From dad to drag: How Jada Yee supports his queer kids as Chyna B. Deadly

Sam Maciag · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 26, 2025 8:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours ago

It's a Saturday nighttime and Chyna B. Deadly is strutting, jumping, dancing and lip-syncing to Lady Gaga's latest single, Abracadabra. She's dressed successful a plunging glittery gown and precocious heels, surrounded by radical singing along, dancing and waving wealth astatine her.

Chyna is simply a resistance queen and her adoring fans are attending the Sweet N Sticky Pride lawsuit connected June 14 astatine The Exchange successful Regina.

But during the day, you'd cognize her arsenic Jada Yee: a tall, wide businessman, usually wearing a suit.

Yee's alter ego and signifier sanction is a blend of his Chinese and Indigenous heritages.

You mightiness assume, due to the fact that Yee is simply a resistance queen, that he's gay. He's not.

WATCH | How this dada sees resistance arsenic a mode to enactment his children: 

He's straight, joined to a woman and has 4 children, 2 of whom are transgender.

"My children are my life," helium told Sam Maciag successful this week's occurrence of the This is Saskatchewan podcast.

"Everything I privation to bash is to amusement them that they're loved and appreciated. I effort to spot things done their eyes. That's what makes maine a amended person."

In 2023, Yee was invited to enactment successful Walk the Walk, a resistance queen fundraiser that raises wealth by putting section celebrities and alteration makers in drag. They larn however to enactment it, past bash truthful successful beforehand of a crowd, with proceeds from the event going to Lulu's Lodge, an organization that provides enactment to young queer and transgender radical who've been kicked retired of their homes.

When his girl Jill revealed herself to beryllium transgender successful her precocious 20s, Yee committed to being a amended ally. He joined enactment groups for parents, saying it was truly important for her to cognize that helium had her back.

When his lad revealed himself to besides beryllium transgender a fewer years later, Yee said helium was amended prepared to enactment him and beryllium a bully parent.

"I deliberation [our relationship] got amended due to the fact that it allowed maine to truly beryllium much unfastened with them," helium said.

When Yee deed that signifier arsenic Chyna for the archetypal clip successful 2023, it was expected to beryllium a 1 and done performance. But 1 of the different queens approached him.

"She was crying and she said, 'I privation you were my dad.' It was truthful affectional … and past afterwards, the radical came up to maine and they said, 'You should proceed doing this,'" said Yee.

"That's the crushed wherefore I proceed to bash it, due to the fact that I really got permission. I felt similar I got validated by them."As a straight, cisgender man, Yee said he's cognizant of his spot successful the community.

"We've ever benignant of dealt with the pretendians, right? And the achromatic knights that say, 'I'm present to prevention you.' I didn't privation to beryllium seen arsenic that consecutive saviour of the community. And I'm precise unfastened astir that arsenic well. But they were precise welcoming and said, no, no, no, like, you're portion of us."

Yee said that each clip helium steps into his heels and transforms into Chyna, helium sees it arsenic a committedness to beryllium visible, vocal and an ally.

That's thing the 2SLGBTQ+ assemblage needs, according to Tyler Babiy, a queer contented creator and societal media strategist successful Saskatoon. That, and much supportive parents.

"I deliberation tons of clip erstwhile we speech astir allyship, we absorption connected the rainbow sticker connected the beforehand of a concern oregon societal media posts. But I deliberation oftentimes we don't absorption connected immoderate of the allyship that happens wrong families, and wrong friends, and wrong interpersonal relationships," helium said connected CBC Radio's Blue Sky.

"Just being supportive to friends and family, conscionable connected a one-to-one level in a radical level, a household mounting – those things are truly huge."

Babiy said Pride events are conscionable portion of the state experience, but the enactment continues year-round. His company, Social Made Local, makes covering focused connected creativity, practice and visibility.

"If you're wearing a Pride garment and idiosyncratic comes into your spot of concern and they are a queer person, they spot your T-shirt, it's conscionable a ocular awesome for them that they tin consciousness comfortable," helium said. "It besides conscionable normalizes queerness."

For radical learning however to beryllium an ally, Saskatoon counsellor Niko Alexander said the cardinal is to larn to de-centre yourself — not to marque it astir you, particularly erstwhile you marque mistakes.

"Accept that you're going to messiness up … you're going to marque mistakes. You're going to person to get comfy with being uncomfortable," helium said, adding that over-apologizing erstwhile you marque those mistakes is an illustration of making it astir you.

"Just say, 'Sorry, I'll bash better,' and past determination close connected with the conversation."

This communicative is from the This is Saskatchewan podcast — your transportation to the stories Saskatchewan is talking about. Every week, we cover section issues that matter. Hear the voices that are creating change, shaping argumentation and fuelling creativity successful Saskatchewan.

Tune into This is Saskatchewan every Wednesday and Friday connected CBC Listen oregon wherever you get your podcasts.