Still Defying Gravity: Queer, HIV-Positive & 10 Years Thriving Sober

“Elphaba wasn’t the villain. She was the spellbreaker.” In this powerful Pride Month episode, Alexander Blue Feather reflects on the moment Wicked became his lifeline. It was June 2003, freshly diagnosed with HIV, newly exiled from the Mormon church, and standing at the edge of a new life. Then Elphaba soared across a Broadway stage, green-skinned and defiant, and something shifted forever. Now, 22 years later, Alexander returns to that sacred moment as the trailer for Wicked: Part Two, For Good is released. He shares how Elphaba became a queer archetype and teacher, how sobriety reshaped his soul, and why pride means more at 52 than it ever did at 30. This episode celebrates 10 years clean from hard drugs, explores the grief of losing a parent, honors gender expansiveness, and affirms that queerness is holy. It’s part memoir, part spell, part sermon for the ones who had to leave to live. Topics include: • Queer identity and Pride then vs. now • Living with HIV for 22 years • 10 years sober from crystal meth and hard drugs • Elphaba as a mirror for queer becoming • Gender expansiveness and chosen family • Spoken-word taglines and healing through Broadway For the ones with glitter in their scars -- you were never wicked -- you were always becoming.