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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>View the full episode transcript.\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Drag as an art form dates back centuries, but as shows like MTV’s RuPaul’s Drag Race have grown a worldwide following, drag has become more visible than ever. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[baycuriouspodcastinfo]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The show’s namesake and host, RuPaul, arguably the most famous drag queen in the world, is now the most decorated television host in Emmy history. Not Johnny Carson, not Barbara Walters … RuPaul.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But there is also a heated debate coursing through statehouses and on some media programs about whether or not drag queens are appropriate entertainment for adults and children alike. Florida, Montana, Tennessee and Texas all have laws that, though unenforceable due to a federal court order, would ban drag performances.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In San Francisco, this debate over drag is long settled.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Drag is as crucial to the identity of this city as the cable car,” said Peaches Christ, a San Francisco drag performer, director and provocateur for the last three decades. “Straight people have wigs in this town!” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Drag has been breaking ground and creating a community for San Franciscans for almost a century.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>But how did it get that way?\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Drag has been an active part of the entertainment scene in San Francisco since the 1930s.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Early drag in San Francisco was presented in a way that was safe for straight audiences,” Christ said. “It traditionally has meant a cis man who dons women’s clothes, for entertainment purposes, usually pretty fabulous and flamboyant.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Finocchio’s Club was an institution for 60 years in the North Beach neighborhood and featured “female illusion.” This was light-hearted fun. None of the heavy stuff and definitely no politics. But that was about to shift.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11980250\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11980250\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/Medium-sized-JPEG.jpg\" alt=\"A black and white photo featuring eight drag queens posing on a multi-tiered stage, wearing gowns.\" width=\"600\" height=\"489\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/Medium-sized-JPEG.jpg 600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/Medium-sized-JPEG-160x130.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Finocchio’s nightclub was known for its “female impersonators” who entertained patrons nightly. This 1958 photo shows the cast of the floor show. \u003ccite>(San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Her Royal Majesty, Empress of San Francisco, José I, The Widow Norton\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">At The Black Cat Club, another North Beach hot spot, Jose Sarria was a cocktail waiter turned drag queen who sang operatic arias. During Sarria’s performances, she started to encourage patrons to stop living double lives and to come out of the closet. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In 1961, Sarria ran for a San Francisco Board of Supervisors seat. He lost, but his campaign was an early demonstration of the power of the gay voting bloc that would eventually elect Harvey Milk.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11980181\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1493px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11980181\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GettyImages-1322409068.jpg\" alt=\"A person wearing a white full body leotard and a pink tutu and white angel wings and a crown. They are gesturing toward the camera, as if to take flight.\" width=\"1493\" height=\"991\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GettyImages-1322409068.jpg 1493w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GettyImages-1322409068-800x531.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GettyImages-1322409068-1020x677.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GettyImages-1322409068-160x106.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1493px) 100vw, 1493px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jose Sarria, a.k.a. The Widow Norton, dances as the Sugar Plum Fairy during the Dance-Along Nutcracker in 2006. \u003ccite>(LEA SUZUKI/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">After the political defeat, Sarria would proclaim himself “Her Royal Majesty, Empress of San Francisco, José I, The Widow Norton,” and create the Imperial Court. That network of LGBTQ charities is still in operation today and holds a visible presence in San Francisco.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Compton’s Cafeteria Riot\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In the Tenderloin, at Taylor and Turk Streets, a 24-hour diner called Compton’s Cafeteria was a generally safe spot for the neighborhood’s queer, gender non-conforming, drag, trans and sex-worker population.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Female impersonation” was illegal in the sixties, and police regularly harassed people who appeared to be in violation.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In August 1966, diner staff called the police one night and reported that the patrons had become rowdy. Though police records from the time no longer exist, an officer reportedly grabbed a trans woman to arrest her and she responded by throwing a cup of coffee in his face.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“It broke out into a rebellion that took to the streets,” Christ said, “and it’s worth noting that these trailblazers existed. They were trans women and drag performers who were fighting police on the streets of the Tenderloin.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Compton’s Cafeteria Riot didn’t result in the widespread change that Stonewall would a few years later but it is the first known act of widespread resistance to police harassment in U.S. history.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>The Cockettes\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In the sixties a counter-culture drag troupe called the Cockettes was breaking down walls in drag expression.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“They were hippies. They would put glitter in their beards, and they lived together like a commune,” Christ said. “They were an inclusive drag troupe that included straight people, cis women, men, trans women.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11980176\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11980176\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GettyImages-603956872.jpg\" alt=\"Four performers in exaggereateid costumes on stage.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1324\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GettyImages-603956872.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GettyImages-603956872-800x552.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GettyImages-603956872-1020x703.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GettyImages-603956872-160x110.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GettyImages-603956872-1536x1059.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Cockettes perform Tinsel Tarts in a Hot Coma in New York in July 1971. \u003ccite>(Jack Mitchell/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Cockettes are remembered for their outlandish parties at the Palace Theatre in North Beach and for their gender-bending expression of drag that pushed the boundaries beyond the usual ‘cis man in a dress’ drag formula.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“The Cockettes were fueled by glitter and drugs and lots and lots of talent,” added Christ. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s worth noting that LGBTQ recording artist and San Francisco disco legend Sylvester, best known for the song \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3vtOEiO6TY\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, was once a Cockette. The larger group would fizzle out almost as quickly as they began, but some members still perform today.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>The Ministry of the Sisters\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">During the 80s and early 90s, AIDS wreaked havoc on the city’s gay population. A ragtag group of charitable drag queen nuns sprang into action to try to save lives and became de facto spiritual leaders in the wake of the loss, fear and uncertainty.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“It was scary. Nobody knew what it was. All people knew was that gay men were getting sick and dying,” Sister Roma said. She joined the Sisters in 1987 in the midst of what she called AIDS hysteria. “I remember checking my tongue for white spots and feeling my lymph nodes.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Roma and the Sisters created and distributed a safer-sex pamphlet, Play Fair!, believed to be the first to use sex-positive language and humor, to the LGBTQ community, along with boatloads of condoms.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We went out almost every night, through all the bars, getting condoms into hands, getting condoms into people’s minds,” Roma said, “Because we wanted to protect people and to save lives.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When they weren’t educating the community, the Sisters fought for the visibility of the AIDS crisis at a time when the federal government wouldn’t acknowledge the problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“There was a real consensus among some people that HIV/AIDS wasn’t an issue because it was killing all the right people,” Roma said. “It was intravenous drug users, prostitutes and faggots. Who cares, right?”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As medications began to move HIV from a death sentence to a manageable disease, the Sisters’ ranks continued to swell with community activists and philanthropists simply delighted to play with their gender expression in interesting ways.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11980178\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11980178\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/118798286_3373916526051177_8781469385850932712_n.jpg\" alt='Seven \"sisters\" in their drag nun attire stand in front of Dolores Park in San Francisco. Near them is a sign that says \"wear a mask.\" They are all wearing masks as well.' width=\"1920\" height=\"1281\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/118798286_3373916526051177_8781469385850932712_n.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/118798286_3373916526051177_8781469385850932712_n-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/118798286_3373916526051177_8781469385850932712_n-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/118798286_3373916526051177_8781469385850932712_n-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/118798286_3373916526051177_8781469385850932712_n-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence showed up to spread best practices during the COVID-19 pandemic, just as they did at the start of the AIDS crisis. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Sister Roma)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Sisters are now a worldwide organization but are just as active in San Francisco as ever. You can find the Sisters at community events, pride festivals, marches and they host the massive Easter in the Park featuring the Hunky Jesus and Foxy Mary contests. That event attracts tens of thousands of all ages and orientations to Dolores Park each Easter and has for 45 years.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>The Early Aughts\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In the late nineties and early 2000s, the drag scene in San Francisco was getting edgier. A gritty show called “Trannyshack” was packing The Stud, a tiny bar in SoMa, on Tuesday nights for a wild party that completely broke the rules of drag.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Trannyshack was wild,” said Christ, who got her start in San Francisco drag at Trannyshack, “it was artistic, it was crazy, it was outrageous, it was drug and alcohol-fueled, and it was pure.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“[The word ‘tranny’ was] an irreverent and endearing way to refer to people who fell outside of the gender norm. It referred to drag queens, trans people, transvestites, cross-dressers, and it referred to every little nuance in between,” Christ said. “Trannyshack, a place where all these people could go and be accepted and party and to have fun.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Over the next two decades the host of Trannyshack, drag queen Heklina, became a beloved figure in San Francisco’s LGBTQ community despite her abrasive on-stage persona.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11980189\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11980189\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GettyImages-1157521655.jpg\" alt=\"A drag queen wears a orange-peach sequined gown. They are standing in front of a red curtain, speaking into a microphone. They have a big blonde wig, and lots of jewelry. \" width=\"1920\" height=\"1278\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GettyImages-1157521655.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GettyImages-1157521655-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GettyImages-1157521655-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GettyImages-1157521655-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GettyImages-1157521655-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Heklina performs onstage at the Roast Battle at the 2019 Clusterfest. Her on-stage persona had edge, but behind the scenes, Heklina was a kind person interested in charitable work. \u003ccite>(Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic for Clusterfest)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Heklina presented herself in many ways as an unapologetically greedy bitch,” joked Christ, adding that though Heklina was always helping the community behind the scenes, “she was uncomfortable getting the credit for it. She was a secret nice person.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When Heklina passed away suddenly in April of 2023 the San Francisco LGBTQ community organized a large memorial service that shut down the Castro for hours. The community came out by the thousands to mourn.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“The reason thousands of people showed up for her memorial wasn’t just because she was a funny entertainer,” Christ said, though she acknowledged that Heklina was hilarious, “People showed up in San Francisco because she had created community for them.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Drag Story Hour\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In 2015, the first drag performer for Drag Story Hour was Per Sia, who said she was leading a double life.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I was working at a children’s afterschool arts program during the day and performing in drag at night,” she said. When she was contacted to host the first Drag Story Hour, she said yes but had reservations. ” Up until that point, I kept everything separate.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The idea behind Drag Story Hour is a representation for children to have glamorous, positive and queer role models and to feel free to play with their own gender expression. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">After the first Drag Story Hour, Per Sia knew she’d done the right thing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“There was this feeling of calmness,” she said, “all of my identities were in one place.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11980192\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 960px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11980192\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/image2.jpeg\" alt=\"A drag queen stands, gesturing dramatically while reading from a book. A handful of children sit by her feet.\" width=\"960\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/image2.jpeg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/image2-800x600.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/image2-160x120.jpeg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Per Sia began reading to children at the first ever Drag Queen Story Hour in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Per Sia)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Some conservative groups have criticized Drag Story Hour, but that doesn’t slow the organization or Per Sia down.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I still push forward because I love what I do,” Per Sia said, admitting that the threats from conservative groups have been scary. But she said it’s all worth it because she is setting an example for the children.