Just out., July 15, 2005, Page 22, Image 22

Clockwise from left, Pollyanne Marie,
Fannie Mae Darling, Donatella Sol,
Splendora Gabor, Zebra, Bulimianne
Rhapsody and Gregory stand accused of
being Offensive and Wrong July 20 at
Wonder Ballroom.
Like lipsticked Pied Pipers of
debauchery. Sissyboy has been
seducing Portland’s queers with
its monthly punk-rock drag
performances for one year now.
During the past 12 months, the group garnered
a reputation as the trashiest, most foul-
mouthed, offensive and hilarious queer event in
town. And not everyone has been pleased. To
address its onslaught on the American values
we hold dear, Sissyboy will bring its most
revolting offenses to court in its upcoming
anniversary show, Sissyboy Is Offensive and
Wrong.
If this is to be the real trial of the century, as
rhe so-called “gay and lesbian media” we must
address: What exactly is Sissyboy ? And of what
offenses is it being accused?
For most boys, to be called a “sissy” is a hall­
mark of a scarred youth.
“We were all sissies when we were little,”
says Lee Kyle Turner, 32, although it is harder
now to imagine, given the 6-foot-4, muscular,
tattooed, Texan frame behind his character
Splendora Gabor. “ ‘Sissy’ was the worst word
you could call a boy in the South.”
Jeffrey Kreischer, 25, who grew up in
Indiana and now plays Fannie Mae Darling,
agrees: “I was called sissy, faggot, fat. Made fun
of for everything I did in life.”
But by adding “boy” to this queer-bashing
epithet, Sissyboy has redefined what it means
to be a sissy, rescuing itself (and us) from the
schoolyard bullies.
Sissyboy is more than a monthly drag per­
formance. Sissyboy is a collective of individuals
who are radicalizing drag and gender in
Portland to fashion a mindset where being a
“sissy” is not a point of pain, but an ass-kickin’
label of redemption.
sis*syboy [SIS-ee boi]
n, a glamorous, shit-talking,
genderfucking drag queen, often
observed in packs; also : anything
you want to be, darling
“I want to turn around the label ‘sissy’ to
one of empowerment,” says Turner, evoking the
collective’s mission to challenge both them­
selves and their audience to express and
embody their identities as fiercely as possible.
Kreischer concurs: “Sissyboy is a way I can
express myself as I've always dreamed of
expressing. Fannie can walk on heels, and she
can build a bam.”
Sissyboys don’t stuff, they don’t tuck, and
they make no pretense to pass as women.
Cocks, both parodied and real, make regular
appearances on stage. In fact, their trashy,
ambiguous drag is often anything but feminine,
which stretches drag’s transgression of gender
even further. Whereas traditional female imper­
sonation arguably jumps from one gender box
to the other, Sissyboy’s messy drag completely
obliterates gender’s biological hold on the body
by illustrating that boys can be girly, squirrelly
and tough.
"The ultimate drag insult is dewigging,"
explains Brendan Morrill, 28, aka Precious. “But
Sissyboy can’t be dewigged, can’t be unveiled.
We flaunt the paradox of drag by presenting the