MS FRANCIS

I have always been one of those queens who, when in their youth, was always more comfortable, and enjoyed time with people older than myself. Even in my 20,s up to the present time, I have many friends razz me for talking to older people and men, within the gay community, but only in jesting. But it used to piss me off when I would overhear younger queens making fun of the older queens who would still go out, or they would always say something along the lines of Why would anyone want to talk to them? Which is why I feel the new generation of LGBT do not know their history, miss out, and a step further, know just the basics. It always blew my mind why any young queen wouldn't want to talk with the elders of our community, to gain knowledge and hear first-hand stories from these folks that you won't get from books or a website. I've had many older friends over the years, or older men I'd talk to in bars, or resorts, that told me some pretty mind-blowing stories. One friend I used to visit in the Village even lived for a brief time over Quetin Crisp. Of course, at the time, he no idea who it was, till I visited once and told him who it was. This all reminded me the other day of a guy named Wesley I met years ago, before ever moving to Bucks County in 2000. I was walking after dinner in Harrisburg the other night, and passed his old house and it reminded me of Wesley. Actually, his name was Benedict Wesley Trautwein.

I recall walking one time and passing by and saying hi. He paused and asked excuse me, and I explained that I had just said hi to him. He looked puzzled and said that no one talked to him let alone give him the time of day. By this time, Wesley was already well into his late 80's, was, huh, extremely colorful and eccentrically dressed, and not "kept up" with hygiene. If you didn't know he lived on the corner, I'm sure people must have thought he was homeless. He could always be seen walking his cocker spaniel, who could also barley walk and when they crossed a street, it was like watching Delilah Stag from Jam and Jerusalem walking. After some walks over time, I got to know Wesley and was several times invited in his house. I was careful as at times, it was like Hoarders. I learned over time he was born in Waldwick NJ. Graduated from the former Harrisburg Catholic High School with honors and was a retired clerk for the PA State Department of Revenue. But what caught this young queen's attention was when he told me of his time as a very accomplished female impersonator in nights clubs all over the country, but ended up mostly in clubs from New Orleans up to Baltimore, before finally becoming a member of the legendary and infamous Jewel Box Revue from 1932 to 1975 and went by the name Ms. Francis Parker. He would regale stories about him and the other "girls", like Laverne Cummings, Lynne Carter, Gita Gilmore, Ms. Titanic, Guilda, and the legendary Storme De Laviere. How could anyone not want to get firsthand accounts of all this? Not to mention the handsome and stunning Ricki Raymonde, who was famous at the time for his opera soprano voice. Sounds like the two hit it off quite well if you know what I'm saying. After a long career with the revue, he moved back to Harrisburg in 77, where he continued to perform and be a regular, at local bars and clubs, ones I have only ever heard of, and were gone before my time, like Johnny Kobler's, The Clock Bar, La Rose Rouge, La Cage, Pegasus and the only one I was familiar with, The Neptune Lounge. Francis I was told was often seen dressed in high glamour, and over the top ensembles for shows, to which the town had never seen. I always found him and his past fascinating because when I befriended him, he was but a former shell of himself and nearly wiped out financially, and often had home health coming in to tend to him and do housekeeping. And girl...... she had some series memorabilia up in his house let me tell you. He was as fascinated by me as I was him. He was tickled that this twink talking to him was also into drag and would be up and coming.  On what would be one of the last visits we had, he bequeathed a pair of his earrings to go with a brown evening gown I had made for an upcoming club party. I was touched beyond belief, and I still have the earrings to this day and will not part with them.

After about 5 of our visits, I stopped going for a while, because upon leaving one night, one of Francis's neighbors, a guy name Joel had grabbed me and dragged me into an alley and started accosting me. When I finally gave in and agreed to go to his house, I booked and made tracks back to my apartment...and never did my after dark visits to Francis's house again for a few weeks. She later on our next visit told me,that Joel had issues, was badly molested as a child and was now doing the same and was even apparently on probation and in therapy for it. Time passed, and I never did see Francis again, as his health went further downhill, and he got even more reclusive than before, and would only be seen walking his dog and that was it. Wouldn't let anyone in his house. It wasn't till I moved away that word got to me that Francis passed at almost 90 in October of 2003.

My point of this post is to not limit yourself to only talk to the in crowd or the pretty boys, the fishy queens... and don't box yourself in, and not talk to someone just because they are old and past their prime.  Here was a very interesting person with some wonderful stories from a legendary piece of the LGBT ...The Jewel Box Revue, at a time when being seen outside of the revue in drag was a huge no no, not to mention knew many of the Stonewall girls and Storme. I will always treasure those few get togethers we had and every time I wore, or get out those earrings, Ms. Francis Parker will be remembered.

Happy Pride.