“As a kid, I was a deeply sensitive boy,” Castillo says. “And growing up in South Texas, to be sensitive and be a boy was something that wasn’t really celebrated in a very patriarchal community. I always had to grapple with honoring my sensitivity, but also, at times, being burdened by it.”
Because of his artistic nature, Castillo says he’s always been drawn to more nuanced depictions of masculinity. He credits this to queer theater teachers and directors he had growing up in South Texas, who gave him the space to be himself. “Queer artists have always been my champions,” Castillo says. “I’ve always found myself and my work to be intersectional. Queer artists often seek me out and champion me, and I feel very fortunate for that.”
Bratton was kicked out of his home at age 16 and was homeless for a decade before joining the Marines. Much ofmirrors his real life, like one moment in which a character tells another, “If we got rid of every gay person in the military, there would be no military.” Bratton says he learned several important lessons through his trying times in the military and hopes that“For me, coming to the Marine Corps with this idea that I was valueless, that my life had no meaning, and then having a transformational lesson offered to me, that my meaning in the value of my life is determined by my ability to protect the person to my left, and to my right, was a valuable lesson,” Bratton says.