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Little kids have the vocabulary to really identify what’s really going on inside, and that is so special to me,” Per Sia said with pride, “and it’s like, ‘I did that!’”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“There are now 20-something chapters of Drag Story Hour around the world,” Per Sia said, beaming, “I’m just over the moon to think that I am a part of that history.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Defending Drag\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As drag becomes more visible and harder to ignore, mainstream society is beginning to wrestle with the issue. By contrast, the San Francisco we know has been forged by drag.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We have a transgender cultural district, a leather cultural district, the Castro cultural district. We have a drag laureate, ” proclaimed Sister Roma, “San Francisco does remain the beacon of hope to our queer community worldwide.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“To remove drag would be like taking the city and turning it black and white,” Peaches Christ said. “San Francisco is full of color and fabulousness and by removing drag from it and all of its variations, I think you’d really mute what makes it special. This city is run by drag.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">From North Beach to the Tenderloin, the Castro to SoMa, San Francisco history and drag \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">herstory\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> follow the same path, and often it’s those high-heeled footprints in the lead.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[baycuriousquestion]\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> In the past decade, drag has become a centerpiece of American pop culture.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Start Ru Paul’s Drag Race theme music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Maybe you’ve seen RuPaul’s Drag Race on MTV. The show and its host have won armfuls of Emmy awards. And RuPaul is widely regarded as the most famous drag queen in the world. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>RuPaul’s Drag Race clip: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The time has come for you to lip sync for your LIFE!\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Then there’s the drag brunches, drag bingo — and more recently, the Drag Story Hour — that have become ubiquitous in many cities.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But growing attention has also led to growing disdain.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>News clip: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It has everything to do with this being inappropriate.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Whether it’s love or hate on the national stage, drag is a hot topic of conversation. And you really can’t understand how we got to this point nationally without heading to San Francisco.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peaches Christ:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Drag in San Francisco is as crucial to the identity of this city as the cable car. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> We thought it was high-heel time to take a closer look at drag culture in San Francisco. Today, we’re taking a crash course through decades of Drag Herstory to better understand its larger impact on San Francisco and the country.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peaches Christ:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Straight people have wigs in this town.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia-Allen Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A note: There is some potentially offensive language in this episode.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m Olivia Allen-Price. Stick around for Bay Curious.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Sponsor Message]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> On any given night in San Francisco you can step into any number of bars in the city and find a drag queen at the center of the action. Like Betty Fresas at Midnight Sun on Thursday nights. She cracks jokes, lip-syncs, celebrates birthdays with shots … and light humiliation. It’s a blast! \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But in San Francisco, our queens do so much more than entertaining bar patrons. They serve their communities through fundraising, political activism and even by holding public office.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">KQED’s Christopher Beale spoke with three of San Francisco’s drag icons, starting with Peaches Christ.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> What is a drag queen? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peaches Christ:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> A drag queen is someone who likes to use fabulous costumes and exaggerated performance to entertain people. And a drag queen, traditionally, has meant a cis man who dons women’s clothes for entertainment purposes, usually pretty fabulous and flamboyant. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> There are examples of what we might call drag today dating back centuries. The first time it was actually \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">called, that\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> is believed to have happened around 1870. In the time since drag queens have evolved from underground entertainment to queer community leaders to international megastars. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peaches Christ:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> We’re kind of queer preachers in a way. We create fellowship, we create community, we make people laugh, we make people feel good about themselves, and when the shit hits the fan and stuff needs to be done, you often see it’s drag queens who are community organizers and the ones mobilizing to take care of a need. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> In San Francisco, drag dates back to at least the 1930s, but this \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">isn’t\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> a comprehensive history. The scene is too vibrant, and it could take hours — and many, many costume changes — so what I want to do is hit on a few key moments when drag culture left big impacts on San Francisco.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peaches Christ:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Early drag in San Francisco, it was an art form that actually wasn’t seen as that queer because they sort of presented it in a way that was safe for straight audiences. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Remember the opening scene of the Robin Williams movie \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Birdcage\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">? Think of a straight nightclub featuring female illusion.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cb>Peaches Christ: \u003c/b>In San Francisco, the longest-running nightclub that featured drag was called Finocchio’s over in North Beach.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And it was around for decades \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> From the mid-30s to the late 90s, these clubs in North Beach would feature drag queens lip-syncing pop songs and making jokes for largely straight audiences. This was light-hearted fun. None of the heavy stuff, and definitely no politics. But that was about to shift.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peaches Christ:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And when that shift happened is when San Francisco really became different, and sort of special and unlike other drag communities. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> This drag queen named Jose Sarria started making noise about gay rights from the stage at another North Beach hotspot called, The Black Cat Club, encouraging people to stop living double lives.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sarria would grow his influence and go on to become the first openly gay candidate for public office in the United States in 1961, when he ran for a board of supervisor’s seat. He didn’t win, but he did reveal the power of the gay voting bloc in San Francisco and helped forge a path for Harvey Milk to be elected almost 20 years later. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jose Sarria didn’t take the electoral loss lying down, he continued his community work in drag and went on to inspire the creation of the Imperial Court system, an international network of charities still in operation today.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> A few years later, in 1966, drag performers were part of a pivotal moment in San Francisco and LGBTQ history. The night the Tenderloin became a tinder box of activity.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peaches Christ:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Compton’s Cafeteria was a late-night dining spot. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> A clean, safe, well-lit 24-hour diner in the Tenderloin. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peaches Christ:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Trans folks, drag performers, sex workers, the community could go there, this was a known place for people to gather.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> “Female impersonation” was still a crime in the 60s and the police regularly harassed people outside the gender binary. Even in the relative safety of the Tenderloin, which was then seen as a gay neighborhood, queer people were never truly safe. And on one hot August night, workers at the cafeteria called the police to deal with what they deemed rambunctious diners. Police records from the time don’t exist anymore, but a police officer is said to have grabbed a trans woman to arrest her.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peaches Christ:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And the community fought back. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> She responded by throwing a cup of coffee in his face. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peaches Christ:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It broke out into a rebellion that took to the streets. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Sugar shakers were thrown through the restaurant windows and drag queens were seen beating police with heavy purses. A newsstand on the corner was set on fire.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The Compton’s Cafeteria riot didn’t lead to the changes that Stonewall would a few years later, but it stands as the first known example of collective militant queer resistance to police harassment in U.S. history. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peaches Christ:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It is worth noting that these trailblazers existed and that they were real heroes and really brave and they were trans women and drag performers who were fighting police on the streets of the Tenderloin.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Start 1960s era music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Drag expression was undergoing a huge change during this era as well. In the late 1960s, The Cockettes burst onto the scene. They were as counter-culture as you could get and were some of the first to break the traditional “cis man dressed as a woman” mold for drag.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cb>Peaches Christ: \u003c/b>I guess you could say they were hippies; they would put glitter in their beards, and they lived together like a commune.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> They were an inclusive drag troupe that included straight people, cis women, men, trans women… \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The Cockettes became notorious for these wild midnight movies at the Palace Theater in North Beach, where drag performers would sing and dance in the aisles during films from greats like John Waters.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peaches Christ:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> They were fueled by glitter and drugs and lots and lots of talent.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[start “Mighty Real” by Sylvester]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale: Divine — the controversial and influential drag queen from some of those John Waters movies — has performed with the Cockettes, and at one point, San Francisco recording artist and LGBTQ pioneer Sylvester was a Cockette.\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[End music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The Cockettes became so popular, so fast, that the group began to splinter into cliques and eventually fell apart, though some members still perform today. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Cockettes over the top, irreverent, no-holds-barred style of drag would help inspire generations of queens to push the envelope.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Somber music starts]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cb>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sister Roma:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Around 1982, HIV AIDS started to ravage the community. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> That is philanthropist, drag queen and member of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Sister Roma.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sister Roma:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It was scary. Nobody knew what it was. All people knew is that gay men, mostly, were getting sick and dying. I remember checking my tongue for white spots and feeling my lymph nodes. It was like AIDS hysteria. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Americans began seeing TV reports like this one demonizing the LGBTQ community.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Archival Tape: …\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The lifestyle of some male homosexuals has triggered an epidemic and a rare form of cancer. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cb>Christopher Beale: \u003c/b>In 1987, Roma was looking for a way to help when she discovered and quickly joined this fairly new ragtag order of drag queen nuns called the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They’d been founded on Easter Sunday in 1979. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Two of those early sisters were medical professionals, and as soon as HIV and AIDS was discovered to be sexually transmitted, the Sisters sprang into action. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sister Roma:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> We went out almost every night, went through all the bars, getting condoms into hands, getting condoms into people’s minds, into their forefront. Because we wanted to protect people and to save lives.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> They created the first safer sex pamphlet known to feature sex-positive language, practical advice, and most importantly, humor. When they weren’t doing safer sex outreach in the clubs, the Sisters were…if you’ll pardon the pun…raising hell in the streets.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sister Roma:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Raising picket signs and bullhorns just to get people to even acknowledge that we were dying, that we needed help. Because there was a real consensus among some people that HIV AIDS wasn’t an issue because it was killing all the right people. It was intravenous drug users, prostitutes, and faggots. Who cares, right? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> There was a time when about a third of San Francisco’s 60,000+ gay men were dying of AIDS, and the Sisters became beacons of hope for the community.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As AIDS became less prevalent, the Sisters ranks continued to fill with people who wanted to give back, and the Sisters have continued to grow in influence and visibility.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sister Roma:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Today we’re talking about a worldwide organization with probably a thousand members.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Easter in the Park with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence is an annual tradition that attracts thousands from all over to Dolores Park. It’s a big, boisterous celebration that’s become quintessentially San Franciscan.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music transition]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> In the mid-90s, after the horror of AIDS began to wane, the LGBTQ+ community in San Francisco galvanized and began to go out like never before. Bars, clubs, and parties were packed as the community collectively blew off steam. In 1996, a drag queen named Heklina started a legendary SoMa party that put the spotlight on San Francisco’s unique blend of drag.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Heklina performance clip: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Many stars have been born on this stage. This very very special stage. I would kiss this stage right now if it wasn’t covered with blood and shit.