Check Out Lydia Chlamydia’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lydia Chlamydia

Hi Lydia, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I”m KJ Leuthauser, known by many as Lydia Chlamydia, unknown to few. I was introduced to drag through local theatre in my hometown of Lebanon, New Hampshire. I saw a play in middle school which depicted a queen bee as a Drag Queen Bee. The disapproved whisperings of my religious Mother in my ear told my rebellious side that there was more to explore. As a kid with little unrestricted access to the internet, it took a few more years for me to discover another drag queen, but my ADHD riddled self in highschool did more youtube searching than scientific. I found tutorials, collabs, even cooking videos of women that seemed to be 7 feet tall and full of a confidence I had never seen before. It was intimidating; to the point where I deleted any evidence that I had seen these videos because the aura the emminated from them risked discovery, not by my parents but more in myself. I wasn’t out, still had a girlfriend and was generally confused by the entire idea of this type of performance. Cross dressing wasn’t a new concept to me as I loved Mrs. Doubtfire, the little green alien from Lilo and Stitch, and every Community Theatre Production of Peter Pan I’d ever seen had used a girl to play Peter pan. But there was something different with Drag Queens. The confidence that seemed to fill a room, the exageration of every facial feature. Nothing was natural but everything looked like it belonged. The fascination stayed with me secretly until I saw my first ever Broadway Musical (can you tell I was a theatre kid growing up?) My family wasn’t rolling in dough while I was in Highschool so our trip to NYC in 2018 didn’t include Hamilton tickets. Instead, my parents opted for a site called Broadway Roullette where you pay a much cheaper price to see a random show, told to you a few hours before the show started. We got Head Over Heels, a new musical, that was my parents worst fear and my dream scenario. It was so thoroughly queer, so gay, so raunchy. The script was all shakespearean english, the characters cross dressed but one of the main Characters, Pythio, was a Drag Queen, Played by Rupauls Peppermint. I still hadn’t heard of Rupauls drag race so the name was lost on me but I absolutely LOVED the show and when it ended all my parents had were apologies that we had seen “the worst show on broadway” and I finally had to stand up and say “well I enjoyed it”. It was one of my first times seeing proffessional drag in real life. Fast forward a year and I am now a senior in Highschool and my first ever year out of the closet. It created a rocky relationship with my parents that has taken time to heal but the rebel inside of me new I wanted to be a drag queen for halloween. No character that is a Drag Queen like Tootsie but just “A Drag Queen’”. My friend did My makeup, and I wore a silly orange shake and go wig, and honey, I looked Awful. But DAMN did I feel the fantasy. There was something about being in drag that allowed me to forgive the flaws, flukes and the confidence that I had sought for years got its first little taste of fertilizer, not ready to blossom, but the seed was planted. This was my senior year of Highschool and as college apps, SATs and the general fear of leaving my hometown grew, I didn’t persue drag at all. Then Covid hit. And I had all the time in the world to explore the internet while finishing up my senior year of highschool. I discovered Rupauls drag race while season 12 was airing. I was floored. Theres a whole ass competition show for this kind of performance and its already on season 12?? I had so much to learn. I eventually went to college at The University of Utah for my BFA in Musical Theatre and there, I found the freedom from my hometown and family that I had been yearning for. Sometimes I wore cropped shirts, my boots sometimes had a little kitten heel. My second year of college rolled around and I wanted to be Cruella Devil for Halloween. I wanted to one up my attempt from 2 years prior and I got a new wig, attempted to style it, I tucked, I bought makeup, I practiced, and I still looked rotted. But the fantasy I had been chasing returned. I felt fierce, I felt Diva, and I went to a local gay bar and saw a ton of other Drag Queens. That was the night that I met my Drag Mother, Divina 2.0 who still inspires and supports me to this day. She invited me back to perform at the bar not a month later. I was terrified but I went, slayed, still looked bad but being on stage, getting paid, getting tipped and meeting other local queens changed my life. I reached for that high. I was still in school so I didn’t do too much more drag, until I saw a local theatre was doing Head Over Heels that summer. I got a few of my friends together and we auditioned and to my suprise I got the role of Pythio. It was a full circle moment. It also meant I had to get into drag 5 times a week for 2 months. Thats where I really learned how to do my makeup. Put on wigs etc. I was still a baby Queen and there wasn’t much demand for me so in the established venues across the city so I started to look for my own oppurtunities. I’ve always been a pretty athletic and active person and when I knew of this activity in town called the 999 ride. Its a large bike group that meets every thursday and bikes through town, stopping at different parks and parking lots across the city. I started to go in Drag because every party needs a drag queen. And I even did it in Heels. I started to make a name for myself, and it gave me a reason to try a new makeup look, to get a new wig, or to assemble a new outfit. I had found a perfoamnce spot that fit me. I ride a bike everywhere I go, to the day, as I don’t have a car and being in a large group of people completly undercover, in an almost “take back the streets protest” really made me feel as if I had found a purpose with my drag. When winter hit, I had grown so much more as a Queen and started to get bookings, shows and reaching out to local bars and starting my own shows. I was really starting to feel like I had everything. Until my senior year started and in October 2023 one of my worst fears became a reality. My house burned down. All of my drag, gone in 5 minutes, and I was able to save barely any of it. I thought I was done. I thought I would never be able to recover. Until I the more people that I talked to, the more I realized those were just things. Lydia had never ~lived~ in those things, she had always lived in me. I also realized that my growth had stagnated. I was relying on the looks, the makeup, the wigs that I had from when I was first starting out. This gave me the oppurtunity to really curate a brand, to really dig down deep and improve again. And thats what I did. I made myself pads, I got new wigs and my Drag mom worked tuirelesslsy with me to tech me how to style my own wigs. She gave up hours of her wednesdays to teach and help me grow and for that I’m forever thankful. She got me bookings at her new bar, she gave me hope. 2024 has been the best year ever for Lydia Chlamydia. I graduated college and I’ve been booked and blessed ever since. Ive been teaching myself how to sew, how to network and continuing to remind myself of why I started all of this in the first place; confidence. The more I got confident in drag, the more I got confident everywhere in my life. Drag has really given me the space to grow as a queer person and I cannot wait to one day give that joy to someone else!

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Definitely the fire and my parents. Growing up in a religious household there was always a voice in the back of my head telling me that what I was doing was wrong. I struggled a lot through those voices and I still do. But the more I find success and support the more those voices lose their grip on me.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I specialize in Drag Performance! Lydia Chlamydia shows people that you can still be a little damaged while still deserving of success and love. I’m known for my biking performances in drag while at the 999 ride. I can bike for loooong distances with no hands and dancing the whole time all while in heels. I’m so proud of allowing my creative mind to continue to flow and create new numbers to entertain others.

What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
Never take anything too seriously. Drag, when you boil it all down, is just professional cross dressing. It’s silly, its stupid and I’ve found the stupider the better. Opportunities will present themselves when they will. Theres going to be lots of disappointment and if you take those to heart and too seroiusly, you’ll trap yourself in a hole of self doubt and pity. Enjoy the moments you get without worrying about the next one.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: lydiagotchlamydia