Minerva at the Edge: Denver’s Punk Princess on Claiming Space and Refusing to Shrink
Arvada Skate Park glints under the winter light like a relic from a louder decade. All concrete curves and bruised metal rails, it feels pulled straight from the era of low-rise plaid pants and studded belts when Avril Lavigne ruled MTV and P!nk made rebellion look like a birthright. It is the perfect arena for Minerva, who arrives dressed not as nostalgia but as the evolution of that lineage. A punk princess reimagined for a generation that has more to fight for and far less patience for nonchalance.
The shoot snaps into motion as skaters roll past, and Minerva settles into the space with the confidence of someone who has never waited for permission. She explains early on that being queer in general is a protest, and the words carry the weight of lived truth. For her, visibility is not a luxury. It is a responsibility sharpened by the moment we’re living in. She calls for more queer people, more trans people, more people of color, more of every identity that society tries to shrink. Her presence at the skate park feels like a living answer to her own demand. A flare of defiance on wheels.
As she talks about femininity, her tone softens but never weakens. Embracing her divine femininity reshaped her from the inside out, giving her a sense of grounding she had never accessed before. Drag became the language that allowed her to let every facet of her identity live on the surface. Punk drag in particular lets her express every piece of her soul while taking up space as a trans individual. Then she drops the line that defines the era she is standing against. “You cannot be conservative and alternative at the same time.” It lands with the clarity of a lyric everyone should already know.
Her idea of punk is layered. It is not only attitude or fashion but also inheritance. She speaks with reverence about Marsha P. Johnson and the Black trans women whose courage built the rights the community holds today. She reminds us that alternative culture itself was born from Black artistry. To her, being punk means standing with the people who forged the culture in the first place and refusing to be silent and look away when their stories are erased. Punk is not chaos for chaos’s sake. It is a structure built from rebellion. A steady, firm spine.
Minerva carries that ethos into her work at Tracks Denver, where she hosts and produces Colorado’s Drag Royale every Thursday. It is a proving ground and a sanctuary and a place where performers can risk everything without apology. She holds the door open for newcomers who might never step onto a stage like Tracks, without someone insisting they belong there. Her legacy extends beyond her mullet, sharp glam, and gravity-defying gymnastics; however, it resides in the myriad artists she makes room for.
Risk is a familiar companion to her. She describes the drag industry as a career where safety, sanity, and livelihood all sit on the table at once, and she shows up anyway. She works relentlessly under the belief that the universe owes her absolutely nothing. Every part of her history shaped her into someone who refuses ease. Growing up in a military family in Tennessee, finding drag through early YouTube uploads of Drag Race, watching Adore Delano, and seeing a reflection of possibility rather than fantasy. These moments built the artist she is today.
During the shoot, she talks about the young people who approach her after shows. One recently told her they were queer and being bullied and didn’t know what was wrong with them. She holds that memory with a quiet gravity. She remembers exactly what it felt like to search for proof that someone like them could survive and even thrive, that they could overcome the shame, the guilt, and the rage at being judged just for who they are. She has become that proof for that person and so, so many others. It may be the most radical performance she’s ever pulled off, and that is saying something.
As the sun drops behind the skate bowls and the final shots settle into the camera, Minerva looks straight ahead and speaks without flinching. “Fuck Trump. Fuck ICE. Stand up when something is wrong. Vote with more than your own experience in mind, and support local drag because supporting local drag is supporting drag.” It is not a closing statement. It is an instruction manual for the era ahead.
Minerva is not resurrecting the punk princess archetype. She is forging a new one built on truth, grit, and refusal. She is the sound of wheels on concrete racing forward with no intention of stopping, and she expects the rest of us to keep pace.
Photography courtesy of Zack Hartman