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peaches Christ:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Heklina in many ways was the truest embodiment of Punk rock to drag, \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Heklina’s show was called Tranny Shack.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peaches Christ:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> She created it. And proceeded to produce a different show every week at midnight, on a Tuesday, with packed houses for 13 years.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Heklina performance clip: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I have wigs older than you are.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Back when the show was launched, Heklina chose the word “tranny” with an eye toward inclusivity. It was a slur, yes, but like a lot of slurs, it came to be reclaimed/adopted by the group it aimed to harm.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peaches Christ:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> An irreverent and endearing way to refer to people who fell outside of the gender norm. Tranny back then referred to drag queens. Trans people. Transvestites, cross-dressers. And it referred to every little nuance in between because between all those things, there’s a lot of gray area, and between those things, there’s overlap. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peaches Christ:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And what Tranny Shack was, was a place where all these people could go, and did go, and be accepted and party and to have fun and it was wild. It was artistic. It was crazy. It was outrageous. It was drug and alcohol-fueled, and it was pure.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Over the next two decades, Peaches saw Heklina become a community leader, always helping to raise money for causes big and small, which was sort of the opposite of her on-stage persona.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peaches Christ:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> She presented herself in many ways as an unapologetically greedy bitch. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> But that was just a persona, Heklina loved to help people.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peaches Christ:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> She was uncomfortable getting the credit for it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> When Heklina suddenly passed away in 2023, the city’s queer community came out by the thousands as if to honor a fallen hero.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Clip from Heklina’s funeral: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So the event is simply, Heklina a memories.\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She would have hated this. Yes, yes, she would.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peaches Christ:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The reason thousands of people showed up for her memorial… it wasn’t just because she was a funny entertainer. Yes, that’s true. But people showed up in San Francisco because she had created community for them. She was a secret nice person.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music starts]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Per Sia:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Drag is not just about entertainment. Drag is also community work.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Next, I want to introduce you to a not-so-secret nice person. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Per Sia:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Persia or Persia. Either one works. Trust me. I’ve been called way worse.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> A few years back Persia was performing in drag at night, but during the day…\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Per Sia:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I was working at a children’s afterschool arts program here in San Francisco, so I was leading a double life. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> She was approached by a group planning to organize Drag Story Hour…where a drag queen reads a book to kids. The idea is representation, for children to have glamorous, positive, and queer role models and to feel free to play with their own gender expression. This was a new concept, but it hit Per Sia in the heartstrings. So, in December 2015… \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Per Sia:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Drag Story Hour started here in San Francisco. And I was the first performer to be part of that. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> This was sort of a meeting of two worlds for Persia.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Per Sia:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I was really nervous because up until that point, I kept everything separate.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> But she got up in front of a room of kids, and she read to them.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Per Sia reading to kids: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Again, my name is Per Sia. And I’m a drag queen. Welcome to Drag Story Hour.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Per Sia:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I just remember just being so, so nervous. I had students of mine with their families come in. And at that moment, everything really hit. I was merging my lives together, \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale in scene:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Do you remember what book you read? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Per Sia:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I read something unicorn. And then. A bear book. I don’t know. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale in scene:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Unicorns and bears. That’s the takeaway. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Per Sia:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Ha ha ha. Gay. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Per Sia:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Afterwards, there was this feeling of calmness. And I had never experienced so much joy. And I’m not going to cry, but it was feeling like all my identities are in one place. And that’s how it felt when I left. And I was just like, oh, like. It’s like, damn I did that. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Little kids have the vocabulary to really identify what’s really going on inside, and that is so special to me.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And to know that now there’s 20-something chapters around the world, and that I was the first one, and that it started here in San Francisco. I’m just over the moon to just think that I am part of that history. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Drag Story Hour has received quite a bit of press attention, and conservative groups have targeted them, even showing up at places where queens are reading to children.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale in scene:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Does that make you afraid when you go to these libraries or schools? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Per Sia:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Yes. But I still push forward. Because I love what I do and if I don’t do that, then what am I going to do? I am already depressed, and anxiety is off the roof. Like, and if I don’t do what I like, then. I’m just going to go back in that hole, you know.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music starts]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Peaches Christ says the hate drag performers have received is simply a response to progress.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peaches Christ:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> We as a community, have existed for many years behind closed doors, performing at night in nightclubs for queer people. We’ve progressed to the point where these families and these people that are so fear-based don’t like seeing us on their televisions. They don’t like seeing us on their kids’ computers or on their social media. They don’t want us in their libraries. They don’t want us in their schools. They don’t want us at their symphony halls. They don’t want us at their baseball stadiums.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sister Roma:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It’s important to realize that this is just the tip of the iceberg. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Sister Roma again.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sister Roma:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> You can’t take away pride flags and you can’t say don’t say gay. Like we have always been here. Trans people, queer people have always, always been here. And we will always. Always be here. They don’t know who they’re picking a fight with. We have overcome much bigger battles we fought a plague. We showed the world how to, who react with compassion in the face of pandemic that was killing our community, we rose up and showed the world how to respond. We got this.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> To people like Per Sia, Sister Roma, and Peaches Christ, San Francisco history and drag HERstory are inseparably intertwined. It’s hard to imagine The City without drag queens.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peaches Christ:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It’d be like taking the city and turning it black and white. San Francisco is full of color and fabulousness and by removing drag from it and all of its variations, I think you’d really mute what makes it special. This city is run by drag. It’s a drag oasis.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Almost 100 years have gone by since those first queens graced the stage in San Francisco. The city – and the world! – have been shaped by those that came after.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sister Roma:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> We have a transgender cultural district, a leather cultural district, the Castro cultural district. We have a drag laureate, Darcy Drollinger. So many great queer trans drag leaders and so much to be proud of here in San Francisco. And this does remain a beacon of hope to our queer community worldwide.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That was Bay Curious reporter and sound engineer Christopher Beale. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Per Sia:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> GAY! \u003c/span>\u003cb>*laugh & fade*\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> At the end of every Bay Curious episode, you may have noticed we always say …\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Voice over:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Bay Curious is made in San Francisco at member-supported KQED.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">To us, \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">member-supported\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> is the operative phrase there. We are so proud that Bay Curious is available for free to everyone, but it does cost money to make.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sixty percent of our budget comes from listeners. Many give $5, $10, $20 a month … and it adds up! If you’ve thought in the past, “Oh gosh, I really should donate” but haven’t gotten around to it (I’ve been there). This is your sign to make good on those thoughts. Don’t delay. Grab your phone and navigate to \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://donate.kqed.org/podcasts\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">donate.kqed.org/podcasts\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> … within minutes you’ll be done and feeling good about supporting shows like Bay Curious. Thanks!\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bay Curious is made in San Francisco at member-supported KQED. Our show is produced by Katrina Schwartz, Christopher Beale, and me, Olivia-Allen Price. Additional support from Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Cesar Saldana, Maha Sanad, Holly Kernan and the whole KQED Family.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m Olivia Allen-Price. Have a fabulous week!\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>View the full episode transcript.\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Drag as an art form dates back centuries, but as shows like MTV’s RuPaul’s Drag Race have grown a worldwide following, drag has become more visible than ever. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003caside class=\"alignleft utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__bayCuriousPodcastShortcode__bayCurious\">\u003cimg src=https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/bayCuriousLogo.png alt=\"Bay Curious Podcast\" loading=\"lazy\" />\n \u003ca href=\"/news/series/baycurious\">Bay Curious\u003c/a> is a podcast that answers your questions about the Bay Area.\n Subscribe on \u003ca href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/bay-curious/id1172473406\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Apple Podcasts\u003c/a>,\n \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/podcasts/500557090/bay-curious\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR One\u003c/a> or your favorite podcast platform.\u003c/aside>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The show’s namesake and host, RuPaul, arguably the most famous drag queen in the world, is now the most decorated television host in Emmy history. Not Johnny Carson, not Barbara Walters … RuPaul.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But there is also a heated debate coursing through statehouses and on some media programs about whether or not drag queens are appropriate entertainment for adults and children alike. Florida, Montana, Tennessee and Texas all have laws that, though unenforceable due to a federal court order, would ban drag performances.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In San Francisco, this debate over drag is long settled.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Drag is as crucial to the identity of this city as the cable car,” said Peaches Christ, a San Francisco drag performer, director and provocateur for the last three decades. “Straight people have wigs in this town!” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Drag has been breaking ground and creating a community for San Franciscans for almost a century.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>But how did it get that way?\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Drag has been an active part of the entertainment scene in San Francisco since the 1930s.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Early drag in San Francisco was presented in a way that was safe for straight audiences,” Christ said. “It traditionally has meant a cis man who dons women’s clothes, for entertainment purposes, usually pretty fabulous and flamboyant.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Finocchio’s Club was an institution for 60 years in the North Beach neighborhood and featured “female illusion.” This was light-hearted fun. None of the heavy stuff and definitely no politics. But that was about to shift.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11980250\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11980250\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/Medium-sized-JPEG.jpg\" alt=\"A black and white photo featuring eight drag queens posing on a multi-tiered stage, wearing gowns.\" width=\"600\" height=\"489\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/Medium-sized-JPEG.jpg 600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/Medium-sized-JPEG-160x130.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Finocchio’s nightclub was known for its “female impersonators” who entertained patrons nightly. This 1958 photo shows the cast of the floor show. \u003ccite>(San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Her Royal Majesty, Empress of San Francisco, José I, The Widow Norton\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">At The Black Cat Club, another North Beach hot spot, Jose Sarria was a cocktail waiter turned drag queen who sang operatic arias. During Sarria’s performances, she started to encourage patrons to stop living double lives and to come out of the closet. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In 1961, Sarria ran for a San Francisco Board of Supervisors seat. He lost, but his campaign was an early demonstration of the power of the gay voting bloc that would eventually elect Harvey Milk.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11980181\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1493px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11980181\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GettyImages-1322409068.jpg\" alt=\"A person wearing a white full body leotard and a pink tutu and white angel wings and a crown. They are gesturing toward the camera, as if to take flight.