CULTURE
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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
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