Waymon Hudson
@waymonhudson.bsky.social
Queer. Deaf. Loud.
✍️ Memoirist | 🎭 Musical Creator | 📣 Marketing Futurist
Dispatches from the jungle, the page, and the stage.
✍️ Memoirist | 🎭 Musical Creator | 📣 Marketing Futurist
Dispatches from the jungle, the page, and the stage.
If you’ve ever had someone carry you — a teacher, a drag queen, a neighbor, a cousin, a stranger — this essay is for you.
💛 Read it here: open.substack.com/pub/waymonhu...
🎭 + new Speakeasy blog
🎧 + “Stolen Glances (Reprise)” lyric video
💃 + “Talk With Your Hands” is out now
💛 Read it here: open.substack.com/pub/waymonhu...
🎭 + new Speakeasy blog
🎧 + “Stolen Glances (Reprise)” lyric video
💃 + “Talk With Your Hands” is out now
The People Who Carried Us
Messy Reinvention isn’t a solo act — it’s a lineage.
open.substack.com
November 16, 2025 at 3:58 PM
If you’ve ever had someone carry you — a teacher, a drag queen, a neighbor, a cousin, a stranger — this essay is for you.
💛 Read it here: open.substack.com/pub/waymonhu...
🎭 + new Speakeasy blog
🎧 + “Stolen Glances (Reprise)” lyric video
💃 + “Talk With Your Hands” is out now
💛 Read it here: open.substack.com/pub/waymonhu...
🎭 + new Speakeasy blog
🎧 + “Stolen Glances (Reprise)” lyric video
💃 + “Talk With Your Hands” is out now
I tied this into my Speakeasy musical this week: especially Miss Addie.
Her first solo, “Stolen Glances (Reprise),” is all about passing the torch to the next generation.
Her love. Her history. Her survival.
All of it matters.
Her first solo, “Stolen Glances (Reprise),” is all about passing the torch to the next generation.
Her love. Her history. Her survival.
All of it matters.
November 16, 2025 at 3:58 PM
I tied this into my Speakeasy musical this week: especially Miss Addie.
Her first solo, “Stolen Glances (Reprise),” is all about passing the torch to the next generation.
Her love. Her history. Her survival.
All of it matters.
Her first solo, “Stolen Glances (Reprise),” is all about passing the torch to the next generation.
Her love. Her history. Her survival.
All of it matters.
Queer survival has always been communal.
Someone held the door open.
Someone kept the light on.
Someone whispered “keep going.”
We don’t reinvent alone... we reinvent because someone paved the way before us.
Someone held the door open.
Someone kept the light on.
Someone whispered “keep going.”
We don’t reinvent alone... we reinvent because someone paved the way before us.
November 16, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Queer survival has always been communal.
Someone held the door open.
Someone kept the light on.
Someone whispered “keep going.”
We don’t reinvent alone... we reinvent because someone paved the way before us.
Someone held the door open.
Someone kept the light on.
Someone whispered “keep going.”
We don’t reinvent alone... we reinvent because someone paved the way before us.
For me, it was my grandmother.
She let me sew, sing, play Barbies, and be soft in a world that punished softness.
She didn’t know the word “queer,” but she knew how to protect me.
She let me sew, sing, play Barbies, and be soft in a world that punished softness.
She didn’t know the word “queer,” but she knew how to protect me.
November 16, 2025 at 3:58 PM
For me, it was my grandmother.
She let me sew, sing, play Barbies, and be soft in a world that punished softness.
She didn’t know the word “queer,” but she knew how to protect me.
She let me sew, sing, play Barbies, and be soft in a world that punished softness.
She didn’t know the word “queer,” but she knew how to protect me.
It’s a song about being seen beyond the spotlight.
About wanting love that doesn’t fade when the music stops.
🎭 Read the full *Behind Broadway* blog: www.waymonhudson.com/post/queer-b...
#QueerBroadway #LGBTTheatre #SpeakeasyMusical #BehindBroadway #QueerVisibility #QueerRepresentation
About wanting love that doesn’t fade when the music stops.
🎭 Read the full *Behind Broadway* blog: www.waymonhudson.com/post/queer-b...