\" width=\"1493\" height=\"991\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GettyImages-1322409068.jpg 1493w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GettyImages-1322409068-800x531.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GettyImages-1322409068-1020x677.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GettyImages-1322409068-160x106.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1493px) 100vw, 1493px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jose Sarria, a.k.a. The Widow Norton, dances as the Sugar Plum Fairy during the Dance-Along Nutcracker in 2006. \u003ccite>(LEA SUZUKI/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">After the political defeat, Sarria would proclaim himself “Her Royal Majesty, Empress of San Francisco, José I, The Widow Norton,” and create the Imperial Court. That network of LGBTQ charities is still in operation today and holds a visible presence in San Francisco.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Compton’s Cafeteria Riot\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In the Tenderloin, at Taylor and Turk Streets, a 24-hour diner called Compton’s Cafeteria was a generally safe spot for the neighborhood’s queer, gender non-conforming, drag, trans and sex-worker population.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Female impersonation” was illegal in the sixties, and police regularly harassed people who appeared to be in violation.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In August 1966, diner staff called the police one night and reported that the patrons had become rowdy. Though police records from the time no longer exist, an officer reportedly grabbed a trans woman to arrest her and she responded by throwing a cup of coffee in his face.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“It broke out into a rebellion that took to the streets,” Christ said, “and it’s worth noting that these trailblazers existed. They were trans women and drag performers who were fighting police on the streets of the Tenderloin.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Compton’s Cafeteria Riot didn’t result in the widespread change that Stonewall would a few years later but it is the first known act of widespread resistance to police harassment in U.S. history.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>The Cockettes\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In the sixties a counter-culture drag troupe called the Cockettes was breaking down walls in drag expression.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“They were hippies. They would put glitter in their beards, and they lived together like a commune,” Christ said. “They were an inclusive drag troupe that included straight people, cis women, men, trans women.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11980176\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11980176\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GettyImages-603956872.jpg\" alt=\"Four performers in exaggereateid costumes on stage.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1324\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GettyImages-603956872.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GettyImages-603956872-800x552.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GettyImages-603956872-1020x703.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GettyImages-603956872-160x110.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GettyImages-603956872-1536x1059.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Cockettes perform Tinsel Tarts in a Hot Coma in New York in July 1971. \u003ccite>(Jack Mitchell/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Cockettes are remembered for their outlandish parties at the Palace Theatre in North Beach and for their gender-bending expression of drag that pushed the boundaries beyond the usual ‘cis man in a dress’ drag formula.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“The Cockettes were fueled by glitter and drugs and lots and lots of talent,” added Christ. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s worth noting that LGBTQ recording artist and San Francisco disco legend Sylvester, best known for the song \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3vtOEiO6TY\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, was once a Cockette. The larger group would fizzle out almost as quickly as they began, but some members still perform today.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>The Ministry of the Sisters\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">During the 80s and early 90s, AIDS wreaked havoc on the city’s gay population. A ragtag group of charitable drag queen nuns sprang into action to try to save lives and became de facto spiritual leaders in the wake of the loss, fear and uncertainty.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“It was scary. Nobody knew what it was. All people knew was that gay men were getting sick and dying,” Sister Roma said. She joined the Sisters in 1987 in the midst of what she called AIDS hysteria. “I remember checking my tongue for white spots and feeling my lymph nodes.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Roma and the Sisters created and distributed a safer-sex pamphlet, Play Fair!, believed to be the first to use sex-positive language and humor, to the LGBTQ community, along with boatloads of condoms.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We went out almost every night, through all the bars, getting condoms into hands, getting condoms into people’s minds,” Roma said, “Because we wanted to protect people and to save lives.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When they weren’t educating the community, the Sisters fought for the visibility of the AIDS crisis at a time when the federal government wouldn’t acknowledge the problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“There was a real consensus among some people that HIV/AIDS wasn’t an issue because it was killing all the right people,” Roma said. “It was intravenous drug users, prostitutes and faggots. Who cares, right?”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As medications began to move HIV from a death sentence to a manageable disease, the Sisters’ ranks continued to swell with community activists and philanthropists simply delighted to play with their gender expression in interesting ways.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11980178\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11980178\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/118798286_3373916526051177_8781469385850932712_n.jpg\" alt='Seven \"sisters\" in their drag nun attire stand in front of Dolores Park in San Francisco. Near them is a sign that says \"wear a mask.\" They are all wearing masks as well.' width=\"1920\" height=\"1281\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/118798286_3373916526051177_8781469385850932712_n.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/118798286_3373916526051177_8781469385850932712_n-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/118798286_3373916526051177_8781469385850932712_n-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/118798286_3373916526051177_8781469385850932712_n-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/118798286_3373916526051177_8781469385850932712_n-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence showed up to spread best practices during the COVID-19 pandemic, just as they did at the start of the AIDS crisis. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Sister Roma)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Sisters are now a worldwide organization but are just as active in San Francisco as ever. You can find the Sisters at community events, pride festivals, marches and they host the massive Easter in the Park featuring the Hunky Jesus and Foxy Mary contests. That event attracts tens of thousands of all ages and orientations to Dolores Park each Easter and has for 45 years.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>The Early Aughts\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In the late nineties and early 2000s, the drag scene in San Francisco was getting edgier. A gritty show called “Trannyshack” was packing The Stud, a tiny bar in SoMa, on Tuesday nights for a wild party that completely broke the rules of drag.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Trannyshack was wild,” said Christ, who got her start in San Francisco drag at Trannyshack, “it was artistic, it was crazy, it was outrageous, it was drug and alcohol-fueled, and it was pure.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“[The word ‘tranny’ was] an irreverent and endearing way to refer to people who fell outside of the gender norm. It referred to drag queens, trans people, transvestites, cross-dressers, and it referred to every little nuance in between,” Christ said. “Trannyshack, a place where all these people could go and be accepted and party and to have fun.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Over the next two decades the host of Trannyshack, drag queen Heklina, became a beloved figure in San Francisco’s LGBTQ community despite her abrasive on-stage persona.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11980189\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11980189\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GettyImages-1157521655.jpg\" alt=\"A drag queen wears a orange-peach sequined gown. They are standing in front of a red curtain, speaking into a microphone. They have a big blonde wig, and lots of jewelry. \" width=\"1920\" height=\"1278\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GettyImages-1157521655.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GettyImages-1157521655-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GettyImages-1157521655-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GettyImages-1157521655-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GettyImages-1157521655-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Heklina performs onstage at the Roast Battle at the 2019 Clusterfest. Her on-stage persona had edge, but behind the scenes, Heklina was a kind person interested in charitable work. \u003ccite>(Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic for Clusterfest)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Heklina presented herself in many ways as an unapologetically greedy bitch,” joked Christ, adding that though Heklina was always helping the community behind the scenes, “she was uncomfortable getting the credit for it. She was a secret nice person.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When Heklina passed away suddenly in April of 2023 the San Francisco LGBTQ community organized a large memorial service that shut down the Castro for hours. The community came out by the thousands to mourn.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“The reason thousands of people showed up for her memorial wasn’t just because she was a funny entertainer,” Christ said, though she acknowledged that Heklina was hilarious, “People showed up in San Francisco because she had created community for them.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Drag Story Hour\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In 2015, the first drag performer for Drag Story Hour was Per Sia, who said she was leading a double life.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I was working at a children’s afterschool arts program during the day and performing in drag at night,” she said. When she was contacted to host the first Drag Story Hour, she said yes but had reservations. ” Up until that point, I kept everything separate.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The idea behind Drag Story Hour is a representation for children to have glamorous, positive and queer role models and to feel free to play with their own gender expression. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">After the first Drag Story Hour, Per Sia knew she’d done the right thing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“There was this feeling of calmness,” she said, “all of my identities were in one place.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11980192\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 960px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11980192\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/image2.jpeg\" alt=\"A drag queen stands, gesturing dramatically while reading from a book. A handful of children sit by her feet.\" width=\"960\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/image2.jpeg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/image2-800x600.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/image2-160x120.jpeg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Per Sia began reading to children at the first ever Drag Queen Story Hour in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Per Sia)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Some conservative groups have criticized Drag Story Hour, but that doesn’t slow the organization or Per Sia down.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I still push forward because I love what I do,” Per Sia said, admitting that the threats from conservative groups have been scary. But she said it’s all worth it because she is setting an example for the children.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Little kids have the vocabulary to really identify what’s really going on inside, and that is so special to me,” Per Sia said with pride, “and it’s like, ‘I did that!’”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“There are now 20-something chapters of Drag Story Hour around the world,” Per Sia said, beaming, “I’m just over the moon to think that I am a part of that history.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Defending Drag\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As drag becomes more visible and harder to ignore, mainstream society is beginning to wrestle with the issue. By contrast, the San Francisco we know has been forged by drag.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We have a transgender cultural district, a leather cultural district, the Castro cultural district. We have a drag laureate, ” proclaimed Sister Roma, “San Francisco does remain the beacon of hope to our queer community worldwide.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“To remove drag would be like taking the city and turning it black and white,” Peaches Christ said. “San Francisco is full of color and fabulousness and by removing drag from it and all of its variations, I think you’d really mute what makes it special. This city is run by drag.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">From North Beach to the Tenderloin, the Castro to SoMa, San Francisco history and drag \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">herstory\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> follow the same path, and often it’s those high-heeled footprints in the lead.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> In the past decade, drag has become a centerpiece of American pop culture.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Start Ru Paul’s Drag Race theme music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Maybe you’ve seen RuPaul’s Drag Race on MTV. The show and its host have won armfuls of Emmy awards. And RuPaul is widely regarded as the most famous drag queen in the world. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>RuPaul’s Drag Race clip: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The time has come for you to lip sync for your LIFE!\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Then there’s the drag brunches, drag bingo — and more recently, the Drag Story Hour — that have become ubiquitous in many cities.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But growing attention has also led to growing disdain.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>News clip: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It has everything to do with this being inappropriate.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Whether it’s love or hate on the national stage, drag is a hot topic of conversation. And you really can’t understand how we got to this point nationally without heading to San Francisco.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peaches Christ:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Drag in San Francisco is as crucial to the identity of this city as the cable car. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> We thought it was high-heel time to take a closer look at drag culture in San Francisco. Today, we’re taking a crash course through decades of Drag Herstory to better understand its larger impact on San Francisco and the country.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peaches Christ:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Straight people have wigs in this town.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia-Allen Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A note: There is some potentially offensive language in this episode.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m Olivia Allen-Price. Stick around for Bay Curious.