There’s something electric about sitting across from a drag queen at the Stonewall Inn. The disco ball spins above us, casting flecks of light on the bar’s worn brick walls—walls that have held decades of laughter, rebellion, and chosen family.

Masks, personas, alter-egos — they allow us to shapeshift. To survive. To stand a little taller when we feel small. To say the thing we might otherwise swallow. To be bold when boldness feels dangerous. In many ways, this is ancient magic. Ritualistic. Human.

[Photo by Kirill Bykanov] Girl rock is officially in for 2025, and NYC-based queer-indie-girl band Double Standard  is steering the...