#QueerBroadway #LGBTTheatre #SpeakeasyMusical #BehindBroadway #QueerVisibility #QueerRepresentation
When Queer Broadway Characters Refuse to Stay Supporting
From La Cage aux Folles to Fun Home to to Speakeasy, these are the moments when queer characters stop apologizing and start taking up space.
www.waymonhudson.com
November 11, 2025 at 5:10 PM
It’s a song about being seen beyond the spotlight.
About wanting love that doesn’t fade when the music stops.
🎭 Read the full *Behind Broadway* blog: www.waymonhudson.com/post/queer-b...
#QueerBroadway #LGBTTheatre #SpeakeasyMusical #BehindBroadway #QueerVisibility #QueerRepresentation
About wanting love that doesn’t fade when the music stops.
🎭 Read the full *Behind Broadway* blog: www.waymonhudson.com/post/queer-b...
#QueerBroadway #LGBTTheatre #SpeakeasyMusical #BehindBroadway #QueerVisibility #QueerRepresentation
In my musical Speakeasy, Merc — the Velvet Boot’s glittering emcee — finally drops the act with “All That I Am.”
It’s his reclamation. His moment to say,
“I’ve got bruises shaped like praise… and hope that hums on quieter days.”
All that I AM Lyirc Video: youtu.be/qdrq8CsUqxQ
It’s his reclamation. His moment to say,
“I’ve got bruises shaped like praise… and hope that hums on quieter days.”
All that I AM Lyirc Video: youtu.be/qdrq8CsUqxQ
All That I Am – Official Lyric Video | Speakeasy: A New #Broadway Musical by Waymon Hudson
YouTube video by Waymon Hudson
youtu.be
November 11, 2025 at 5:10 PM
In my musical Speakeasy, Merc — the Velvet Boot’s glittering emcee — finally drops the act with “All That I Am.”
It’s his reclamation. His moment to say,
“I’ve got bruises shaped like praise… and hope that hums on quieter days.”
All that I AM Lyirc Video: youtu.be/qdrq8CsUqxQ
It’s his reclamation. His moment to say,
“I’ve got bruises shaped like praise… and hope that hums on quieter days.”
All that I AM Lyirc Video: youtu.be/qdrq8CsUqxQ
From *La Cage aux Folles* to *Fun Home* to *The Color Purple*, those “I Am” songs are really about something deeper:
Visibility. Survival. Worth.
Visibility. Survival. Worth.
November 11, 2025 at 5:10 PM
From *La Cage aux Folles* to *Fun Home* to *The Color Purple*, those “I Am” songs are really about something deeper:
Visibility. Survival. Worth.
Visibility. Survival. Worth.
My new essay digs into this — how queer survival became a performance, and what happens when we finally stop playing nice.
✨ Read Bruises Shaped Like Praise → open.substack.com/pub/waymonhu...
If your support ends where my humanity begins — keep your applause.
✨ Read Bruises Shaped Like Praise → open.substack.com/pub/waymonhu...
If your support ends where my humanity begins — keep your applause.
I've Got Bruises Shaped Like Praise
When the world loves you for what you give, not who you are.
open.substack.com
November 9, 2025 at 5:07 PM
My new essay digs into this — how queer survival became a performance, and what happens when we finally stop playing nice.
✨ Read Bruises Shaped Like Praise → open.substack.com/pub/waymonhu...
If your support ends where my humanity begins — keep your applause.
✨ Read Bruises Shaped Like Praise → open.substack.com/pub/waymonhu...
If your support ends where my humanity begins — keep your applause.
Don’t cheer for me at Pride and vote for hate in November.
Don’t call me brave while your silence bankrolls my oppression.
Don’t love my art and ignore the life that made it necessary.
Don’t call me brave while your silence bankrolls my oppression.
Don’t love my art and ignore the life that made it necessary.
November 9, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Don’t cheer for me at Pride and vote for hate in November.
Don’t call me brave while your silence bankrolls my oppression.
Don’t love my art and ignore the life that made it necessary.
Don’t call me brave while your silence bankrolls my oppression.
Don’t love my art and ignore the life that made it necessary.