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Sponsor Message]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> On any given night in San Francisco you can step into any number of bars in the city and find a drag queen at the center of the action. Like Betty Fresas at Midnight Sun on Thursday nights. She cracks jokes, lip-syncs, celebrates birthdays with shots … and light humiliation. It’s a blast! \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But in San Francisco, our queens do so much more than entertaining bar patrons. They serve their communities through fundraising, political activism and even by holding public office.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">KQED’s Christopher Beale spoke with three of San Francisco’s drag icons, starting with Peaches Christ.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> What is a drag queen? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peaches Christ:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> A drag queen is someone who likes to use fabulous costumes and exaggerated performance to entertain people. And a drag queen, traditionally, has meant a cis man who dons women’s clothes for entertainment purposes, usually pretty fabulous and flamboyant. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> There are examples of what we might call drag today dating back centuries. The first time it was actually \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">called, that\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> is believed to have happened around 1870. In the time since drag queens have evolved from underground entertainment to queer community leaders to international megastars. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peaches Christ:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> We’re kind of queer preachers in a way. We create fellowship, we create community, we make people laugh, we make people feel good about themselves, and when the shit hits the fan and stuff needs to be done, you often see it’s drag queens who are community organizers and the ones mobilizing to take care of a need. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> In San Francisco, drag dates back to at least the 1930s, but this \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">isn’t\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> a comprehensive history. The scene is too vibrant, and it could take hours — and many, many costume changes — so what I want to do is hit on a few key moments when drag culture left big impacts on San Francisco.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peaches Christ:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Early drag in San Francisco, it was an art form that actually wasn’t seen as that queer because they sort of presented it in a way that was safe for straight audiences. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Remember the opening scene of the Robin Williams movie \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Birdcage\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">? Think of a straight nightclub featuring female illusion.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cb>Peaches Christ: \u003c/b>In San Francisco, the longest-running nightclub that featured drag was called Finocchio’s over in North Beach.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And it was around for decades \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> From the mid-30s to the late 90s, these clubs in North Beach would feature drag queens lip-syncing pop songs and making jokes for largely straight audiences. This was light-hearted fun. None of the heavy stuff, and definitely no politics. But that was about to shift.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peaches Christ:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And when that shift happened is when San Francisco really became different, and sort of special and unlike other drag communities. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> This drag queen named Jose Sarria started making noise about gay rights from the stage at another North Beach hotspot called, The Black Cat Club, encouraging people to stop living double lives.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sarria would grow his influence and go on to become the first openly gay candidate for public office in the United States in 1961, when he ran for a board of supervisor’s seat. He didn’t win, but he did reveal the power of the gay voting bloc in San Francisco and helped forge a path for Harvey Milk to be elected almost 20 years later. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jose Sarria didn’t take the electoral loss lying down, he continued his community work in drag and went on to inspire the creation of the Imperial Court system, an international network of charities still in operation today.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> A few years later, in 1966, drag performers were part of a pivotal moment in San Francisco and LGBTQ history. The night the Tenderloin became a tinder box of activity.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peaches Christ:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Compton’s Cafeteria was a late-night dining spot. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> A clean, safe, well-lit 24-hour diner in the Tenderloin. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peaches Christ:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Trans folks, drag performers, sex workers, the community could go there, this was a known place for people to gather.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> “Female impersonation” was still a crime in the 60s and the police regularly harassed people outside the gender binary. Even in the relative safety of the Tenderloin, which was then seen as a gay neighborhood, queer people were never truly safe. And on one hot August night, workers at the cafeteria called the police to deal with what they deemed rambunctious diners. Police records from the time don’t exist anymore, but a police officer is said to have grabbed a trans woman to arrest her.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peaches Christ:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And the community fought back. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> She responded by throwing a cup of coffee in his face. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peaches Christ:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It broke out into a rebellion that took to the streets. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Sugar shakers were thrown through the restaurant windows and drag queens were seen beating police with heavy purses. A newsstand on the corner was set on fire.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The Compton’s Cafeteria riot didn’t lead to the changes that Stonewall would a few years later, but it stands as the first known example of collective militant queer resistance to police harassment in U.S. history. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peaches Christ:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It is worth noting that these trailblazers existed and that they were real heroes and really brave and they were trans women and drag performers who were fighting police on the streets of the Tenderloin.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Start 1960s era music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Drag expression was undergoing a huge change during this era as well. In the late 1960s, The Cockettes burst onto the scene. They were as counter-culture as you could get and were some of the first to break the traditional “cis man dressed as a woman” mold for drag.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cb>Peaches Christ: \u003c/b>I guess you could say they were hippies; they would put glitter in their beards, and they lived together like a commune.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> They were an inclusive drag troupe that included straight people, cis women, men, trans women… \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The Cockettes became notorious for these wild midnight movies at the Palace Theater in North Beach, where drag performers would sing and dance in the aisles during films from greats like John Waters.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peaches Christ:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> They were fueled by glitter and drugs and lots and lots of talent.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[start “Mighty Real” by Sylvester]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale: Divine — the controversial and influential drag queen from some of those John Waters movies — has performed with the Cockettes, and at one point, San Francisco recording artist and LGBTQ pioneer Sylvester was a Cockette.\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[End music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The Cockettes became so popular, so fast, that the group began to splinter into cliques and eventually fell apart, though some members still perform today. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Cockettes over the top, irreverent, no-holds-barred style of drag would help inspire generations of queens to push the envelope.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Somber music starts]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cb>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sister Roma:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Around 1982, HIV AIDS started to ravage the community. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> That is philanthropist, drag queen and member of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Sister Roma.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sister Roma:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It was scary. Nobody knew what it was. All people knew is that gay men, mostly, were getting sick and dying. I remember checking my tongue for white spots and feeling my lymph nodes. It was like AIDS hysteria. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Americans began seeing TV reports like this one demonizing the LGBTQ community.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Archival Tape: …\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The lifestyle of some male homosexuals has triggered an epidemic and a rare form of cancer. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cb>Christopher Beale: \u003c/b>In 1987, Roma was looking for a way to help when she discovered and quickly joined this fairly new ragtag order of drag queen nuns called the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They’d been founded on Easter Sunday in 1979. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Two of those early sisters were medical professionals, and as soon as HIV and AIDS was discovered to be sexually transmitted, the Sisters sprang into action. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sister Roma:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> We went out almost every night, went through all the bars, getting condoms into hands, getting condoms into people’s minds, into their forefront. Because we wanted to protect people and to save lives.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> They created the first safer sex pamphlet known to feature sex-positive language, practical advice, and most importantly, humor. When they weren’t doing safer sex outreach in the clubs, the Sisters were…if you’ll pardon the pun…raising hell in the streets.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sister Roma:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Raising picket signs and bullhorns just to get people to even acknowledge that we were dying, that we needed help. Because there was a real consensus among some people that HIV AIDS wasn’t an issue because it was killing all the right people. It was intravenous drug users, prostitutes, and faggots. Who cares, right? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> There was a time when about a third of San Francisco’s 60,000+ gay men were dying of AIDS, and the Sisters became beacons of hope for the community.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As AIDS became less prevalent, the Sisters ranks continued to fill with people who wanted to give back, and the Sisters have continued to grow in influence and visibility.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sister Roma:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Today we’re talking about a worldwide organization with probably a thousand members.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Easter in the Park with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence is an annual tradition that attracts thousands from all over to Dolores Park. It’s a big, boisterous celebration that’s become quintessentially San Franciscan.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music transition]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> In the mid-90s, after the horror of AIDS began to wane, the LGBTQ+ community in San Francisco galvanized and began to go out like never before. Bars, clubs, and parties were packed as the community collectively blew off steam. In 1996, a drag queen named Heklina started a legendary SoMa party that put the spotlight on San Francisco’s unique blend of drag.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Heklina performance clip: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Many stars have been born on this stage. This very very special stage. I would kiss this stage right now if it wasn’t covered with blood and shit.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peaches Christ:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Heklina in many ways was the truest embodiment of Punk rock to drag, \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Heklina’s show was called Tranny Shack.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peaches Christ:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> She created it. And proceeded to produce a different show every week at midnight, on a Tuesday, with packed houses for 13 years.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Heklina performance clip: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I have wigs older than you are.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Back when the show was launched, Heklina chose the word “tranny” with an eye toward inclusivity. It was a slur, yes, but like a lot of slurs, it came to be reclaimed/adopted by the group it aimed to harm.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peaches Christ:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> An irreverent and endearing way to refer to people who fell outside of the gender norm. Tranny back then referred to drag queens. Trans people. Transvestites, cross-dressers. And it referred to every little nuance in between because between all those things, there’s a lot of gray area, and between those things, there’s overlap. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peaches Christ:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And what Tranny Shack was, was a place where all these people could go, and did go, and be accepted and party and to have fun and it was wild. It was artistic. It was crazy. It was outrageous. It was drug and alcohol-fueled, and it was pure.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Over the next two decades, Peaches saw Heklina become a community leader, always helping to raise money for causes big and small, which was sort of the opposite of her on-stage persona.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peaches Christ:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> She presented herself in many ways as an unapologetically greedy bitch. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> But that was just a persona, Heklina loved to help people.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peaches Christ:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> She was uncomfortable getting the credit for it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> When Heklina suddenly passed away in 2023, the city’s queer community came out by the thousands as if to honor a fallen hero.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Clip from Heklina’s funeral: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So the event is simply, Heklina a memories.\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She would have hated this. Yes, yes, she would.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peaches Christ:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The reason thousands of people showed up for her memorial… it wasn’t just because she was a funny entertainer. Yes, that’s true. But people showed up in San Francisco because she had created community for them. She was a secret nice person.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music starts]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Per Sia:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Drag is not just about entertainment. Drag is also community work.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Next, I want to introduce you to a not-so-secret nice person. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Per Sia:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Persia or Persia. Either one works. Trust me. I’ve been called way worse.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> A few years back Persia was performing in drag at night, but during the day…\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Per Sia:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I was working at a children’s afterschool arts program here in San Francisco, so I was leading a double life. