{"id":197540,"date":"2026-06-03T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/?p=197540"},"modified":"2026-06-03T15:32:06","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T21:32:06","slug":"clocking-it-with-the-facial-femmes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/community\/clocking-it-with-the-facial-femmes\/","title":{"rendered":"Clocking It with The Facial Femmes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">If you\u2019re a resident SLC queer, you probably have heard of (or seen) local drag performers, internet viral stars and <em>SLUG<\/em> alumni, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/itsmsmeredith\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Ms. Meredith<\/strong><\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/thejennatea\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Jenna Tea<\/strong><\/a>, taking Utah\u2019s queer nightlife by storm. Though if you\u2019re not so social media inclined, you might\u2019ve missed their newest joint endeavor, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/thefacialfemmes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>@thefacialfemmes<\/em><\/a>: an Instagram account documenting their journey transitioning in real time together, with a goal of getting facial feminization surgery at the same time along the way. The Facial Femmes hope to showcase all of this and become a welcoming space for all to enter and experience sisterhood.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_197650\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-197650\" style=\"width: 320px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-197650\" src=\"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/2025-SLUG-ED-Ms-Meredith-and-Jenna-Tea-BARKIPLE-300-1050-320x400.jpg\" alt=\"The Facial Femmes: Ms. Meredith and Jenna Tea in feather boas.\" width=\"320\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/2025-SLUG-ED-Ms-Meredith-and-Jenna-Tea-BARKIPLE-300-1050-320x400.jpg 320w, https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/2025-SLUG-ED-Ms-Meredith-and-Jenna-Tea-BARKIPLE-300-1050-819x1024.jpg 819w, https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/2025-SLUG-ED-Ms-Meredith-and-Jenna-Tea-BARKIPLE-300-1050-768x960.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/2025-SLUG-ED-Ms-Meredith-and-Jenna-Tea-BARKIPLE-300-1050-1229x1536.jpg 1229w, https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/2025-SLUG-ED-Ms-Meredith-and-Jenna-Tea-BARKIPLE-300-1050-scaled.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 320px) 100vw, 320px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-197650\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Both Ms. Meredith and Jenna Tea have gone viral at different points of their journeys. Photo: John Barkiple<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>\u201cWe\u2019ve always been very close friends, but I feel like we decided to make it Instagram official.\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Ms. Meredith and Jenna Tea are no strangers to internet popularity. Both have separately gone viral at different points in their drag careers. Meredith went viral for a video documenting her life before becoming a drag queen: a life where she was a BYU student who even went on to serve a mission in Ukraine before coming out as a gay man and eventually discovering she was transgender. This sparked her performing at the <a href=\"https:\/\/loveloudfest.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>LoveLoud Festival<\/em><\/a> here in Utah, where she opened for acts like <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/artist\/2C9n4tQgNLhHPhSCmdsQnk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>David Archuleta<\/strong><\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/artist\/0RpddSzUHfncUWNJXKOsjy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Neon Trees<\/strong><\/a>. Jenna went viral for a heartwarming video that she secretly recorded of her great-grandmother Katherine, where she came out as transgender and was met with one of the most beautiful speeches of love and acceptance, which in turn landed her <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kellyclarksonshow.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>The Kelly Clarkson Show<\/em><\/a> and interviews with outlets like GMA. With the traction these two queens were gaining, it felt like a no-brainer to join forces. \u201cWe\u2019ve always been very close friends, but I feel like we decided to make it Instagram official,\u201d Jenna declares before adding, \u201cWe noticed that people loved seeing us together, so that was a big factor in making the account together.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>\u201cIt is such a hard place to be trans in the world right now, let alone Utah. Why not try and share that and open that up?\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_197651\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-197651\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-197651\" src=\"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/2025-SLUG-ED-Ms-Meredith-and-Jenna-Tea-BARKIPLE-300-0787-400x267.jpg\" alt=\"The Facial Femmes (Ms. Meredith and Jenna Tea) on a white couch with microphones.\" width=\"400\" height=\"267\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/2025-SLUG-ED-Ms-Meredith-and-Jenna-Tea-BARKIPLE-300-0787-400x267.