Photo by Kristen Gunder Stepping down from a title is always a bittersweet experience. This was especially true for me this past weekend at the Pride Pageant. I’d busted my butt this past year to build bridges and help others realize that Pride isn’t just about a weekend of drunken debauchery and to set an example for others who will come after me. But like an artist who works for hours on a painting, when it comes time to sell the original there’s a small feeling of loss, that you want to hold on to it just a little bit longer. You can make prints, but there will only ever be that one original. I’m not saying I’m the original, mind you. Brandon Packer and Nikki KiDD before me did great jobs as Mister Phoenix Gay Pride. But it’s the same sense of loss none the less. You wonder if the person who gets the crown will continue to build on what you’ve done, or if it will be broken down. You wonder if all your efforts will have been for naught or if they’ll be raised to an even higher level. I know everyone, from those competing to those behind the scenes, were on tenterhooks all night because of how close it was going to be.
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The Beatles, Muddy Waters, BB King, James Brown, The Rolling Stones, Billie Holiday, Etta James, Roy Orbison, Cab Calloway… All music greats who helped pave the way for all the Brittneys, Christinas, Rhiannas, Jay-Zs, Biebers, Maroon 5s, etc that are making music today. The same can be said for Andy Warhol, Van Gogh, Picasso, Da Vinci, Michaelangelo and other artists who helped change how people viewed art so that the street chalk artists, metal workers and textile artists can make their mark now.
It doesn’t matter what line of work you’re in, or what you do for fun, or how you choose to express yourself. There was always someone who did it before you, and there will always be people who do it better than you. The key is to respect those people, because they made it possible to do what you do. This even applies to the drag world. Drag has been around for centuries, in the form of cross-dressers, fetishists and theatre. We have William Shakespeare to thank for both amazing works of literature and for bringing drag (Dressed As A Girl) into the mainstream. Women weren’t allowed to act on stage, so rather than simply rolling over, he found younger men to play the roles of Juliet, Ophelia, and the other heroines of his plays. Drag went on from there to be so much more than a boy in a dress… Little did I realize when I wrote my previous blog that I would end up working 70+ hours, 6 days a week, thus killing any ambition I had to do, well, anything. So much for keeping up with the blog so far this year. Oh well. I shall make attempts to be better. Hopefully things will slow down at work, and I’ll have more free time. After February 25th, I should have considerably more time...
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