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> She was approached by a group planning to organize Drag Story Hour…where a drag queen reads a book to kids. The idea is representation, for children to have glamorous, positive, and queer role models and to feel free to play with their own gender expression. This was a new concept, but it hit Per Sia in the heartstrings. So, in December 2015… \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Per Sia:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Drag Story Hour started here in San Francisco. And I was the first performer to be part of that. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> This was sort of a meeting of two worlds for Persia.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Per Sia:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I was really nervous because up until that point, I kept everything separate.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> But she got up in front of a room of kids, and she read to them.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Per Sia reading to kids: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Again, my name is Per Sia. And I’m a drag queen. Welcome to Drag Story Hour.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Per Sia:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I just remember just being so, so nervous. I had students of mine with their families come in. And at that moment, everything really hit. I was merging my lives together, \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale in scene:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Do you remember what book you read? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Per Sia:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I read something unicorn. And then. A bear book. I don’t know. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale in scene:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Unicorns and bears. That’s the takeaway. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Per Sia:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Ha ha ha. Gay. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Per Sia:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Afterwards, there was this feeling of calmness. And I had never experienced so much joy. And I’m not going to cry, but it was feeling like all my identities are in one place. And that’s how it felt when I left. And I was just like, oh, like. It’s like, damn I did that. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Little kids have the vocabulary to really identify what’s really going on inside, and that is so special to me.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And to know that now there’s 20-something chapters around the world, and that I was the first one, and that it started here in San Francisco. I’m just over the moon to just think that I am part of that history. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Drag Story Hour has received quite a bit of press attention, and conservative groups have targeted them, even showing up at places where queens are reading to children.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale in scene:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Does that make you afraid when you go to these libraries or schools? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Per Sia:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Yes. But I still push forward. Because I love what I do and if I don’t do that, then what am I going to do? I am already depressed, and anxiety is off the roof. Like, and if I don’t do what I like, then. I’m just going to go back in that hole, you know.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music starts]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Peaches Christ says the hate drag performers have received is simply a response to progress.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peaches Christ:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> We as a community, have existed for many years behind closed doors, performing at night in nightclubs for queer people. We’ve progressed to the point where these families and these people that are so fear-based don’t like seeing us on their televisions. They don’t like seeing us on their kids’ computers or on their social media. They don’t want us in their libraries. They don’t want us in their schools. They don’t want us at their symphony halls. They don’t want us at their baseball stadiums.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sister Roma:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It’s important to realize that this is just the tip of the iceberg. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Sister Roma again.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sister Roma:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> You can’t take away pride flags and you can’t say don’t say gay. Like we have always been here. Trans people, queer people have always, always been here. And we will always. Always be here. They don’t know who they’re picking a fight with. We have overcome much bigger battles we fought a plague. We showed the world how to, who react with compassion in the face of pandemic that was killing our community, we rose up and showed the world how to respond. We got this.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christopher Beale:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> To people like Per Sia, Sister Roma, and Peaches Christ, San Francisco history and drag HERstory are inseparably intertwined. It’s hard to imagine The City without drag queens.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peaches Christ:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It’d be like taking the city and turning it black and white. San Francisco is full of color and fabulousness and by removing drag from it and all of its variations, I think you’d really mute what makes it special. This city is run by drag. It’s a drag oasis.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Almost 100 years have gone by since those first queens graced the stage in San Francisco. The city – and the world! – have been shaped by those that came after.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sister Roma:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> We have a transgender cultural district, a leather cultural district, the Castro cultural district. We have a drag laureate, Darcy Drollinger. So many great queer trans drag leaders and so much to be proud of here in San Francisco. And this does remain a beacon of hope to our queer community worldwide.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That was Bay Curious reporter and sound engineer Christopher Beale. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Per Sia:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> GAY! \u003c/span>\u003cb>*laugh & fade*\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> At the end of every Bay Curious episode, you may have noticed we always say …\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Voice over:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Bay Curious is made in San Francisco at member-supported KQED.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">To us, \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">member-supported\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> is the operative phrase there. We are so proud that Bay Curious is available for free to everyone, but it does cost money to make.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sixty percent of our budget comes from listeners. Many give $5, $10, $20 a month … and it adds up! If you’ve thought in the past, “Oh gosh, I really should donate” but haven’t gotten around to it (I’ve been there). This is your sign to make good on those thoughts. Don’t delay. Grab your phone and navigate to \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://donate.kqed.org/podcasts\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">donate.kqed.org/podcasts\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> … within minutes you’ll be done and feeling good about supporting shows like Bay Curious. Thanks!\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bay Curious is made in San Francisco at member-supported KQED. Our show is produced by Katrina Schwartz, Christopher Beale, and me, Olivia-Allen Price. Additional support from Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Cesar Saldana, Maha Sanad, Holly Kernan and the whole KQED Family.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m Olivia Allen-Price. Have a fabulous week!\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Anti-trans legislation is roiling the nation. Bills prohibiting drag performances are cropping up in statehouses. Violence and vitriol are turning children’s drag story hour events into headline-news protests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s part of why San Francisco is fighting back by naming the nation’s first drag laureate, an ambassador-style position designed to represent the city’s famous LGBTQ+ community at a time when rights are under attack.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a city known for its support of LGBTQ+ rights, Mayor London Breed says it was a natural step to create a position, announced Thursday, that not only embraces drag culture but puts government resources toward it. D’Arcy Drollinger, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13899058/darcy-drollinger-of-sf-oasis-is-ready-for-the-roaring-20s-to-begin\">a well-known drag performer and nightclub owner\u003c/a>, will receive a $55,000 stipend in her 18-month role as the city’s inaugural drag laureate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My goals are to make San Francisco sparkle. I think drag performers bring a lot of sparkle and humor and glamour and silliness to the world. I think that is part of why drag is so successful,” said Drollinger, a man who uses feminine pronouns when in drag. She expects to be in drag for the entirety of her role. “I’m going to be in drag pretty much 24/7 for the next 18 months.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She noted San Francisco’s drag community is already politically engaged and active.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a lot of power for the drag community in San Francisco,” she said. “I feel very honored to be able to take that one more step.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“San Francisco initiated this new position well before all this rhetoric was going on,” she said in an additional interview with KQED. “It really does speak volumes about how San Francisco cares for the drag community and how it acknowledges our impact on the city.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_11946030 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/D7A7080-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>West Hollywood is on the verge of appointing its own drag laureate later this month, though at a much lower salary and with limited engagements. In New York, where the Stonewall riots marked a major turning point in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights, a 2021 effort to create a similar position has languished in a committee, reflecting the challenges of creating such jobs even in liberal cities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In San Francisco, Drollinger begins the role three weeks before the start of Pride month. Her duties will span producing and participating in drag events to serving as a spokesperson for San Francisco’s LGBTQ+ community to helping ensure the city’s drag history is “shared, honored and preserved.” The job posting sought someone who will “embody San Francisco’s historic, diverse and inclusive drag culture, elevating the entire community on the national and international stage.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Breed called Drollinger a “bright star in San Francisco″ for her advocacy and elevation of the city’s drag community. Drollinger owns the Oasis nightclub, which hosted “Meals on Heels” during the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown, where drag performers brought food, cocktails and socially distant lip-synching performances to homebound customers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Whether it’s through a tragedy or to celebrate an occasion, she really has been a leader in this community and supporter of so many others,” Breed told The Associated Press.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOx54craR9Q\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Drollinger said she felt both nervous and honored when she was told the job was hers, given the recent violence targeting drag performers, even in the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I know that there are a lot of anti-drag folks out there, and they are very loud, right? But I also don’t want to live my life under the shadow of fear. I don’t want to have intimidation stop me from growing,” she said. “So, yes, I am a little nervous. But I got a lot of fabulous people and fabulousness behind me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Drag is entertainment. Drag goes all the way back to Shakespeare’s times. It really is how we’re clothing ourselves, how we’re dressing up. It is a celebration. It is sparkle. It is joy. It’s the larger than life aspect,” she told KQED. “Maybe it does scare people a little bit, but I will say most of those people probably have never gone to a drag show or know a trans person.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Members of neofascist white nationalist group the Proud Boys \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11916918/sheriffs-investigating-hate-crime-after-alleged-proud-boys-disrupt-drag-queen-story-hour-with-homophobic-slurs\">sparked a hate crimes investigation\u003c/a> when they protested and shouted slurs outside a San Lorenzo library hosting Drag Queen Story Hour, where drag queens read to kids, last June. In Oregon last year, demonstrators — some of them armed — \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-eugene-oregon-education-c18fdac0c1f8ca137e98fb92c1d5eafe\">threw rocks and smoke grenades\u003c/a> at each other outside a drag event.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In November, a shooter at \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/shootings-colorado-springs-e098d88261db6bcfc0774434abbb7a8f\">a Colorado Springs nightclub\u003c/a> turned a drag queen’s birthday party into a massacre, killing five people and injuring 17 more. The suspect was charged with hate crimes and murder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The American Civil Liberties Union is \u003ca href=\"https://www.aclu.org/legislative-attacks-on-lgbtq-rights\">currently tracking 482 anti-LGBTQ+ pieces of legislation\u003c/a>, including Tennessee’s first-in-the-nation law that essentially bans drag from public property or in the presence of minors. A federal judge temporarily blocked the measure hours before it was set to go into effect in late March.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jonathan Hamilt, executive director of Drag Story Hour, a global nonprofit event network that began in San Francisco in 2015, said he hopes other cities across the country will enact their own drag laureate programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s just having that visibility and having that personal human connection — having that social story of someone from your community that looks like you or someone that you see or interact with on a regular basis,” Hamilt said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>West Hollywood, which was founded in part by LGBTQ+ activists in 1984, is expected to name its drag laureate in the coming weeks after a 2021 attempt failed over a pay dispute. Officials originally advertised the position with a $5,000 stipend, nearly double what the city’s poet laureate gets. Pushback prompted the council to raise it to $15,000 annually for the two-year term that begins July 16 — International Drag Day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I hope that the drag laureate position telegraphs to the rest of the country that drag is not something to be scared of,” Drollinger said. “Drag is something to celebrate.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Additional reporting by Juan Carlos Lara at KQED.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Meet D'Arcy Drollinger, well-known drag performer and club owner, who hopes to make San Francisco 'sparkle' in her new role.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Anti-trans legislation is roiling the nation. Bills prohibiting drag performances are cropping up in statehouses. Violence and vitriol are turning children’s drag story hour events into headline-news protests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s part of why San Francisco is fighting back by naming the nation’s first drag laureate, an ambassador-style position designed to represent the city’s famous LGBTQ+ community at a time when rights are under attack.