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/2025-SLUG-ED-Ms-Meredith-and-Jenna-Tea-BARKIPLE-300-0787-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/2025-SLUG-ED-Ms-Meredith-and-Jenna-Tea-BARKIPLE-300-0787-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/2025-SLUG-ED-Ms-Meredith-and-Jenna-Tea-BARKIPLE-300-0787-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-197651\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The word &#8220;friends&#8221; is an understatement when it comes to the bond of sisterhood between Ms. Meredith and Jenna Tea. Photo: John Barkiple<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Friends almost feels like an understatement when Meredith and Jenna recount their \u201cfirst official girls\u2019 night\u201d together on a trip with other local Utah drag queens. Meredith shares, \u201cWe went on the trip, and we were both like, \u2018We\u2019re different than a lot of the other queens are.\u2019\u2019\u2019 Jenna adds, \u201cThey [the other queens] all went out to the gay bar, and we stayed in. That was the night that we told each other that we thought we were both trans.\u201d The Facial Femmes is just the start to documenting their sisterhood and career expansion outside of drag together. \u201cIt is such a hard place to be trans in the world right now, let alone Utah. Why not try and share that and open that up?\u201d Meredith says. Videos of The Facial Femmes making light of the \u201cTrans Agenda\u201d and candidly discussing others\u2019 shock to them dating straight men have led to the formation of their upcoming podcast, <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/033ojRDtr3nTp8kcUYdZhU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Clock It<\/em><\/a>. \u201cThose were really the videos that picked up and did the best for us, which is why we started doing the podcast,\u201d Jenna explains.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Besides the launch of<em> Clock It<\/em> and its Patreon, which will feature exclusive behind the scenes of not only the podcast but of their lives, they also have started their very own drag house called \u201cHaus of Gloss\u201d featuring a myriad of other local queens in SLC. With all this excitement, they don\u2019t forget their own personal goals when it comes to their transitions. \u201cI think it\u2019s here in the phrase \u2018protect the dolls,\u2019 and I know it\u2019s maybe redundant or feels less interesting to say, but part of that is paying the dolls and booking the dolls,\u201d Meredith explains. \u201cA lot of that is showing up on that front because that is truly what helps us get what we need, which is gender-affirming care.\u201d You can support these dolls by following their Instagram <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/thefacialfemmes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>@thefacialfemmes<\/em><\/a> for their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gofundme.com\/f\/help-meredith-jennas-facial-feminization-surgery-journey?attribution_id=sl:5b9a41c4-ff4f-4440-a856-5cc8b5343db1&amp;utm_campaign=natman_sharesheet_dash&amp;utm_medium=customer&amp;utm_source=copy_link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">GoFundMe<\/a> and follow their future endeavors like <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/033ojRDtr3nTp8kcUYdZhU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Clock It<\/em><\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/hausgloss\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>@hausgloss<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Read more about local LGBTQ+ activists making beautiful waves of change:<a href=\"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/arts\/bold-beautiful-salina-marina\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em><br \/>\n<\/em><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/community\/activism-outreach-education\/talking-trans-joy-resistance-with-genderbands\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Talking Trans Joy &amp; Resistance With Genderbands<\/em><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/arts\/bold-beautiful-salina-marina\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Bold &amp; Beautiful: Salina Marina<\/em><\/a><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>To help SLUG continue highlighting the work and journeys of local LGBTQ+ activists, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/donation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">consider becoming one of our donors!<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Facial Femmes hope to showcase their journey of transitioning together and become a welcoming space for all to enter and experience sisterhood. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/community\/clocking-it-with-the-facial-femmes\/\" title=\"Clocking It with The Facial Femmes\" class=\"read-more\">&hellip;&nbsp;read&nbsp;more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":197649,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","_expiration-date-status":"","_expiration-date":0,"_expiration-date-type":"","_expiration-date-categories":[],"_expiration-date-options":[],"_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":null,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"default","_twitter_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type":"default","_pinterest_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"default","_medium_share_type":"default","_threads_share_type":"default","_google_business_share_type":"default","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[16988,340,23136],"tags":[33168,1713,33170,24721,1756,33169,23349,4279,12894,33167],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197540"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=197540"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197540\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/197649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=197540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=197540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=197540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}