JAMES in MR. TURK Pride Brief; TMA Cosmic Sunglasses / KIT in TODDSANSFIELD.COM Swim Brief; CADDIS_LIFE SunglassesBlake Young

Kit: I think the highlight was obviously Willam at all times, but most specifically for me and James when we got to be cowboys worshiping at Willam’s feet.

Willam: Congratulating my castmates on Unconventionalon Revry, because we’re really, really good in it. And I haven’t seen them in a while, and I just wanted to tell them that we should have a second season because I need a job.

James: Just being with these two. They’re always so much fun. In particular, the shot I loved was when Willam was spraying us with the water hose.

Kit: A big highlight for me was us being together again in the desert, because we got to shoot Unconventional out here, and thankfully, we’re with some slightly better weather. It’s not 120 degrees.

JAMES in DANDY DEL MAR Crochet Tank; MR. TURK Board Shirt and Pride Brief; TMA Cosmic SunglassesBlake Young

Kit: As little as possible. [As for swimwear brands] I’ve got my loyalty to Mr. Turk. Mr. Turk has been there for us through thick and thin and is very featured in Unconventional as well.

Willam: A key chain to hold my keys…and a cute towel…[a] little Bathhouse Betty moment. And then flip-flops because you can catch a lot of things, but PrEP does not cover athlete’s foot.

James: Typically trunks, but I’m stepping into my soft top era and so Speedos! I used to be really self-conscious about my legs. I’m 6’6” and most of that is legs. I got a really high booty, but, yeah, I’m starting to try the Speedos out and I think I’m liking what they’re giving.

KIT and JAMES in DAN WARD LYCRA Swim Briefs; RUFSKIN Leather-Chrome Necklace / KIT’S Own Boots and Hats / WILLAM in Own LookBlake Young

Kit: You can chart whatever course you want in your life. You can be weird and wonderful and don’t have to follow any of the paths laid out for you.

Willam: I thought Unconventional was great because there were so many juxtapositions, like a drag queen who wasn’t necessarily drunk or high all the time....And I thought it just showed…[being gay is] not just Queer as Folk, let’s get soaking wet. [Queer] people have problems too, and just because we’re really, really attractive doesn’t mean that we can’t tell those stories of those problematic people also.

James: I hope people take away that you do not have to live life the way you’ve been told, that you can…chart your own course, and if you wanna start a family, start a fucking family. Do what is in your heart, and do it with the people you love.

KIT in DAN WARD Cotton Voile Kimono and Lycra Swim Brief / JAMES in OAS Leopard Terry Robe; SEA CULTURE RIVIERA Trunk; CADDIS_LIFE SunglassesBlake Young

Kit: We need to make space in this community for every kind of queer person. If you want to be in a monogamous relationship with 16 kids, I support you. If you want to be a freewheeling slut in your 40s, I support you. The fact is we need to support each other now in whatever way that we can.

Kit: So Unconventional is set in both the high desert and the low desert of Joshua Tree and Palm Springs [respectively], and they offer completely different things. The high desert is very wild and rugged, it’s cowboys and cactuses. And the low desert is Palm Springs, midcentury modern and a kind of Americana that queer people have been instrumental in creating but [are] often excluded from narratively. So there are a lot of lines that James’s character has in the show about owning a piece of that, and we’re shooting in an original William Krisel-designed Alexander Construction Company home in Twin Palms. And James’s character Dan has a lot of lines about owning a piece of that and what that means as a queer person.

WILLAM in Own Look / JAMES in SEA CULTURE Riviera Trunk and Yellow Trucker Hat / KIT in MR. TURK Swim Briefs; CADDIS_LIFE SunglassesBlake Young

Willam: Palm Springs and Joshua Tree for me has been like an awakening as a queer adult. I shot Eastsiders with [Kit] in Palm Springs and Palm Desert, and that made me want to get a place out there, and now I have a place out there, and it’s like my happy place. The desert’s great because, in Palm Springs, I’m like a 9. I’m young again. And in Joshua Tree, I’m like 8, 8.5. It’s great. In L.A., I’m a 6, so come to the desert.

James: Shooting this show was an introduction to this area in many ways for me…. I think I prefer Joshua Tree in a way just because it’s secluded. It was an opportunity to be out in nature. I actually did shrooms for the first time in the desert with these two by the pool before we shot [in preparation for a psychedelic scene]. I remember [seeing] it was a palm tree, a really tall palm tree, and I felt like she had ponytails, and she was sassy…. Come to the desert, and do shrooms.

Willam: And roller skate. There’s a gay roller rink.

JAMES and KIT in @TODDSANSFIELD.COM Swim Briefs / WILLAM in Own LookBlake Young

Willam: Pride, for me, means visibility. We have to make ourselves known and shown so the next generation knows that they can do it too, because it’s hard to go forth and like forge your own path unless you see somebody that’s kind of representative of you or in your image. Mine when I was young was Sylvester and RuPaul and Lady Bunny and Charles Busch and people like that who…carved out their own niche, and shoved their foot in there and said, “I’m gonna be there.” So Pride for me is about that. And drink tickets.

James: For me, Pride is celebration. You know how you hear about the stages of grief and how it’s similar to the stages of coming out? I felt like even though I was out — I’ve been out for almost 10 years, for a decade now — I was kind of stuck at acceptance, and always kind of working to getting to celebration, where it’s not just about accepting that I’m gay or my family accepting that I’m gay, but being at a place where I can celebrate it, where I can actually wave a rainbow flag. I used to be that gay who would say, “I don’t wanna be a guy waving a rainbow flag. Yeah, I’m gay, but I don’t necessarily wanna be the poster child.” Now I’m OK with being a poster child, and so I’m in a space where I’m ready to celebrate. I’m ready to get on a fucking float…because this is the best thing that has happened for me in terms of being out and being able to work with other queer artists and just realizing I’m in a space where I’m realizing that this is my purpose. I’m doing exactly what I’m supposed to be doing, so here I am.

JAMES in DANDY DEL MAR Crochet Tank; EL TUGGLE Swim Short; RUFSKIN Leather/Chrome NecklaceKIT in MR. TURK PRIDE 25 Knit Cabana Set; CADDIS_LIFE SunglassesBlake Young

Kit: I really echo that. You know, for me, Pride this year is about defiance. I grew up in Mississippi, and I never wanna go back to feeling about being gay the way that I felt about being gay growing up. I often say (and my husband often says) that being gay is the best thing that’s ever happened to us. We thought it was the worst thing that ever happened to us, and it’s only through life and experience that you learn that this world is yours.

talent: @kitwilliamson
@jrbland & @willam
photographer: @youngblake
stylist: @neilcohenstyle
makeup: @__emilyanneee__
videographer MIGUEL TORRES
location: BENECIA OASIS in JOSHUA TREE@beneciaoasis

This article is part of the Out May/June "Pride" issue, which hits newsstands May 27. Support queer media and subscribe— or download the issue through Apple News, Zinio, Nook, or PressReader starting May 15.