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a city known for its support of LGBTQ+ rights, Mayor London Breed says it was a natural step to create a position, announced Thursday, that not only embraces drag culture but puts government resources toward it. D’Arcy Drollinger, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13899058/darcy-drollinger-of-sf-oasis-is-ready-for-the-roaring-20s-to-begin\">a well-known drag performer and nightclub owner\u003c/a>, will receive a $55,000 stipend in her 18-month role as the city’s inaugural drag laureate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My goals are to make San Francisco sparkle. I think drag performers bring a lot of sparkle and humor and glamour and silliness to the world. I think that is part of why drag is so successful,” said Drollinger, a man who uses feminine pronouns when in drag. She expects to be in drag for the entirety of her role. “I’m going to be in drag pretty much 24/7 for the next 18 months.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She noted San Francisco’s drag community is already politically engaged and active.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a lot of power for the drag community in San Francisco,” she said. “I feel very honored to be able to take that one more step.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“San Francisco initiated this new position well before all this rhetoric was going on,” she said in an additional interview with KQED. “It really does speak volumes about how San Francisco cares for the drag community and how it acknowledges our impact on the city.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>West Hollywood is on the verge of appointing its own drag laureate later this month, though at a much lower salary and with limited engagements. In New York, where the Stonewall riots marked a major turning point in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights, a 2021 effort to create a similar position has languished in a committee, reflecting the challenges of creating such jobs even in liberal cities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In San Francisco, Drollinger begins the role three weeks before the start of Pride month. Her duties will span producing and participating in drag events to serving as a spokesperson for San Francisco’s LGBTQ+ community to helping ensure the city’s drag history is “shared, honored and preserved.” The job posting sought someone who will “embody San Francisco’s historic, diverse and inclusive drag culture, elevating the entire community on the national and international stage.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Breed called Drollinger a “bright star in San Francisco″ for her advocacy and elevation of the city’s drag community. Drollinger owns the Oasis nightclub, which hosted “Meals on Heels” during the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown, where drag performers brought food, cocktails and socially distant lip-synching performances to homebound customers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Whether it’s through a tragedy or to celebrate an occasion, she really has been a leader in this community and supporter of so many others,” Breed told The Associated Press.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/AOx54craR9Q'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/AOx54craR9Q'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Drollinger said she felt both nervous and honored when she was told the job was hers, given the recent violence targeting drag performers, even in the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I know that there are a lot of anti-drag folks out there, and they are very loud, right? But I also don’t want to live my life under the shadow of fear. I don’t want to have intimidation stop me from growing,” she said. “So, yes, I am a little nervous. But I got a lot of fabulous people and fabulousness behind me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Drag is entertainment. Drag goes all the way back to Shakespeare’s times. It really is how we’re clothing ourselves, how we’re dressing up. It is a celebration. It is sparkle. It is joy. It’s the larger than life aspect,” she told KQED. “Maybe it does scare people a little bit, but I will say most of those people probably have never gone to a drag show or know a trans person.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Members of neofascist white nationalist group the Proud Boys \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11916918/sheriffs-investigating-hate-crime-after-alleged-proud-boys-disrupt-drag-queen-story-hour-with-homophobic-slurs\">sparked a hate crimes investigation\u003c/a> when they protested and shouted slurs outside a San Lorenzo library hosting Drag Queen Story Hour, where drag queens read to kids, last June. In Oregon last year, demonstrators — some of them armed — \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-eugene-oregon-education-c18fdac0c1f8ca137e98fb92c1d5eafe\">threw rocks and smoke grenades\u003c/a> at each other outside a drag event.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In November, a shooter at \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/shootings-colorado-springs-e098d88261db6bcfc0774434abbb7a8f\">a Colorado Springs nightclub\u003c/a> turned a drag queen’s birthday party into a massacre, killing five people and injuring 17 more. The suspect was charged with hate crimes and murder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The American Civil Liberties Union is \u003ca href=\"https://www.aclu.org/legislative-attacks-on-lgbtq-rights\">currently tracking 482 anti-LGBTQ+ pieces of legislation\u003c/a>, including Tennessee’s first-in-the-nation law that essentially bans drag from public property or in the presence of minors. A federal judge temporarily blocked the measure hours before it was set to go into effect in late March.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jonathan Hamilt, executive director of Drag Story Hour, a global nonprofit event network that began in San Francisco in 2015, said he hopes other cities across the country will enact their own drag laureate programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s just having that visibility and having that personal human connection — having that social story of someone from your community that looks like you or someone that you see or interact with on a regular basis,” Hamilt said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>West Hollywood, which was founded in part by LGBTQ+ activists in 1984, is expected to name its drag laureate in the coming weeks after a 2021 attempt failed over a pay dispute. Officials originally advertised the position with a $5,000 stipend, nearly double what the city’s poet laureate gets. Pushback prompted the council to raise it to $15,000 annually for the two-year term that begins July 16 — International Drag Day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I hope that the drag laureate position telegraphs to the rest of the country that drag is not something to be scared of,” Drollinger said. “Drag is something to celebrate.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Additional reporting by Juan Carlos Lara at KQED.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Content warning: This article contains multiple uncensored uses of derogatory phrases that some may find highly offensive.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Saturday book reading for preschoolers started out as many previous readings had before: Drag queen Panda Dulce appeared with elaborate and carefully styled makeup, her swooped eyebrows arching like peaks as she belted out the “welcome song” for a handful of kids and their parents at San Lorenzo Library.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Hello, children! Hello, grown-ups! Hello, everyone, it’s nice to see you here,” she sang. The children sat in a semi-circle on the library floor, crooning along with Dulce.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As she sang, a line of men entered the library, single-file. Some wore the signature black-and-yellow colors of the far-right Proud Boys group, law enforcement officials said. One of the men’s shirts read “Kill Your Local Pedophile” on it, emblazoned over a gun.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Panda Dulce, drag queen\"]‘I didn’t know if they were armed. I was only acutely aware of the fact that neither myself nor any of the other librarians were.’[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They sat down behind the children. When the singing stopped, the shouting started.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So who brought the tranny?” they yelled, directed straight at Dulce. They called her an “it,” and a “pedophile.” Dulce, fearing violence, hid in the back office with a security guard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I didn’t know if they were armed. I was only acutely aware of the fact that neither myself nor any of the other librarians were,” she told KQED. \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Cer31geJMcT/\">In an Instagram post\u003c/a>, Dulce said the men “totally freaked out the kids. They got right in our faces. They jeered. They attempted to escalate to violence.”[aside postID=\"news_11912937,news_11902718\" label=\"Related Posts\"]Alameda County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to the scene, but by the time they got there, some of those shouting obscenities had dispersed. No arrests were made. No one was injured.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alameda County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Lt. Ray Kelly said the sheriffs believed they were responding to a disturbance, and that “at the time, there was no reason to do an arrest.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It wasn’t till later that we discovered that it was targeted hate speech and that it was done by design and organization,” he said. “We’ll follow up now with this change in events and the dynamics of the disturbance.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the incident as a possible hate crime, with the intent to annoy or harass children. They’re asking the parents and Panda Dulce, whose name is Kyle Casey Chu, whether they’d like to file a complaint.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/FitzTheReporter/status/1535845401005154305\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re looking at this through a hate crimes lens based on the information, the fact that these individuals went into the library, they were verbally and physically aggressive in their demeanor and in their approach,” Lt. Kelly said. “They caused the organizer of that event to actually flee the area. So there was fear of attack there, of assault. And then we … as well as that, there were children present in the library at the time. And so that would also be considered a crime. You cannot annoy or harass children in the state of California.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The FBI’s San Francisco bureau released a statement on Tuesday regarding the disruption. \u003cspan style=\"color: black;font-size: medium\">“The FBI is aware of this incident and we are in regular contact with the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office. If, \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"color: black;font-size: medium\">in the course of\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"color: black;font-size: medium\"> the local investigation, information comes to light of a potential federal violation, the FBI is prepared to investigate.”\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/HarrisBknowin/status/1536167741551284224?s=20&t=ZW5kXcCDi6ZBkovqbcxP5A\">joint statement\u003c/a> was released by Bay Area officials on Sunday evening condemning what they call “the senseless act of hate” caused during the Drag Queen Story Hour.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/HarrisBknowin/status/1536167741551284224?s=20&t=ZW5kXcCDi6ZBkovqbcxP5A\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Drag Queen Story Hour was intended as a celebration of Pride Month for kids in the small East Bay town of 30,000 people. Chu, who hails from San Francisco, has been a part of Drag Queen Story Hour since at least 2017.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The event was created by Michelle Tea and RADAR Productions in San Francisco in 2015 as a way to celebrate reading “through the glamorous art of drag,” \u003ca href=\"https://www.dragqueenstoryhour.org/about/\">according to the organization, \u003c/a>and has 50 chapters in the United States.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s a Pandora’s box has been opened and people feel very okay with attacking our community,” said State Sen. Scott Wiener. “We’re seeing political attacks around the country and we’re seeing actual violence. These attacks are related and they are fueled by the extreme right wing political rhetoric from politicians like like Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott, but also from right wing influencers on social media who post all sorts of atrocious material attacking me and attacking LGBTQ people in general.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Lorenzo is in the East Bay district of Rep. Eric Swalwell, who wrote in a statement Sunday, “Today while on a plane back to Washington, DC, I learned about an attack in our community by members of the Proud Boys. We must reject this hate and extremism whenever it shows itself, which is why I will be returning home this Thursday to meet with law enforcement and the community. There is no place for this hate in the East Bay, and we all need to speak up with one voice in saying so.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11916929\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1080px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11916929\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/06/PandaDulceCourtesy.jpg\" alt=\"Panda Dulce in elaborate drag makeup, an SF Giants black and orange cap, and a white tshirt, posing for a selfie with a security guard in uniform. \" width=\"1080\" height=\"810\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/06/PandaDulceCourtesy.jpg 1080w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/06/PandaDulceCourtesy-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/06/PandaDulceCourtesy-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/06/PandaDulceCourtesy-160x120.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Panda Dulce poses for a selfie with a security guard in uniform the day homophobic slurs were hurled at them during a Drag Queen Story Hour at San Lorenzo Library on June 11, 2022. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Panda Dulce)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Proud Boys are\u003ca href=\"https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/proud-boys\"> considered a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center\u003c/a>, a nonprofit monitoring domestic hate groups and extremists. The Southern Poverty Law Center describes the Proud Boys as known for anti-Muslim and misogynist rhetoric, whose leaders regularly echo white nationalist memes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The incident was far from isolated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the town of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, on the same day, 31 members of the white nationalist group Patriot Front were arrested for conspiracy to riot, and were believed to be headed to a local “Pride in the Park” event, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/06/12/1104418170/31-members-of-a-white-nationalist-group-were-arrested-for-planning-to-riot-at-pr\">according to NPR\u003c/a>. The group is considered a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And just recently, San Lorenzo’s Drag Queen Story Hour had gained notoriety in spaces that regularly lambaste the LGBTQ+ community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About two weeks ago, the infamous Twitter account @LibsofTikTok, \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/04/19/libs-of-tiktok-right-wing-media/\">known for its inflammatory posts about the LGBTQ+ community that are often amplified by right-wing politicians and media personalities\u003c/a>, posted a “mega-thread,” highlighting roughly 40 examples of family-friendly drag events across the United States. The account has more than 1 million followers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/RepSwalwell/status/1536095666262401024?s=20&t=IBVkfYzp4dljxTIZkBZv1w\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The group wrote in its Twitter post, “They say it’s innocent. They say it’s just about inclusion and acceptance. They say no one is trying to confuse, corrupt, or sexualize kids. They lie.