Nov. 5, 2022- Racine, Wisconsin. The back of the flier on the desk at the BLOC Racine office next to another flier, an ipad and Mandela Barnes stickers. Photo by Lauren Peacock

Lue and Johnson believe that work doesn’t end after one midterm election in one state of the country, and there’s a long road that follows.

“We have to shift the culture and reframe the conversation,” Johnson said. “It’s not going to be a fight to get justice and liberation tomorrow.”

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