How can we have Pride Month without mention of Crystal LaBeija. She was so fabulous. So delicious. So catty and witty and didn't take shit from anyone. When I first saw the documentary, The Queen, I was drawn to her immediately, so much so, when I started doing drag, I almost considered the name Madeline LaBeija. Crystal was a proud Black trans woman, a drag mother and a pageant girl. She was myth, legend and over the top fabulous. And she was a force to be reckoned with. Crystal almost single handedly created the lifestyle and action of drag queens today... The attitude, the cattiness and the act of the "reading". She was sharp, and could read someone like a description for a set of steak knives honey. In addition to paving the way for house culture, and ballroom, she was the first to create a "house" in ballroom, House of LaBeija.
She was sharp witted, could cut to the chase and rebelled against the drag pageant system in her now iconic moment in drag history that paved the way for House Culture. Crystal was only one of a very few black queens awarded Queen of the Ball title at usually all white organized Drag Balls. Many were told to even lighten their skin. She knew her own worth. When she walked off the stage one fateful evening in 1967, she was protesting what she believed to be a rigged contest in favor of a white, blond queen, and the fireworks went off. Many think the contest was rigged for a queen Harlow to win, who coincidently had been dating Grace Kelly's brother...a Philly scandal.
In fact, after her explosive blow up.... a gay classic really...and should be mandatory gay viewing, that experience led her to organize her own ball for black queens. This move changed everything, and gay culture. House and Ball was officially born. Each drag house consisted of either a Father or a Mother, and they were the bosses of the house and looked after their drag children, taking them in off the street for a safe haven, and teaching them dance, fashion, and make-up techniques and preparing them for ball. These house Crytsal created and other were not just about everything fabulous but were also safe havens for runways and displaced LGBT youth who had either been discarded by their families or were living on the streets for any number of reasons. They provided a bed, shelter, and a support system of friends and belonging. Crystal LaBeija was one of the most iconic moments in drag, changing the whole lifestyle and the nuisances we know today, that I can tell you, some queens have no idea. Crystal also paved the way for not only house culture, but voguing, Paris is Burning and the TV series, Pose. But the most important thing she did was create the development of Ballroom and drag culture was forever changed...and the tradition of Houses has transcended beyond drag into modern LGBTQ culture still today. In my opinion Crystal and her drag daughter Pepper were two of the most influential drag icons to heavily influence drag and LGBT activist who fought to keep drag alive.
Andhere is the scene from the Queen of her epic blow up. If your so inclined here is The Queen. documentary.
Here we are again...Arise.... for the next crowned Queen...Vanessa Van Cartier, the latest queen to win the crown of Drag Race Holland... and yet again, another trans female to follow Sonique as a winner, and about high time these trans sistas get their due. Vanessa has long been very well known and is usually pretty stiff competition if you follow the drag pageant system. Vanessa is truly one of a kind. As a transgender drag queen and performer, Vanessa is the only queen from Europe to win and hold the title of Miss World Continental, where she beat out the world's most popular and talented queens when it was held in Chicago, and then getting placed on the second season of RuPauls Drag Race Holland, where she pretty much ate up the competition without as much as breaking a sweat. No small feat, as the season had some of the stiffest competition yet for one cast. And About damn time these trans queen are allowed to compete. As I have said before, drag is drag.
We must remember that just a short few years ago, one of the preeminent drag queens in the world expressed his resistance to trans woman participating in Drag Race because when it's not cis men doing it, "drag loses it's sense of danger" And Ru added a trans woman have a "up" by taking hormones, which to him are nothing more then "performance-enhancing drugs." Don't get this wrong though. RuPaul knows that drag queens and trans sisters are and were part of same club and night scene. Ru never had anything against our trans sisters, but I think just had the old fashioned thinking of drag shows were just for cis males competing. Even some of the queens recently like Dahlia Sin and Adian Zane had issue with trans queens competing. Since many seasons have ended, there have been many queens who went on the transition, many more then most know, most notably recently is the fabulous Gigi Goode. But it wasn't till the last season that a fully trans queen finally got on, in the form of Gottmik. Ru has since opened the flood gates. Over the past decade with the show's success, Drag Con events, and festivals like Bushwig, drag is experiencing yet another sort of renaissance. Drag queens have become interchangeably our self help gurus and seasonal look books, and make up tutorial how- to's. "Who's your favorite drag queen" is the new "What's your astrological sign" you ask me.
