Q, star of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” Season 16 and a contestant in the upcoming season of “Project Runway,” was born, raised, and still makes the occasional fabulous appearance in Emporia, Kansas.

Known as Robert Severson off stage, Q lives in Kansas City where he works as a drag queen and costume designer full-time. He returned home to celebrate Pride by emceeing and performing in a local drag show last Saturday alongside Kansas queens Mulan, Isabella Valenciaga, and Raychel. Afterwards, I interviewed Severson for the inaugural installment of the series “7 Questions about Kansas.”

LG: When you’re asked what it was like growing up in Kansas, what do you say?

RS: There’s a lot of small towns, so it's very intimate, so you end up having a lot of really close relationships. My core family and friend group growing up was the only reason that I survived being queer in a small town. There's a lot of pockets of really incredible people. I don't know how I would have survived without them and that support and that love from them that I always got, no matter who I was. 

LG: How does being from Kansas influence how you carry yourself in big city and performance spaces? 

RS: You don't always expect, from small-town rural Kansas, someone who's queer, who's a drag queen, who celebrates and lives their life in these openly, really large, queer spaces, traveling all around the world, performing in these venues. When I go into those spaces, I let people know where I did come from and that anything is possible and anything can happen if you really, really want it, and you push for it, and you chase it. There's gonna be failure and heartbreak, and also success, and the more you fail, the easier the failure is, and the sweeter the success is. 

LG: How do you feel your hometown has changed or stayed the same? 

RS: When I was growing up in Emporia, there weren’t Pride events. I was the president of the GSA in high school, and that in itself was very, very small. So, seeing the community blossom and having these Pride events where people can come out and feel safe and supported, I think that's really beautiful. It's something I never would have expected growing up here. To see it now, it really warms my heart. 

We forget that there are these queer people living in these smaller communities. We don't just live in these big cities where queer nightlife happens or in the very large queer communities. There are small-town queer people who still want to be seen. 

LG: How has your relationship with Kansas changed in the years that you've lived and worked elsewhere? 

RS: I feel like I used to be more — oh, I'm from a small town, Emporia, Kansas — but the more success I have, the more I'm proud to come from this little town in Kansas. Because I know that if I was a young, queer kid in Emporia, Kansas, and I saw someone like me come from Emporia and do the things I was doing, how much that would mean to me and how incredible that would be to see. 

LG: What about Kansas makes you feel like you're back home?

RS: The flat fields (laughs). My family, my community, how much people go up for me and love me and how loyal these rural communities are to you when they love you and they respect you. It is kind of like a “protect your own” (mentality). I always feel that love when I come back here.

LG: Is there a place or thing that you have to visit or have/do when you come home? 

RS: I have to try to see my friends, if possible, my core group from growing up. I like to check in. We don't always get to see each other all the time, because we're living our own lives, but I love to connect back with them. I love to reminisce, go to the Sonic, or the Braum’s where we used to hang out after high school. Or go to happy hour. I go thrifting with my mom or garage saling. Growing up, my mom and I would always go to Daylight Donuts early in the morning, and then we would garage sale, and that was one of our favorite things to do together. 

LG: What's your biggest wish for Kansas? 

RS: My biggest wish for Kansas is to just keep growing in terms of acceptance of queer people. I think that we've come a long way, but I still think there's a very long way to go. I am seeing this growth in Emporia and how much it's changing, but I think there can always be more representation, more openness, and more fight for our marginalized communities. I hope that Kansas is on that path. 

I see where it is happening, but then also these anti-trans bills are being passed in Kansas, where suddenly people’s licenses are invalid. There are good things that are happening in Kansas, but there's also still a lot more to do for our gay sisters and brothers, our trans sisters and brothers, any marginalized people. There's always somebody that's going to scapegoat the people who are marginalized, because it's the easy thing to do. It's easy to blame someone who's vulnerable. 

Severson says there are always bigger and better things opening on the horizon, more success, more failure, more of it all. “You can always expect all of it from me.” You can watch his journey on Season 22 of “Project Runway,” which debuts July 9 on Freeform. Episodes will also be available on Disney+ and Hulu the day after they air. You can also follow Q on Instagram.

His final words: “I grew up in Kansas, so I know that anything's possible, no matter where you come from. Keep fighting for the people you love and the people that love you back, and the rest will come with it.”

Linzi Garcia is a journalist, editor, teacher, and international poet. She resides in Emporia, Kansas, where she works for Meadowlark Press and House of Morrow. Linzi is a recipient of a NextGen Under 30 Kansas Award and Kansas Governor’s Arts Award.

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