1
drag after I’d been Emperor,” he recalls.
H e’s still active with the court; he mostly
appears as Cicely, but he will step into the
spotlight as Harold to mark his 30th anniver
sary as Emperor. W hat keeps him coming back?
“New challenges brought in by new people,” he
replies without hesitation. “T he court to me is
a very viable organization...there’s always
something to make it interesting.”
ive years after Cicely ruled, the court made
history again by crowning the first woman
monarch, Rose Empress XXXVI
Maria. She and Emperor XX
Babalou marked the only all-
female reign in court history.
But Maria was no newcom
er to titles—or to the
concept of a woman
playing a drag queen.
She gave her first
drag-style perform
ance at Darcelle’s
in 1985 and was
crowned Ms. Gay
Portland II the
next year. O ther
titles soon fol
lowed, including
Princess XXI in
1990, culminating
with her election as
Empress in 1993.
“Princess is usually a
drag title,” she says,
explaining that her every
day look is short hair,
glasses and no makeup.
“T he
“There were very few
Legend of
women who tried to
the Rose,” Lady
portray a drag
Elaine Peacock
queen.. .for the longest
time they didn’t know what
to do with me— the only lesbian
drag queen!” she notes with a hearty laugh.
Working as a hostess at Embers Avenue, she
let audiences assume she was a drag queen. “I
felt really comfortable. It’s like a mask when
I’m dressed u p ...I’m more flirtatious, and when
F
I’m not dressed up I barely speak.”
A lthough Maria had to overcome resistance
to a female Empress, she eventually was elected
and royally feted in San Francisco. “T he street
leading to the location of the Portland party
was literally lined with roses, and I walked in
and finally said to myself, ‘I am the flippin’
Empress of Portland— I’m holdin’ the stick!’ ”
She refers, of course, to the massive and
impressive royal scepter.
“It’s honestly still like it was yesterday. But
now I’m an adviser to Poison, and I don’t let her
forget it— I call her every day! If it wasn’t for the
Rose Court, I wouldn’t be the person I am. It
gave me a sense of purpose. I’m able to help peo
ple, and that makes my heart feel good.”
Kimberlee Van Patten, who was Maria’s
partner during her reign, also remembers the
year with much fondness. “Maria is the only
one who has held every Rose Court title except
Debutante. W hat a ride that year was.
We traveled and had a blast. She
was on fire! Maria’s so well
loved in the community,”
she says of the woman who
now puts on Peacock in
the Park with her every
year. Since 1994,
Maria has been the
hostess and Poison
Waters has been the
master of cere
monies— what a
combo!
A nd since then,
more than $65,000
has been awarded to
gay and lesbian stu
dents seeking higher
education.
nd last but surely
not least is the
newest black god
dess, Rose Empress XLIV
Poison Marie Waters. As she
says (only half jokingly), “All the
pretty ones are black!"
Her coronation last October was made
extra special because her supportive family was
there, and her mother was the first to give her
a rose after she was crowned. “I try to share her
with friends who don’t have that,” she con
fides. “I feel like I have a charmed life.”
Waters won her first title, Rosebud, when
she was just a tender 20, but in the beginning
she was hesitant. “W hen I first saw a drag
queen it totally threw me. It never occurred to
me that a man would dress as a woman! I was
actually repulsed! U ntil I saw a black person in
drag, I thought they were all ugly. For some
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reason minority drag queens come across a lot
she’s having custom-made. Although she occa
softer,” she says.
sionally buys off the rack, she prefers originals
As soon as she came of age, Waters started
because she doesn’t want to show up at an
working at Darcelle’s. “T hat was a
event wearing the same outfit as anoth
great training ground,” she says.
er drag queen. “Even worse is to
“So now I don’t even think
have a real lady show up in the
about it. I can walk up to
same dress. A shapely petite
anyone, look them in the
woman and a huge m on
ster man in the same
eye and start talking. It’s
.
second nature.”
dress— it’s not pretty!”
N ot to worry, Port
So how long does
it take to turn himself
land. O ur reigning
Empress will be stun
into her fabulousness?
ning in a one-of-a-kind
“I’ve done it in 30
winter white number as
minutes, but normally
she represents us in the
it takes an hour. I like
City by the Bay. | H
to take my time, have
friends over, serve
—Rose Empress XLTV
Catch Poison Waters at
drinks and make it
Poison M arie W aters BV alentines from H ell , a
social,” she reveals,
Pride o f the Rose Scholarship
describing what must be the
fund-raiser, 8 p.m . Feb. 17 at
best cocktail hour floor show in
Embers A venue, 110 N .W . Broadway.
town. First-timers stand in the bath
This ivill be “tough drag: no shaving, not really try
room doorway and watch the whole process
ing to hide the masculine, yet also going over the
with jaws dropped.
top with the glitz and glamour, muscles and
A coronation is being held somewhere
marabou
,” she promises.
almost every weekend, and that keeps Waters
on the move. As Empress she already has been
In her youth, ORIANA GREEN passed as a man on
to Tacoma, Bellingham and Everett, Wash.,
the streets o f N e w York but, sadly, has never had
plus Las Vegas, which seems like the ideal
her own tiara.
place to sashay around town in drag. Her voice
races with enthusiasm when she describes it.
| ay and lesbian African Americans have
“It’s a free show, and the tourists just camp
¡held 26 Rose Court titles through the years
around the entrance...often the foreign tourists
I and made countless contributions to our
want a picture. I get to do outreach and edu
community.
In addition to the aforementioned
cate: ‘No, it doesn’t turn me o n ...n o , I don’t
monarchs, the stars are:
want to have a sex change.’ W hen it’s over, I
• Princess II Lillian C arter
just want to get out of my dress A SA P and go
• Princess III Danielle August
play the slots all night.”
• Princess XI Misty Marie Waters
Even after late nights under the heavy
• Princess XXI Maria
tiara— kind of like Cinderfella?— by 8 a.m.
• Princess XXV Poison Marie Waters
weekdays, Waters turns into civil servant
• Princess XXVIII Krystal Lynn
Kevin Cook, who shows up 40 hours a week for
• Co-Miss Gay Oregon VIII Misty Marie
his day job with the state Department of Envi
Waters
ronmental Quality.
• Miss Gay Oregon IX Krystal Lynn
A nd by the way, Cook is single. “But it’s
• Miss Gay Oregon X Rosey Waters
not for lack of people chasing me,” he quickly
• Miss Gay Oregon XI W anda Kentucky
adds. “I want to date as Kevin and meet people
Jackson
who are attracted to him.”
• Miss Gay Oregon XII Debonique
Most weeks Cook is in drag at least four
Richards
times, serving as master of ceremonies during
• Miss Gay Oregon XXVII Jemca
the dance shows Sundays and Tuesdays at Sil
Stephens-Hunter
verado. “I actually like to be busy. W hen I do
• Ms. Gay Oregon VI Maria
get a night at home, I just get bored and start
• Ms. Gay Oregon XVI Lady Redd
moving furniture around,” the overachiever
• Miss Gay Portland XVI11 Samone Ceray
says. “Before I used to think I was two different
• Ms. Gay Portland II Maria
people, but now they’re both the same. Poison
• Ms. Gay Portland III T N T
has calmed down a little, and Kevin has come
• Debutante XXIX Savannah
out a bit more.”
• W h ite Knight III Ty O ’Dora
Waters is excited about her upcoming royal
visit to San Francisco and the gorgeous gown
“When
I first saw
a drag queen it
totally threw me—it
never occurred to me
that a man would
dress as a woman!
I was actually
repulsed!”