One local drag queen is bringing a message of inclusion and bravery to children in Broomfield and across the Front Range, one event at a time.

Stuart Sanks’s drag persona, Shirley Delta Blow, was born 14 years ago and has been dazzling audiences ever since.

“Fourteen years ago the Colorado Gay Volleyball Association put on a big campy pageant where they took all the volleyball players and dressed us up and put us through an entire beauty pageant,” Sanks said. “I ended up winning the pageant, and one of the judges asked me to cohost a drag show with him.”

Sanks said his cohost ended up missing the event, so Shirley was left to host it alone despite having been to very few drag shows himself. From those brave beginnings, Shirley has gone on to host many drag events in the area, making her name known across the Front Range.Sanks said that Shirley’s name was born from the talent he showcased in the pageant — acting out the entirety of Steel Magnolias using Barbie dolls in under four minutes. Since the movie follows a group of Southern belles, Sanks decided his persona needed an appropriately Southern name.

“I was thinking of ‘Delta,’ and all the things you could be dealt, and landed on ‘dealt a blow,’” Sanks said. “But because she was a strong Southern woman, I needed three names. So it became Shirley — ‘you’ve surely been dealt a blow.’”

“She’s been dealt a blow, she’s had a hard life and a tough upbringing, but that’s what made her fun and beautiful and all the things that Shirley is,” Sanks said.

In the 14 years since Shirley was born, she’s become a staple of Denver-area drag and has been doing story time events for children since 2017. She started making appearances in Broomfield’s library in 2021, and has performed there periodically ever since. Shirley’s most recent event last weekend brought a crowd of over 200 people to Broomfield Auditorium.

“One thing that makes the story time events stand out to me is that we’re really encouraging our young people to be who they want to be,” Sanks said. “When I dress in drag and show up at the Broomfield auditorium for 250 people, and I’m the only person who’s dressed like me, that’s a really strong example for our kids to see somebody doing what they want to do — whether anybody else is doing it.”

Sanks said he chooses the books for the story time events with that theme in mind, encouraging young people to bravely be who they are.

“A lot of the books that I choose have a message about being who you are, accepting who you are and advocating for yourself,” he said. “We tell our kids to stand out and be proud of who they are, and when I walk in I’m leading by example.”

When he’s not performing as Shirley, Sanks’s day job is an elementary school teacher, and he said that what he sees in kids every day motivates him to continue spreading that message.

“I see students get caught up in all these other things, and I want to make sure that they know to just be who they are,” he said. “Don’t try to be somebody else, we already have them.”

Sanks said Shirley’s reception in Broomfield has been very welcoming, and even at the events where protesters make an appearance, Shirley keeps her head held high.

“I’ve asked people who come to protest to sit down and talk with me and tell me what about drag queen story time is so awful, but no one has taken me up on my offer,” he said. “The people who are criticizing drag queen story time have never actually been to one of the events.”

Beyond the Front Range, a spotlight has appeared on the LGBTQ community nationally, with many negative attitudes and narratives. But Sanks said he plans to use the privilege he has to uplift his community in the face of adversity.

“I have a little bit of anxiety about what’s going on, but I’m also a white, educated, cisgender, middle class man,” he said. “I know that I have to use my privilege to stand up and keep doing the things that I’m doing, for the trans kids who are seeking health care or trying to use the bathroom or play on sports teams — it’s for the larger communities under our queer umbrella.”

“I’ve been doubling down on what I’m doing — being loud and colorful and joyful, and not shying away from public events. That’s the type of environment where tyrannical and authoritarian leaders thrive,” Sanks said. “If I show up and stay hopeful, then those authoritarians have not won.”

To learn more about Shirley and where she’ll perform next, visit shirley deltablow.com.