Show L Jo AJ i Sparkle Shine and Civic Service T t T V T Tda jv da g Y P Cn j S p Y k Yd bk C Cri c v F A La J P ri R RA Tonya Rose Photo courtesy of Cecil Lasure An An artistic look at another side of life i JI BY AMY S. S WEILAND WETLAND t i a- A Arts Ed Editor i j Ado Adorned ed i in lipstick and bl black k mascara they take the stage beneath lights set to accommodate accommodate accommodate their sparkle and shine With hair ornamented with crowned jewels and glitter glitter gutter glit gut ter the true artistry is obvious 1 in their detailed ed sty style 1 Their growing popularity a t larity dominates the nightlife 1 in clubs across the globe including our local Club Axis The princesses of stage and r empresses of cities they are areY Y 1 F l' l r t. t th the e dra drag g queens At first glance one could possibly look slightly eyed cross-eyed at the artistic drag lifestyle yet very few people know the influential individual individual 7 ual beneath the eye shadow Many are unaware of the service given by the map man with painted brows Queens raise r remarkable remarkable remark mark able dollar amounts for many organizations which aid many people 4 J. J Cecil Lasure reigned as the elected Empress of Portland Oregon is known by the stage name of Tonya Rose This professional drag queen of 24 years worked as asan asan an elected official raising over for charities including including i ing Breast Cancer Research and awareness and Pediatrics Aid Foundations within his short year in office Lasure now living in Salt Lake City continues to dress in drag and attend social gatherings with other queens Because the va various ous titles in Oregon are won based on an electoral vote the community community community com com- is heavily involved with each campaign Its like running for office explained Lasure recalling his tenure Anyone can enter these contests Some recipients of titles are straight men and women who fully support the gay community Supporting the gay community is like religion says Lasure If you believe in that religion strong enough others will be benefited And numerous people people people peo peo- have reaped the benefits funded by drag queen shows The system of reign works by the following titles The titles are broken down into categories dependant on the Court or region There are 3 Courts within Oregon similar to to those in Salt Lake City A city court contains four main titles Beginning with White Night and Gay Portland comes next and involves titles of Mr Miss and Ms 1 5 The The i Mr r. r Critic g y title Pe v w goes oes t too to a male recipient who h believes strongly in the gay community or in raising money for needy causes Miss goes to a drag queen while Ms is for either a Lesbian or straight woman Next comes the and Prince Princess fol followed lowed by Emperor and Empress The Pageants are sponsored by profit non-profit organizations sustained by the government There are no taxes extracted on the total amount of funds raised because of the direct charity contribution The range from Drag shows put together by past Monarchs to simple service within the community From Rouge to eyeliner eyeliner eyeliner eye eye- liner these queens are more than beauty but servants to the community These ladies call for some serious respect o t k 9 S y I M r P g c w M s tS T fix t t y k 4 F dP M. r j F 5 4 1 x R Is r rk s k N n a 6 T 5 t v t a t n J yx at a- a Y t aS t e Male Elegance Photo by Joe Egbert |