I spent years turning pain into punchlines and truth into glitter.
It made me safe.
It made me consumable.
But it also made me small.
It made me safe.
It made me consumable.
But it also made me small.
November 9, 2025 at 5:07 PM
I spent years turning pain into punchlines and truth into glitter.
It made me safe.
It made me consumable.
But it also made me small.
It made me safe.
It made me consumable.
But it also made me small.
🖤 Read the Behind the Music blog → www.waymonhudson.com/post/dance-p...
🎧 Stream Talk With Your Hands → distrokid.com/hyperfollow/...
#TalkWithYourHands #WaymonHudson #ThroughMySkin #DancePop #DeafArtist #QueerMusic #NewMusicFriday
🎧 Stream Talk With Your Hands → distrokid.com/hyperfollow/...
#TalkWithYourHands #WaymonHudson #ThroughMySkin #DancePop #DeafArtist #QueerMusic #NewMusicFriday
“Talk With Your Hands” — Waymon Hudson’s Dance Pop Anthem About Touch and Connection
Deaf artist Waymon Hudson turns silence into rhythm with Talk With Your Hands — a dance pop track where desire and communication move through touch.
www.waymonhudson.com
November 7, 2025 at 7:20 PM
🖤 Read the Behind the Music blog → www.waymonhudson.com/post/dance-p...
🎧 Stream Talk With Your Hands → distrokid.com/hyperfollow/...
#TalkWithYourHands #WaymonHudson #ThroughMySkin #DancePop #DeafArtist #QueerMusic #NewMusicFriday
🎧 Stream Talk With Your Hands → distrokid.com/hyperfollow/...
#TalkWithYourHands #WaymonHudson #ThroughMySkin #DancePop #DeafArtist #QueerMusic #NewMusicFriday
This song is a love letter to that kind of connection — the kind that doesn’t need translation.
You don’t hear it. You *feel* it.
You don’t hear it. You *feel* it.
November 7, 2025 at 7:20 PM
This song is a love letter to that kind of connection — the kind that doesn’t need translation.
You don’t hear it. You *feel* it.
You don’t hear it. You *feel* it.
On the dance floor, nobody can hear each other.
Everyone’s speaking in movement — in looks, in rhythm, in touch.
That’s the great equalizer.
🎧 Stream Talk With Your Hands → distrokid.com/hyperfollow/...
Everyone’s speaking in movement — in looks, in rhythm, in touch.
That’s the great equalizer.
🎧 Stream Talk With Your Hands → distrokid.com/hyperfollow/...
November 7, 2025 at 7:20 PM
On the dance floor, nobody can hear each other.
Everyone’s speaking in movement — in looks, in rhythm, in touch.
That’s the great equalizer.
🎧 Stream Talk With Your Hands → distrokid.com/hyperfollow/...
Everyone’s speaking in movement — in looks, in rhythm, in touch.
That’s the great equalizer.
🎧 Stream Talk With Your Hands → distrokid.com/hyperfollow/...
New post: Costa Rica Expat Challenges — The Hard Stuff No One Posts on Instagram.
👉 www.waymonhudson.com/post/costa-r...
👉 www.waymonhudson.com/post/costa-r...
Costa Rica Expat Challenges: The Hard Stuff No One Posts on Instagram
From potholes and power outages to language barriers and missing conveniences, here’s the honest (and hilarious) truth about expat life in Costa Rica — and why it’s still paradise.
www.waymonhudson.com
November 6, 2025 at 5:37 PM
New post: Costa Rica Expat Challenges — The Hard Stuff No One Posts on Instagram.
👉 www.waymonhudson.com/post/costa-r...
👉 www.waymonhudson.com/post/costa-r...
But the trade-offs?
Sunsets that make you cry.
A community that actually cares.
And a pace of life that feels like breathing again.
Sunsets that make you cry.
A community that actually cares.
And a pace of life that feels like breathing again.
November 6, 2025 at 5:37 PM
But the trade-offs?
Sunsets that make you cry.
A community that actually cares.
And a pace of life that feels like breathing again.
Sunsets that make you cry.
A community that actually cares.
And a pace of life that feels like breathing again.
