One of our favorite queer reality shows is back for a second season tonight -- and there's nothing else quite like it currently on television.
"The Prancing Elites Project" follows a group of queer, black, gender non-conforming individuals from Mobile, Alabama as they navigate the nuances (and dangers) of being queer in the deep south while coming to live as their authentic selves.
Made up of Adrian Clemons, Kentrell Collins, Kareem Davis, Jerel Maddox and Tim Smith, "The Prancing Elites Project" is a bold and powerful look at a group of queer people who are thriving in a part of America traditionally considered extremely homophobic.
"We are a black gay male and gender non-conforming dance team from Mobile, Alabama, and we're fabulous!" Clemons told The Huffington Post. "We were rejected in high school from auditioning for the dance teams, so we came up with our own group called The Prancing Elites. Here in Mobile, we struggle with a lot of discrimination because of who we are and what we do. Basically we stand to let everyone know it's OK to be who you are, and to feel comfortable in the skin you’re in. Also live your life for you, because honesty starts within yourself! We, The Prancing Elites, live to BUCK another day!"
The group also emphasized that they want viewers to not only take away a sense of their lives as The Prancing Elites, but to also to feel inspired to live authentically as themselves.
"Watching this show, I want people to feel empowered to do anything that they put their minds to," Maddox told The Huffington Post. "I want people to understand that no matter who or what you are, we all have an opportunity to be great just by being alive. Never let society tell you what you 'can't' do just because you're 'different.' Different people create different changes and sometimes being different is GOOD! BE YOU!"
"The Prancing Elites Project" will premiere on Tuesday, Jan. 19 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Oxygen.
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