So it's high time trans can compete. Trans people have had to differentiate and distance themselves from drag queens, asserting that their identities are entrant and permanent, This distancing has come with good reason considering the historic prevalence of transmisogyny with in drag spaces. Where do trans find themselves today: they are burdened with the task of always proving themselves, of the real in a society drunk on the myth of it's own naturalness. In a world where ideology masquerades as biology, they have to convince the doctors, the feminists and the partners and parents they they are real in order to be recognized, let alone respected. These trans performers have just as much right to perform drag as cis men. It blows my mind that as drag queens who have also had it hard with being rejected by members of the community, that no one would date because their considered to "fem" that they wouldn't accept a trans person doing drag. It is all art after all! So I take my hat off and roll out the welcome mat for our trans sisters and brothers to bring their best drag personas.. So I condragulate Vanessa Van Cartier and Sonique on their crowning's.
So you know I'm all about the first AFAB queen, Victoria Scone being on this UK season. And she was
FAB.U .LOUS!!!
She just may be the funniest queen on the show since Bianca Del Rio. The hilarity ensued already in the first half hour, where she had RuPaul already in hysterics.
Aunt Barbara was the Tupperware Queen...one of the highest selling consultants with the company in the country. In her heyday, Jennifer Bobbi was Long Island's top queen selling 6 figures worth of the kitchenware, and was the toast of town with her vintage retro looks, huge beehive hair do, and the hilarity that would ensue at these Tupperware parties. I have long adored her, had the privilege to attend one... and her You Tube videos were coming fast and furious. For a bit over a decade she hosted parties and ran her business as Aunt Barbara, a drag queen, whose brash attitude and sassy comebacks were part of her act.
Bobbi was living as a man at the time, and portraying Aunt Barbara allowed her to dress up in 1960's era dresses and play hostess. But she didn't want to just act like her female drag persona...from a very young age she knew she was meant to be a woman. I have posted about Jennifer Bobbi's story before, but with trans coming out of the closet even more so, and having their rights curtailed and threatened, I thought it was worth telling again, and just shows how we have a long way to go with supporting our trans citizens, EVEN within our own LGBTQ community. Bobbi says that she held it inside through most of her teens and into her twenties and finally at one point told her family she felt biologically and physically male, but intuitively, mentally and organically was female, and had his whole life. Not only was her family not as supportive as she thought they might be, but she was also surprised by how many of her clients , some even LGBT suddenly treated her. She was confused why they wouldn't except her as they accepted Aunt Barbara, since she just an extension of who Jennifer is. She finally decided to transition, and then after, when word got out, people began canceling their Tupperware parties and her business in months plummeted and suffered badly, all because she transitioned. To me, it just boggles my mind to this day why people are so unnerved by people transiting. First off, it's that persons business to do as they see fit to make themselves happy to be their true self and lead a happy life. And 2, it doesn't effect anyone else' life if one transitions, so why all the hoopla, it's none of their business. And had people not known she transitioned, they would have no idea anyway...so what's the difference? Aunt Barbara was still Aunt Barbara. I love this clip. I still can't get through with a dry eye. And this shows how just one life can change and crumble just because of transitioning. This is her story of how she came out to her true self.
My other issue with the whole trans issue is when it comes to drag...just because one is born a cis gender male, doesn't mean they are the only ones to be drag queens. Or why can't a gay boy be a drag king??? I think the time has arrived to let people be who or want they want to be. I still love Jennifer Bobbi as herself , or if she want to be Aunt Barbara. It time to give support and understanding to these people. And when she does Aunt Barbara these days she looks fucking fierce!
