The first time John Ridgeway was in drag, he was walking down the main street of Dubbo, wrapped in a pride flag and the Aboriginal flag.
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"It was very scary," Mr Ridgeway, also known as Jojo Zaho, said.
It was 2015 and Dubbo's first pride march.
"I was so nervous. I was thinking 'God, this is huge, it's very obvious now'. It was very confronting and by the time I had finished it, it was just so freeing," Mr Ridgeway said.
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He remembers how Indigenous kids on the street were pointing to the costume.
"It's moments like that that constantly remind me that what I do is much bigger than me," Mr Ridgeway said.
Fast forward six years and Jojo Zaho is on RuPaul's Drag Race, unfurling a skirt with the message 'Always was, always will be'.
While Jojo may have been the first eliminated from the show, the queen said being able to share that message was one of the highlights.
Not only was it an important message he had been waiting to share, but Mr Ridgeway said the show was a chance to be the representation he hadn't seen growing up in Dubbo.
"I'm not telling everyone they should be a drag queen, it's more 'be comfortable with who you are, regardless of your gender, your sexuality, your gender identity. Just fully accept who you are'."
"For me it was important to send that message that you're not alone. I'm here, I'm queer and I'm also Indigenous and I love it."
It's something Mr Ridgeway said he wished he had had when he was growing up. He didn't come out until he was about 20-years-old because it took him a long time to accept himself.
Now, Mr Ridgeway finds the process of transforming into Jojo Zaho freeing.
"One of the things that I love is looking like a very rich, expensive woman and then having a filthy mouth," he said.
"I love entertaining people and making them laugh and drag lets me do all those things. I get to make people laugh through my performances or through hosting, it's just really fun. I get to play dress up for a living."
While getting into drag used to take five hours, Mr Ridgeway said it now took about two, three if he felt like taking his time.
"It's almost therapeutic in a way. It's you, the mirror and the make-up brush and it forces you to sit down and slow down for a second," he said.
And although he left Dubbo, Mr Ridgeway said attitudes here had changed since that first time he did drag.
"A friend of mine, Timberlina, has started doing a few drag shows out in Dubbo and it's one of her most booked out towns, and tickets sell quite fast," he said.
"I think perceptions out there are definitely changing. People are a lot more accepting and tend to care less. They're not as rigid as six years ago and a lot more open to the idea that hey, we're just people."
And Mr Ridgeway wants people to know they don't have to leave Dubbo to be accepted.
"There are plenty of places in Dubbo that will help you get through, like headspace, they're so queer-inclusive," he said.
"That was one of the big things that Nic Steepe wanted to instill on people [when he was establishing the pride march] - you don't need to leave Dubbo to feel accepted, you don't need to run off to the big city.
"Just enjoy life. It's short and it's going to be over before you know it."
Jojo Zaho will be coming back to Dubbo on July 23 and 24 for a cabaret show at Taronga Western Plains Zoo and a bingo night at Down the Lane.