🚗 Driving is part obstacle course, part meditation.
🐜 Ants will move in rent-free.
📦 Amazon Prime? Doesn’t live here. (The jungle name is VERY deceiving)
🐜 Ants will move in rent-free.
📦 Amazon Prime? Doesn’t live here. (The jungle name is VERY deceiving)
November 6, 2025 at 5:37 PM
🚗 Driving is part obstacle course, part meditation.
🐜 Ants will move in rent-free.
📦 Amazon Prime? Doesn’t live here. (The jungle name is VERY deceiving)
🐜 Ants will move in rent-free.
📦 Amazon Prime? Doesn’t live here. (The jungle name is VERY deceiving)
Comfort didn’t make me happy.
Discomfort did.
New essay up now → The Comfort Trap: Why Playing It Safe Nearly Broke Me
open.substack.com/pub/waymonhu...
🎧 Talk With Your Hands (dance-pop banger from a deaf artist in the jungle) drops Nov 7. Pre-save now → distrokid.com/hyperfollow/...
Discomfort did.
New essay up now → The Comfort Trap: Why Playing It Safe Nearly Broke Me
open.substack.com/pub/waymonhu...
🎧 Talk With Your Hands (dance-pop banger from a deaf artist in the jungle) drops Nov 7. Pre-save now → distrokid.com/hyperfollow/...
The Comfort Trap: Why Playing It Safe Nearly Broke Me
Growth is uncomfortable. Change is uncomfortable. Hell, being yourself in a world that rewards conformity is uncomfortable. Comfort won’t change your life. Discomfort will.
open.substack.com
November 5, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Comfort didn’t make me happy.
Discomfort did.
New essay up now → The Comfort Trap: Why Playing It Safe Nearly Broke Me
open.substack.com/pub/waymonhu...
🎧 Talk With Your Hands (dance-pop banger from a deaf artist in the jungle) drops Nov 7. Pre-save now → distrokid.com/hyperfollow/...
Discomfort did.
New essay up now → The Comfort Trap: Why Playing It Safe Nearly Broke Me
open.substack.com/pub/waymonhu...
🎧 Talk With Your Hands (dance-pop banger from a deaf artist in the jungle) drops Nov 7. Pre-save now → distrokid.com/hyperfollow/...
So I did the wild thing.
I sold everything.
Moved to Costa Rica.
Wrote my trauma into a memoir.
Wrote a Broadway musical after going deaf.
Started singing pop songs I can’t hear — but can feel.
I sold everything.
Moved to Costa Rica.
Wrote my trauma into a memoir.
Wrote a Broadway musical after going deaf.
Started singing pop songs I can’t hear — but can feel.
November 5, 2025 at 5:02 PM
So I did the wild thing.
I sold everything.
Moved to Costa Rica.
Wrote my trauma into a memoir.
Wrote a Broadway musical after going deaf.
Started singing pop songs I can’t hear — but can feel.
I sold everything.
Moved to Costa Rica.
Wrote my trauma into a memoir.
Wrote a Broadway musical after going deaf.
Started singing pop songs I can’t hear — but can feel.
Then one quiet morning in Panama, I realized:
I hadn’t met the fun, relaxed, joyful version of myself in years.
That terrified me more than quitting ever could.
I hadn’t met the fun, relaxed, joyful version of myself in years.
That terrified me more than quitting ever could.
November 5, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Then one quiet morning in Panama, I realized:
I hadn’t met the fun, relaxed, joyful version of myself in years.
That terrified me more than quitting ever could.
I hadn’t met the fun, relaxed, joyful version of myself in years.
That terrified me more than quitting ever could.
For years, I called my burnout “success.”
Long hours, good salary, constant exhaustion.
I was stable. Responsible.
And quietly disappearing.
Long hours, good salary, constant exhaustion.
I was stable. Responsible.
And quietly disappearing.
November 5, 2025 at 5:02 PM
For years, I called my burnout “success.”
Long hours, good salary, constant exhaustion.
I was stable. Responsible.
And quietly disappearing.
Long hours, good salary, constant exhaustion.
I was stable. Responsible.
And quietly disappearing.