In the international queer community, Arewà Basit is known as a dancing, singing don-diva who makes music, performs in drag, and co-leads the Black queer production organization Legacy. These days, she’s also making headlines for being the subject of a “controversial” artwork by Amy Sherald. The controversy in question: a painting depicting her as the Statue of Liberty in a pink bob. In July, Sherald pulled her exhibition American Sublime from the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC, over concerns that the institution would censor her painting of basit_. Amid the nation’s descent into fascism, “Trans Forming Liberty” (2024) calls into question whether institutions represent the state or the people — and whether they’ll ever learn from their past. The Dallas-born musician, performer, and artist is no stranger to adversity. In an interview with Hyperallergic, Arewà explained that teachers often labeled her as unruly and disruptive for her “larger-than-life personality” and “am...