I've been on a drag roll lately. I have so many drag queens to feature and write about, I could bombard you good people with three posts a day, but it's nice to let a post marinate so people can view it. This next queen is breaking new ground. Gottmik is a fierce queen. The make up technique is different and chic...not quite clown, but not elegant either. It's fun fresh, campy, and attention grabbing. This queen also happens to be a trans man...who just happens to be a drag queen. How's that for a twist? Even though Gottmik identified as a male, he always thought that he could suppress it because he loved feminine things and had feminine articulations, but when he realized that men can be feminine, it all clicked. After that realization, the acclaimed make-up artist and drag queen, Gottmik, transitioned from female-to-male. It’s time for Gottmik to share his story – one that’s not represented enough, or at all, in mainstream media – as a female-to-male, trans drag queen. I have yet had the pleasure to meet Gottmik, or Kade his male name, but there is no denying this queen has the beat face and technique down to a tee. His drag is everything from clown, runway elegant to androgynous and loud. He loves painting everything super black and white and clown-like with pops of crazy colors or crazy outfits that make an impression, and I'm here for that style. Gottmik does receive lots of confusing questions about being a queen. People cannot seem to understand how someone born female can identify as a man but still want to perform and artistically express themselves through femme drag. But Gottmik says a healthy person needs a good balance of masculine and feminine energy to survive. If your artistic outlet is drag, anyone who has anything to say just hasn’t been enlightened on the subject and is probably wishing they were brave enough to express themselves as honest and openly. Here, here gurl!!!!! I couldn't agree more. I thing it's actually healthy to express both sides of sexuality also, and could never understand the "just butch" mentality. Drag is hard, and being trans is even harder, so anyone who is doing both is extremely inspirational to me. I had planned to feature Gottmik sooner, but my blogger crush, Sixpense did a feature and I didn't want to interfere with his post to closely... We always seem to be on the same wave length.. his post ishereand urge you to check out his take. I have since been working the drag vine for tea, and pretty sure we can expect to see Gottmik on the next season of RuPauls Drag Race and about damn time!! Ru has said no trans would ever be featured, but technically by law Gottmik IS a man. Besides drag is drag!! So take that. Bitch is FIRECE!
In my opinion, Amanda Lepore is much under appreciated. I'm sure at some point you've heard of her, or at least of seen her photo on the interwebs or a magazine. I have long adored her, even as a young gayling, I remember seeing her, and I assumed she was just a drag queen. She is also one of the reasons I wanted to do drag. She made me realize just how much I loved woman's fashion and all the glamour. Anyone involved in fashion, the club scene, or music has probably seen or met Amanda. When I found out she was actually a transsexual, if blew my mind. I didn't even know it was possible. What I respect the most, is that she never once hid the fact she was a transsexual, but flaunted it in a time when there was not much known about the process or even talk of trans people. That's ballsy you ask me. Yet I feel she is over looked for being a trailblazer and a hero. And she had it tough. She grew up in New Jersey to a chemical engineer father, and a mother who was a housewife but suffered from severe schizophrenia, and who spent most of her time in mental institutions. Ever since she could remember she felt like a girl, and thought her parents were crazy dressing her like a boy. I her early teens she beginning making costumes for a transgender friend in exchange for female hormones. She parents ended up withdrawing her from school and getting her a private tutor, and then to a psychologist, who helped her obtain a prescription to begin female hormone therapy. When things soured with her parents, she eventually met and married a male bookshop owner, who again wasn't the best influence, but her father in law saw to it that she got a reassignment surgery at 19, and then left her husband to head to New York.
It's wasn't easy for her there at first either. She tried to establish herself as a nighttime figure, including being a member of New York City's Club kids, she supported herself by working in a nail salon, and a part time dominatrix, and later a cosmetics girl at the infamous, but now defuncted Patricia Fields. After meeting some time later photographer David LaChapelle, at the Bowery Bar one night, everything changed and she became a muse for him on several projects. You could say her career took off. Clubs noticed, and soon she was getting paid and still does, to just show up.
I think she is amazing. While her appearance may be very extreme and exaggerated to some, and her glamour over the top, and no one can work a pair of pasties on their ta's ta's like her, one must have respect for her. Not only did she brave and buck back against society with being trans, she supported herself and made a name for herself. I think she is actually a good business woman you ask me. Oh sure, she gets paid to show up just like Kim Kardashian to things, but the difference is Amanda has talent. Her modeling work is incredible, she can work a room and a runway like no one's business, and she has a entertaining cabaret act where she sings and does simple burlesque. She's been a muse not only for LaChapelle, but several times for Cazwell, and lately for Suki Waterhouse. I also have to respect her for keeping her roots. She started in the club scene with Ru and Gaga when they were all club kids. But unlike the prior two, Amanda, just like James St James, Richie Rich, Lady Bunny Kyle Farmery and Linda Simpson, she kept, and still in deep to the club scene, which I think is cool. She has had songs, cosmetics endorsements, and a photo book deal called Doll Parts. Hell, I wish I got paid just to show up at clubs!!!!