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of those drag events @LibsofTikTok highlighted \u003ca href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20220531122703/https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/1531425839581040641\">was the San Lorenzo Library Drag Queen Story Hour\u003c/a>, the very one Chu saw interrupted by a barrage of hate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the thread has since been taken down, it amassed more than 4 million impressions. The thread was removed from being seen in Germany by Twitter, and the @LibsofTikTok account was temporarily locked out for “abuse and harassment” by Twitter and urged to delete the thread,\u003ca href=\"https://www.libsoftiktok.com/p/theres-no-such-thing-as-a-family?s=r&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=direct\"> the organization said in their newsletter\u003c/a>. KQED reached out to @LibsofTikTok and will update this article should they provide comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The event caused concern in the wider LGBTQ+ community in the Bay Area. Sister Roma, of the San Francisco-based Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, said it was a reminder for the community to be vigilant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It just goes to show that even though we’ve made such great progress in our community and in the trans community, there’s still so much work to do,” Roma said. “We can never be content with the accomplishments that we have because as we’ve seen with the potential reversal of Roe v. Wade, any of our rights can be swept away with the stroke of the pen. So it’s important to stay vigilant, to stay involved, to stay awake and to stay motivated, to protect what we have, and to continue to fight for our rights in our community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chu did not say whether he would press charges against the men who stormed his book reading.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, he said, “no words can appropriately capture the immediacy and terror [you] feel when [you] realize there is no buffer between [you] and these men. That they are likely armed and you are utterly defenseless.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11916931\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11916931\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/06/GettyImages-1152686554-1.jpg\" alt=\"A drag queen, left, holds open a storybook and reads for children sitting in a circle around them inside a library.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1209\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/06/GettyImages-1152686554-1.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/06/GettyImages-1152686554-1-800x504.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/06/GettyImages-1152686554-1-1020x642.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/06/GettyImages-1152686554-1-160x101.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/06/GettyImages-1152686554-1-1536x967.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Drag queen Athena Kills (left) reads seated beside Scalene Onixxx to adults and children during Drag Queen Story Hour at Cellar Door Books in Riverside, on June 22, 2019. \u003ccite>(Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Despite that fear, Chu later came out of the back office and finished his reading to the children. The book he read is called, “Families, Families, Families!” by Suzanne Lang and Max Lang, about diverse families depicted as cartoon animals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Some children have two dads. Some children have one mom,” the book reads, showcasing families with just grandparents, single fathers, or step-siblings. “If you love each other, then you are a family.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chu read every word.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That night he couldn’t sleep. He still felt he was in fight-or-flight mode, a visceral feeling of panic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But,” he said, “I’m just glad I finished the story.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s Kate Wolffe and Annelise Finney contributed reporting for this story.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Content warning: This article contains multiple uncensored uses of derogatory phrases that some may find highly offensive.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Saturday book reading for preschoolers started out as many previous readings had before: Drag queen Panda Dulce appeared with elaborate and carefully styled makeup, her swooped eyebrows arching like peaks as she belted out the “welcome song” for a handful of kids and their parents at San Lorenzo Library.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Hello, children! Hello, grown-ups! Hello, everyone, it’s nice to see you here,” she sang. The children sat in a semi-circle on the library floor, crooning along with Dulce.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As she sang, a line of men entered the library, single-file. Some wore the signature black-and-yellow colors of the far-right Proud Boys group, law enforcement officials said. One of the men’s shirts read “Kill Your Local Pedophile” on it, emblazoned over a gun.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘I didn’t know if they were armed. I was only acutely aware of the fact that neither myself nor any of the other librarians were.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They sat down behind the children. When the singing stopped, the shouting started.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So who brought the tranny?” they yelled, directed straight at Dulce. They called her an “it,” and a “pedophile.” Dulce, fearing violence, hid in the back office with a security guard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I didn’t know if they were armed. I was only acutely aware of the fact that neither myself nor any of the other librarians were,” she told KQED. \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Cer31geJMcT/\">In an Instagram post\u003c/a>, Dulce said the men “totally freaked out the kids. They got right in our faces. They jeered. They attempted to escalate to violence.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Alameda County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to the scene, but by the time they got there, some of those shouting obscenities had dispersed. No arrests were made. No one was injured.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alameda County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Lt. Ray Kelly said the sheriffs believed they were responding to a disturbance, and that “at the time, there was no reason to do an arrest.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It wasn’t till later that we discovered that it was targeted hate speech and that it was done by design and organization,” he said. “We’ll follow up now with this change in events and the dynamics of the disturbance.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the incident as a possible hate crime, with the intent to annoy or harass children. They’re asking the parents and Panda Dulce, whose name is Kyle Casey Chu, whether they’d like to file a complaint.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>“We’re looking at this through a hate crimes lens based on the information, the fact that these individuals went into the library, they were verbally and physically aggressive in their demeanor and in their approach,” Lt. Kelly said. “They caused the organizer of that event to actually flee the area. So there was fear of attack there, of assault. And then we … as well as that, there were children present in the library at the time. And so that would also be considered a crime. You cannot annoy or harass children in the state of California.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The FBI’s San Francisco bureau released a statement on Tuesday regarding the disruption. \u003cspan style=\"color: black;font-size: medium\">“The FBI is aware of this incident and we are in regular contact with the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office. If, \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"color: black;font-size: medium\">in the course of\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"color: black;font-size: medium\"> the local investigation, information comes to light of a potential federal violation, the FBI is prepared to investigate.”\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/HarrisBknowin/status/1536167741551284224?s=20&t=ZW5kXcCDi6ZBkovqbcxP5A\">joint statement\u003c/a> was released by Bay Area officials on Sunday evening condemning what they call “the senseless act of hate” caused during the Drag Queen Story Hour.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>The Drag Queen Story Hour was intended as a celebration of Pride Month for kids in the small East Bay town of 30,000 people. Chu, who hails from San Francisco, has been a part of Drag Queen Story Hour since at least 2017.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The event was created by Michelle Tea and RADAR Productions in San Francisco in 2015 as a way to celebrate reading “through the glamorous art of drag,” \u003ca href=\"https://www.dragqueenstoryhour.org/about/\">according to the organization, \u003c/a>and has 50 chapters in the United States.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s a Pandora’s box has been opened and people feel very okay with attacking our community,” said State Sen. Scott Wiener. “We’re seeing political attacks around the country and we’re seeing actual violence. These attacks are related and they are fueled by the extreme right wing political rhetoric from politicians like like Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott, but also from right wing influencers on social media who post all sorts of atrocious material attacking me and attacking LGBTQ people in general.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Lorenzo is in the East Bay district of Rep. Eric Swalwell, who wrote in a statement Sunday, “Today while on a plane back to Washington, DC, I learned about an attack in our community by members of the Proud Boys. We must reject this hate and extremism whenever it shows itself, which is why I will be returning home this Thursday to meet with law enforcement and the community. There is no place for this hate in the East Bay, and we all need to speak up with one voice in saying so.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11916929\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1080px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11916929\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/06/PandaDulceCourtesy.jpg\" alt=\"Panda Dulce in elaborate drag makeup, an SF Giants black and orange cap, and a white tshirt, posing for a selfie with a security guard in uniform. \" width=\"1080\" height=\"810\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/06/PandaDulceCourtesy.jpg 1080w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/06/PandaDulceCourtesy-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/06/PandaDulceCourtesy-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/06/PandaDulceCourtesy-160x120.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Panda Dulce poses for a selfie with a security guard in uniform the day homophobic slurs were hurled at them during a Drag Queen Story Hour at San Lorenzo Library on June 11, 2022. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Panda Dulce)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Proud Boys are\u003ca href=\"https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/proud-boys\"> considered a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center\u003c/a>, a nonprofit monitoring domestic hate groups and extremists. The Southern Poverty Law Center describes the Proud Boys as known for anti-Muslim and misogynist rhetoric, whose leaders regularly echo white nationalist memes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The incident was far from isolated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the town of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, on the same day, 31 members of the white nationalist group Patriot Front were arrested for conspiracy to riot, and were believed to be headed to a local “Pride in the Park” event, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/06/12/1104418170/31-members-of-a-white-nationalist-group-were-arrested-for-planning-to-riot-at-pr\">according to NPR\u003c/a>. The group is considered a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And just recently, San Lorenzo’s Drag Queen Story Hour had gained notoriety in spaces that regularly lambaste the LGBTQ+ community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About two weeks ago, the infamous Twitter account @LibsofTikTok, \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/04/19/libs-of-tiktok-right-wing-media/\">known for its inflammatory posts about the LGBTQ+ community that are often amplified by right-wing politicians and media personalities\u003c/a>, posted a “mega-thread,” highlighting roughly 40 examples of family-friendly drag events across the United States. The account has more than 1 million followers.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>The group wrote in its Twitter post, “They say it’s innocent. They say it’s just about inclusion and acceptance. They say no one is trying to confuse, corrupt, or sexualize kids. They lie.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of those drag events @LibsofTikTok highlighted \u003ca href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20220531122703/https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/1531425839581040641\">was the San Lorenzo Library Drag Queen Story Hour\u003c/a>, the very one Chu saw interrupted by a barrage of hate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the thread has since been taken down, it amassed more than 4 million impressions. The thread was removed from being seen in Germany by Twitter, and the @LibsofTikTok account was temporarily locked out for “abuse and harassment” by Twitter and urged to delete the thread,\u003ca href=\"https://www.libsoftiktok.com/p/theres-no-such-thing-as-a-family?s=r&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=direct\"> the organization said in their newsletter\u003c/a>. KQED reached out to @LibsofTikTok and will update this article should they provide comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The event caused concern in the wider LGBTQ+ community in the Bay Area. Sister Roma, of the San Francisco-based Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, said it was a reminder for the community to be vigilant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It just goes to show that even though we’ve made such great progress in our community and in the trans community, there’s still so much work to do,” Roma said. “We can never be content with the accomplishments that we have because as we’ve seen with the potential reversal of Roe v. Wade, any of our rights can be swept away with the stroke of the pen. So it’s important to stay vigilant, to stay involved, to stay awake and to stay motivated, to protect what we have, and to continue to fight for our rights in our community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chu did not say whether he would press charges against the men who stormed his book reading.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, he said, “no words can appropriately capture the immediacy and terror [you] feel when [you] realize there is no buffer between [you] and these men. That they are likely armed and you are utterly defenseless.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11916931\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11916931\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/06/GettyImages-1152686554-1.jpg\" alt=\"A drag queen, left, holds open a storybook and reads for children sitting in a circle around them inside a library.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1209\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/06/GettyImages-1152686554-1.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/06/GettyImages-1152686554-1-800x504.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/06/GettyImages-1152686554-1-1020x642.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/06/GettyImages-1152686554-1-160x101.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/06/GettyImages-1152686554-1-1536x967.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Drag queen Athena Kills (left) reads seated beside Scalene Onixxx to adults and children during Drag Queen Story Hour at Cellar Door Books in Riverside, on June 22, 2019. \u003ccite>(Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Despite that fear, Chu later came out of the back office and finished his reading to the children. The book he read is called, “Families, Families, Families!” by Suzanne Lang and Max Lang, about diverse families depicted as cartoon animals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Some children have two dads. Some children have one mom,” the book reads, showcasing families with just grandparents, single fathers, or step-siblings. “If you love each other, then you are a family.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chu read every word.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That night he couldn’t sleep. He still felt he was in fight-or-flight mode, a visceral feeling of panic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But,” he said, “I’m just glad I finished the story.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s Kate Wolffe and Annelise Finney contributed reporting for this story.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"radiolab": {
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"info": "A two-time Peabody Award-winner, Radiolab is an investigation told through sounds and stories, and centered around one big idea. In the Radiolab world, information sounds like music and science and culture collide. Hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, the show is designed for listeners who demand skepticism, but appreciate wonder. WNYC Studios is the producer of other leading podcasts including Freakonomics Radio, Death, Sex & Money, On the Media and many more.",
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