When Drag Queens Became Charitable

To call any of those who did drag as charitable… while in drag… would be stretching the truth. Known for their caustic wit, quick retorts and haughty gestures, raising money for anything charitable was almost non-existent.

Then in 1984 reports that had been surfacing out of San Francisco and New York for the previous few years of a new “gay-related immune deficiency” (GRID), finally named by the CDC in the U.S. as AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome), attracted the attention of the Imperial Sovereign Court of the Wild Rose in Edmonton.

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Out of the Closets & Into the Streets

Most major cities have a neighbourhood that has clearly defined itself as the “gay” neighbourhood, an area where LGBTQ2S+ folks can build a community together while living, working, shopping, and eating at welcoming businesses. Toronto’s Church Street and Vancouver’s Davie Street are just two that come to mind. Edmonton breaks tradition by having not one but two gaybourhoods that have come together to form a community for LGBTQ2S+ Edmontonians.

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Tales of the LGBTQ+ Interview

In this podcast interview with Tales of the LGBTQ+ I talk about the early years of the AIDS epidemic in Edmonton and how the community reacted to the virus that was taking so many of our friends from us. I also share how I dealt with the deaths of many close to me and the lasting impact it had on me to this day.

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