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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 15, 2002)
CULTURE ..................▼ ................... Q uick— nam e O regon’s oldest queer nonprofit organization. If you tho u g h t o f the Imperial Sovereign Rose C ourt, skip to th e head of the wagon train— w ithout tripping o n some diva’s gold lam é train. Bet you did n ’t know Rose Empress th e first drag title in XXXVI Maria P ortland was actually bestowed in 1958. Talk about pioneers— this was such a radical action, it d id n ’t happen again until 1966, which was still three years before Stonewall. In the early years, monarchs reigned for just six m onths and were chosen at balls in the spring and fall. In 1969, the court sashed up the first African American queen, Empress Rochelle X, who died in 1999. 1969 also saw the birth of the Portland Forum, the oldest chartered gay organization in the state of Oregon. It began staging the balls and eventually was transformed into the Imper ial Sovereign Rose Court. A nother black beauty reigned in 1971 as Empress Telane XIII. During the party-hearty ’70s the court was very much an organization created by drag queens for drag queens. But fol lowing the lead of the San Francisco “mother court” in 1975, Port landers crowned their first Emperor, a title then reserved for men who look like men. T h e following year, a for mer track-and-field star sprinted on to the scene and ran for Emperor. H arold even tually trium phed as the second Em peror and the only black m an to hold th a t title in the Im perial Sovereign Rose C ourt. As one anonym ous board mem ber observes, “W e need to recruit some studly black guys!” create the Ms. Oregon title espe cially for lesbians. Waters was also a mentor and “drag mother” to the cur rent monarch, Poison Waters. “I just knew of Rosey as this great party girl, and he loved hanging out at the City club and helping the kids,” Poison recalls. “It wasn’t until years later that I realized what his Empress title had meant.” It was Rosey who taught Poison how to apply makeup. “H e would paint half my face, and I’d do the o th er half, and we’d do it six times a day n e r" ' ’til I learned to do y the 1980s, the it myself,” Poison court was well explains. “H e d id n ’t established w ant people to and the titles see him as his more hotly h ealth was contested. declining, There but he did was talk a to m - at the m and time perform among ance and some sang a about nice no t ballad at electing a my step by O riana G reen black ping Empress, dow n as but Princess in en lig h ten 1995.” m ent pre In 1986 vailed, and perhaps the best- those attitudes known monarch are a thing of the was enthroned with past— which paved the rise of Lady Elaine Pea th e way for the next two cock as Rose Empress XXIX. Fit black monarchs. A lthough they are tingly, her reign was known as “The Leg no longer w ith us, their legacy lives on end of the Rose.” Although she passed on in in many ways, and these two queens 1993, the organization she founded, Peacock are remembered in our com m unity in the Park, continues to thrive as a scholar for their generous spirits.. ship fund-raising event. In 1983 the court crowned the Poison Waters also has fond memories tempestuous Rose Empress XXVI of Peacock. “Lady Elaine worked at Dar- Rosey Waters, who always said he celle’s when I was there, and Woody [Pea won because he earned the les cock’s alter ego] was just the greatest guy. bian vote from being a disc jock He wasn’t into the bitchy drag queen ey at the 927 Club. mode. He was always nice to everyone in or out of drag.” Poison Waters was rePa*^ his fans Waters even tried to Rosey Waters just an innocent girl model his own behav- was crowned by push- of 20 when she became ior on Woody’s actions. in 1983 ing to Rosebud XIII. “The experience of being Emperor was dif ferent then than it is today,” Harold recalls. “In the ’70s the court was the main gay group in the city, so the Emperor and Empress were very much the focus. It was pret ty much all we had.” The most memorable thing about his reign? “Just the idea that I was only the second Emperor in a court that was previously only about drag queens. It was one of the most challenging years of my life because I was very much out there with nothing to hide behind,” Harold says, referring to the wigs, makeup and costumes used by drag queens. “You had to be genuine. I had a great time repre senting our court in a positive man- B The diversity of the rose This queer group has always known black is beautiful 1st & 3rd T 5:00-6:30pm 1104 Main St, #M1 A diamond tiara is a girl’s best friend— Empress XLIV Poison Waters “He told me, ‘Don’t take yourself too seri ously’...h e had a lot of elegance and grace, where I’m a little rougher,” Poison admits. Waters also points out that Woody was “really active all the time. He was never idle, always doing some thing. He went to all the meet ings, always at shows or pageants.” W hich sounds a lot like the schedule W aters keeps now. W ith a lighthearted laugh, she agrees. “For some queens it’s a lot of work to get into drag. I just whip it on and go.” istory was made in 1988 when Harold, the second Emperor, transformed himself into the elegant Rose Empress XXXI Cicely, who purred through her year like a sleek black pan ther. He’s still the only one to hold both titles. “I didn’t think I’d ever do drag. It just wasn’t in my psyche...I’d never thought I’d be onstage in any context!” the still-shy Harold reveals. So what inspired him to don those pumps? “Some fellow Emperors all decided this one year we’d go in drag to a private party, but we looked horrible. T he second time I did it I took it more seriously, and the reaction was positive. The rest is history,” he laughs. T h at’s for sure. In 1985 the once- reluctant drag queen went on to win the title of the world’s most glamorous drag queen, La Femme Magnifique. “T he most diffi cult thing for me to do at court functions is juggle the two identities of Harold and Cicely. Some people reacted nega tively to the idea that I started doing H l a aod O u t a t tba G arden UNUSUAL GARDEN ART Urns • Pots • Arbors Trellises • Bird Baths & Lots More (503) 603-0411 11935 SW Greenburg Rd T ig a rd (I Blk O ff M W on O rc e n h u rg ) • O p e n 7 Day*
