AN UNCONVENTIONAL couple are breaking relationship stereotypes: both consider themselves asexual and the husband is an agender drag queen.
Dancing on stage in full make-up and a revealing metallic one-piece Jeremiah Dauberly has a passion for performing in drag; and sitting in the crowd is his number one fan - his wife Meagan
The couple, who are both 25 and live in Richmond, Virginia with their pet beagle, have known each other since they were teenagers and got married in their early twenties.
So far, so conventional - but Jeremiah and Meagan both identify as asexual, meaning they have no sexual feelings or desires towards each other or anyone else.
Jeremiah told Barcroft TV: “Our relationship is unusual, it's unusual in the way that we don’t seem to interact in the same way other couples do. We just go about things much more differently.
"A lot of couples they have a hard time, discussing and communicating about anything that doesn’t have to do with the bedroom.
“That seems to be the only place that a lot of couples seem to be on the same page - whereas we are on the same page everywhere.
“I’ve known my wife since we were 14, we started dating at 18 and got married when we were 23.”
Jeremiah also identifies as agender and doesn’t believe he sits anywhere on a gender binary.
He said: "I don’t really have any preferred pronouns and I don’t really identify as male even though I’m a male. I just feel like my gender is an experience to have."
A year into their relationship, Jeremiah, who works as a hospice nurse, was mesmerised by a drag show he saw and decided to pursue his love for dressing up - as drag alter ego 'JayyRuger'.
He said: "I get mistaken for being a woman a lot in drag. When I did a lot of female impersonation drag, I would get confused all the time for being a woman but that was intentional.
"So I guess you could say that my current illusion that I do mostly, is a man impersonating a woman who is impersonating a man.”
Understandably, his wife Meagan was unsure what to make of Jeremiah's new hobby.
Meagan said: "At first I was a little weirded out and I was like do we need to discuss something? Are you feeling gay? Do you need to figure out your sexuality? Are you trans?
"I love Jer so much that I didn’t want him to be with me because he proposed to me. So, if he had any kind of doubt I'd want to work it out.”
Now Meagan supports Jay’s drag career, and even receives tips on make-up from her husband.
She said: “Whether I wanted him to or not, he has taught me a lot about make-up. I’m much more bare bones and much more practical, and just the way I was raised, I didn’t have a super-keen interest in make-up.
“So he actually opened the world to me because he would come up and be like: ‘There is this new make-up trend, let’s try'!”
Jeremiah's look is based on what he describes as an ”androgynous, hyper- futuristic human form”, achieved through hours of body painting and make- up.
He said: "My look is a combination of body painting and drag to create an extreme full-body hyper-realisation of the human form. Also I sometimes take the look into other extreme forms by becoming mythological creatures as well. It’s a lot of fun to do many looks.
“It [getting ready] takes me about 3-4 hours depending on what I’m doing sometimes - more if I’m using prosthetics or something, but normally it takes me at least three hours to go from no make-up to full glam.”
The drag artist’s wardrobe is as extensive as his make-up collection. Filled to the brim with sequins, metallics and feathers - Jeremiah’s clothes collection is four times the size of his wife’s.
He said: "I have more costumes than I do real clothes definitely." And looking this glam doesn’t come cheap.
Jeremiah said: “Altogether I would say, materials alone, my closet easily has over $5,000 in costumes in it.
"I easily spent upwards of a thousand dollars on make-up just in 2017. So grand total I couldn’t even begin to guess how much make-up I have bought in the entire time I have been doing make-up because that’s years and years."
A couple of times a month Jeremiah performs as Jayyruger, his drag act, at local bars.
He told BTV: "Usually it is a positive reaction, I don’t have much people
reacting negatively to my look because they think it’s pretty extreme so most people who don’t like it just give me funny looks and don’t say anything.
"Mostly from women, all the reactions I get is that they start a conversation with me by saying that they love my make-up.”
The most important reaction is from his wife Meagan, who loves watching Jayyruger perform.
She said: "I love that Jay does these crazy death drops, I think they are amazing, they are impressive.
"My heart does stop every time he does one cause I’m afraid he is going to hurt himself, so every time I flinch and then when he is fine, I cheer.”
Despite their unusual relationship, the duo couldn’t imagine life without one another and love each other, they say, "romantically, and platonically".
Their friend Thomas told BTV: "J and Meagan couldn’t be more of a perfect couple honestly.
“There has always been that little bit of doubt with J and then when you see them together, it’s sparks.
“It’s just the most beautiful couple I could honestly imagine. You know those two are made for each other.”
My video is at DLive
This seems unusual but they are happy, that's great!
It doesn't matter whatever job or gender with each other is, but if they are happy with each other, then that will be so great.
cid:[email protected]
Wow.
Posted using Partiko Android
I wish everyone could just be who they are and nothing is said other than hey your life is more interesting than mine.
Congratulations @barcrofttv! You have completed the following achievement on the Steem blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :
Click on the badge to view your Board of Honor.
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOP