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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 7, 2000)
January 7. 2000 ? ¡mat mot IJ lu ; h ; ivj lim e u rs t’s just too odd. “Oh, my God, yes,” agrees Pam Mon- ette, who a few weeks back suggested that Just Out do a story on Lindsey Alexander, a drag queen who worked at the popular Old Town cabaret club Darcelle X V and disap peared 10 years ago. "It was sort of big for a minute, and then it died down— but that’s the kind of thing we need to remember,” Monette adds. “Every time I hear they’ve found a body, I think it might be her,” Darcelle commented in mid-December. “But nothing has ever turned up that I know of.” Then, on Dec. 24, 1999, Portland police found the skeletal remains of Lindsey Alexan der, a k a Todd Alexan der Asay, buried in the back yard of a South east Portland home. Asay was last seen alive May 26, 1989, in front of Silverado, a gay bar on Southwest Stark Street in downtown Portland. A reporter called Darcelle with news of the grisly discovery. “I said, ‘W ait a minute while I get myself back together,’ ” recalls Darcelle during a second interview with Just Out. “It was such a shock.” Monette and Dar celle are good friends and often wondered about Lindsey’s disap pearance. “It was such a mystery,” says Monette. “We have had so many losses anyway, so Lindsey kind of gets included in the list of people that we miss.” Darcelle always felt that Lindsey did not vanish of her own free will. After all, she was an up-and-coming per former at Darcelle XV. She was in the process of expanding her wardrobe and ordering publicity photos. And she had just received a bottle of her favorite perfume. “It was quite a loss,” notes Darcelle. “I had never known anybody to just disappear off the face of the earth. It was very scary.” While Lindsey’s disappearance was frighten ing, Darcelle doesn’t think of 1989 as a particu larly troubled time— at least not like the early ’80s, when there was a rash of gay bashings in Portland. “We never felt unsafe,” recalls Darcelle. “But M urder M ystery After a decade of uncertainty, the remains of missing drag queen Lindsey Alexander are discovered in Southeast Portland by P at Young I certainly put the word out to my comrades that if you’re going to get into somebody’s car, you’re in harm’s way and you had better watch out.” According to Darcelle, Lindsey was popular and got along well with the other performers. She enjoyed doing her renditions of the top tunes of the day and was known for her trade mark red wig and great smile. “W ho could resist that smile7' remembers Darcelle. “It was always there and always for somebody. She was really warm and a real good friend.” And Lindsey was always presentable, albeit sometimes provocative, when she went out— whether she was wearing her drag street clothes or her “boy clothes,” as Darcelle calls them. It was near Memorial Day weekend and after her last performance on a Wednesday night that Lindsey left everything at her makeup station as if she were coming back the next day. Then, dressed in drag, she headed to Silverado. Lind sey didn’t return to Darcelle’s on Thursday night for her scheduled show. She didn’t call. No one had seen her. W hen she was still absent on Fri day, Darcelle knew something was wrong. “It wasn’t like her,” says Darcelle. “She was always working.” She adds: “We felt so bad. We left her station as it was for weeks. We didn’t move anything, just hoping that maybe one day she would walk in.” But that day never arrived. “I’m really saddened by the fact that they found her in a horrible grave like that,” says Dar celle. “But glad too, that it’s closure now for her friends and family.” Portland police believe Brian David Hill, 36, shot and killed Asay in 1989 and buried the 25- year-old in the back yard of the Southeast Port land home where Hill used to live. Hill was recently charged with shooting to death his ex-wife. He was arrested Dec. 19 and charged with murdering Anna Lee Hill. Hill has not been charged with Asay’s mur der. However, a Multnomah County grand jury is reviewing the case. According to police, someone came forward following Hill’s arrest and provided specific information about where Asay’s body was buried. According to media reports, Asay was known to prostitute himself and was last seen dressed as a woman outside Silverado. There has been some speculation that someone picked up Asay, thinking he was a woman, and became angry and violent upon learning otherwise. “No one really knows what [Lindsey] was doing that night. But we do know that she was a man dressed as a woman, which says a whole bunch of things,” says Monette. “It would have been a surprise. A shock.” She adds: “I think today it might be a little different. T he whole world is more aware of transgender, cross-dressing people.” Still, she says, “I believe that the same exact thing could happen today. Maybe for different reasons, but I do believe that the danger is there." T hat’s because prejudice, discrimination and bigotry remain a pervasive problem. “I want the young men and women of the gay, lesbian, trans, bi community to know that they can really get hurt,” she says. “I just hope that people pay attention.” She is hopeful that the newly formed C iti zens Foot Patrol will help create a safer environ ment. Originating from the Sexual Minorities Round Table, the foot patrol represents an extension of that partnership between the queer community and the Portland Police Bureau. The patrol— which covers areas of Old Town and Southwest Stark Street— is designed to deter harassment and violence directed toward the queer community. “We will be out on the streets so that our brothers and sisters at least know there is a friend out there,” says Monette. A safer environment that perhaps could have helped Lindsey. “She was a real nice person,” adds Darcelle. “Just think, she would be 35 now.” ■ For m ore information about the CITIZENS FOOT P a t r o l program, call (503) 295-9785 or contact Pam M onette at (503) 940-5373. P a t YOUNG is a Portland-based free-lance uniter and gay and lesbian historian. She is current ly uniting a book about Ballot M easure 9. R emembering a F riend L indsey A lexander , a k a T odd A say 1964-1989 fter 10 years of not knowing, Lindsey’s friends now can say goodbye. 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