And on top of all that, she is a real sweet heart. I have met her three times, twice at Susanne Bartsche events and once right here in New Hope for her cabaret show. She is not stand off at all and will talk with anyone, and I must say she also has some of the most eye-popping day looks I've seen.
Amanda Lepore should not be discounted....she is a brave soul and to me, she is just pure magic. Here is her latest gig getting steamy with Suki Waterhouse, and also one of my favorite Amanda camp videos.
And is she not lucky to be all over the hot and hunky Steven Delher???
Imp Queen is an entertainer out of Chicago, Illinois where she has been featured at places like Berlin and is a trans fashion figure, a rising drag pop star and a queer community leader.
"There isn't really a 'character,' just my own mannerisms amplified by a spotlight, a microphone and an audience. I consider the work I'm doing now as Imp Queen part of my ongoing art and life practice," she said. Imp Queen said she looks like a "classy bitch, but acts like a trashy girl. She's a total sweetheart, too.Imp Queen likely won't remember your name until you've met in the club at least a few times, and then she'll likely just refer to you as "Daddy," as she does with everyone.She's a 1960s fashion illustration, seen through the lens of a 1990s club kid, then reinterpreted by a contemporary non-binary artist. The look is very over the top, very surreal, very graphic. Imp Queen collaborates with many other local queer fashion designers to create her looks. In folklore, an imp is a cute, little, devious magical creature—not evil, but definitely chaotic, and it's a name her friends started calling her in sophomore year of college whenever she was particularly turnt. After college, she was billing herself as Imp Kid, doing performance art with two best friends as the group WITCH HAZEL. When she started to do proper drag, Imp Queen seemed like the obvious next version of the name.
Just a few months ago RuPaul, one of the preeminent drag queens in the world, expressed his resistance to trans women participating in Drag Race because when it’s not cis men doing it, “drag loses its sense of danger.” And here we have Imp Queen: a trans woman drag performance artist taking the very hormones that RuPaul dismissed as “performance-enhancing drugs.” Imp is an iconoclast — one of the most visible drag queens on social media who has not been a contestant on RuPaul’s Drag Race. And if she ever does...watch out! She uses her Instagram to document the looks she wears out for nightlife gigs in Chicago: dazzling the masses with her iconic pink countenance, regal balloon crowns, and unyielding reservoir of creativity. In Imp’s world looks are a postgender bliss…to be found on aisle five in heaven next to the neon lip liner...What is striking about Imp’s online presence is she doesn’t only turn looks, she also talks shop. She goes live speaking candidly about her transition, her struggles with mental health and harassment, and her own frustrations with the drag scene. In this way she poses a double whammy: She can paint your face to the gods and lecture you on queer history and performance theory along the ride. And I firmly believe it's queens like her that will pave and keep drag relevant all the while fighting to ensue rights for the trans community.
All the more reason to adore her...I think she would make Leigh Bowery proud.
The Lady Chablis, the transgender performer who became an unlikely celebrity for her role in the 1994 best-seller "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil," died today in Savannah. Chablis insisted on playing herself in 1997's "Midnight" movie directed by Clint Eastwood. Her birth name was Benjamin Edward Knox, but she legally changed it to The Lady Chablis around the time of the "Midnight" movie, and was even quoted as saying there'd be no movie, if she couldn't play herself. And Chablis, one of the southern staples, could dance, lip sync, and emcee... her mother got the name Chablis off a wine bottle! It's a wonder my name wasn't Hendrick!!! She was a breakout star, no doubt about it. Her pure honesty she gave people, she didn't hold her tongue. She told you what she thought.
"If I catch any of you bitches near him, honey, I want you to know, you're gonna have to deal with the Lady Chablis, the Doll, the Grand Empress, and my mother fuckin ice pick. So keep your hands off that one,okay?"
'It's like my mom always used to say, Two tears in the bucket, mother fuck it."
'You better grow some nails honey, because if he's a gynecologist, he's mine."
'Yes, I'm a bitch and proud of it."
"Either he got some good ole stuff, girl, or you're horny as hell."
