I Was a 9-Year-Old Drag Queen
Mark S. King, The Huffington Post, 08/09/2013 6:38 pm
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-s-king/i-was-a-9-year-old-drag-queen_b_3720675.htmlWhen I was 9 years old, I took my parents' album of the Broadway musical Damn Yankees and memorized every syllable of Gwen Verdon's show stopper, "Who's Got the Pain When They Do the Mambo?" Once I was satisfied with my lip synching and choreography... the number was ready for public display.
The premiere was a simple affair, exclusive and unannounced. Mrs. May from across the street had stopped in for afternoon coffee, and opportunity knocked when Mother busied herself in the kitchen for a few minutes...
A lifetime later, as I worked for an AIDS agency in Atlanta in the '90s, destiny called. An upcoming drag contest to benefit our agency was suffering from poor participation, and my boss asked if I would consider entering.
Being a drag queen, even for a night, terrified and delighted me. But the performer in me won out, wouldn't you know, and Anita Mann was born...
Soon I was performing with "the camp drag queens of the South," The Armorettes, who hosted a Sunday-night show to raise funds for AIDS organizations. Over the years they have raised over $2 million, and their show was a sellout every week...
