Recently hosting and performing at Middleton’s Pride, the Crucible, Shoe Horse Green and several other venues, Sunshine Raynebow left her mark across the Madison area this Pride Month.
The Milwaukee native has performed drag for over a decade with the goal of bringing joy, positivity, and kindness to her audiences. Drag was also a passage for Raynebow to express herself and explore her identity as a trans woman.
“Sunshine is just part of me. Sunshine is who I am,” she said. “I just started to be myself authentically.”
In addition to her work as a performer, she has integrated activism into her life from an early age.
Raynebow’s start in activism was organizing for immigrant rights in Milwaukee as a 17-year-old. She was part of Voces de la Frontera’s youth chapter, called Youth Empowered in Struggle. In this group, she became the main organizer.
After hearing the previous chapter leader’s story about watching her brother be taken by ICE, Raynebow was inspired into a life of activism.
“It made me realize my life isn’t just about me; it’s bigger than me, and I need to help others, ” said Raynebow. “I saw that the system wasn’t benefiting me and people like me, people of color in general. I saw my brother be taken and put in the system for different reasons, but I could relate to (the previous chapter leader). I wanted to help and fight for others and do my part to make the world a better place.”
Since then, Raynebow expanded her work to the Black Lives Matter movement and within the queer community.
In 2020, she was part of a march from Milwaukee to Madison to demand change after the police murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Black Wisconsin residents. At the end of the 60-mile trek during the hottest part of the summer, Raynebow’s group was welcomed by Madison residents, which encouraged her move to the capital city.
Here, Raynebow became a producer and stage hand with Mad City Sapphics, a local theatrical company that hosts a variety of events such as drag, burlesque, and raves. Her job is to help make events run smoothly. Starting as a volunteer, she now does everything from introducing guests to backstage work to performing.
In Mad City Sapphics, she has made a community. The owner of the organization is part of Raynebow’s drag family. “I want to help my drag kids in whatever way I can”, she says.
Raynebow is using her role as a host and performer to strengthen the Madison queer community by making events more accessible to everybody.
“I like hosting shows where I can make the price be a sliding scale,” she said. “We believe in allowing people to be at our shows, even if they can’t afford it because we just want people to have fun. If you want to have a good time when you can’t afford it, come hang out with us! If you feel like you need to do something, help us set things up, help with cleanup.”
Through her activism and drag, she promotes compassion and authenticity for a better future.
“I fight so that the system is better for the people that shouldn’t have the same fight that I’ve always had,” said Raynebow. “I do what I do so that the youth can grow up in the world filled with love and so people can exist and not have to worry about their safety and well-being, because the world is filled with hate. So one day I can walk out of my house and just be free.”
As a Black trans woman, Raynebow faces the intersectional struggles of race and queerness inside her communities.
Within the Black communities, Raynebow reflected actions of transphobia and homophobia. She said Black queer and trans people have always been here and they’re not going anywhere.
“The Black community, we always need to support each other and uplift each other with our differences and bring each other together because the world around us is filled with hate,” she said. “It’s hard to see us hating on each other because when we hate on each other, that adds more fuel to their flames.”
She sees a similar pattern of hate within the trans community against those that don’t fit the mold or standards. Raynebow hasn’t had any surgeries or taken hormones and she has faced challenges while she lives authentic to herself.
“People think that transness needs to just happen in a certain way in order to be considered acceptable. Trans people exist in many different ways, and that’s okay. When I go out to the world, being myself is for others to see so they can know it’s okay for them to be themselves,“ she said.
The way we celebrate Black queerness is by uplifting Black queer voices, she said. “Inviting us into spaces, allowing us to have a seat at the table, and actually listening to what we have to say,” she said.
Raynebow said she wants to see her people celebrate with each other and enjoy time together. Additionally, she mentions financially supporting Black queer performers by going to their events and donating.
Her message to the world is one of self-love. “Always love yourself,” Raynebow said. “Always be who you are, and always remember to shine your bright light like the stars you are. Never let anyone or anything dim your bright light. Because the world is filled with too much hate and we need you to love yourself. Be who you are authentically. Know that you are worthy, that you matter, that you are enough, and that you are loved.”
To learn more about Sunshine Raynebow and her upcoming events, follow her Instagram @raynebowsunshine, or follow Sunny Ray Creations, her platform to promote her message, drag, activism, and poetry.
