It was 1995..ish.

I have been asked many times, ‘how long have you been doing this’.  And by ‘this’, they mean Drag.  Lets just say, that my first Miss Texas was Celeaste Martinez.  That was 1994-1995…ish.  She came to town and performed at the local gay bar.  There was only one  bar in Wichita Falls back then. Rascals on Indiana street.  It was a cute bar. I was told it was once a restaurant.  It was a down town building. It had a large dance floor in the front of the building, a game room with darts/pool.  And as you moved through the building, there was a back bar area with booths and tables.  It was a good set up.  It was the first gay bar I had ever been to.  I was in college then. I had joined a group on campus. It was a LGBT group.  They became my friends.  The student leader of the group was “Mac”.  She was like no one I had ever met before.  Her real name was Mary Ann Critendon.  Sadly she died in a car wreck about 10 years ago.  I was drawn to her friendly, positive attitude about being gay.  It was so different from the small  and closed-minded town I came from.  She introduced me to many other gay people on campus.  A couple of which, I still talk to on occasion. We all just wanted to fit in, and found a place to belong in this group. 

                The student leaders of our group, arranged for us all to have a night out. The bar did not allow anyone under 21 years.   I was only 19.  We, the 21 and under folks, were allowed into the bar for this one night event.  I had the best time. It was the first time I had ever seen to guys dance together, and women show affection for each other.  It was like the world opened up for me not to be afraid.  It gave me hope that my life could be a happy one.  There are people in the world like me, who live open, happy, successful lives and go on to establish lasting relationships.  I was hanging out with gay friends, but was not out to my family.  I mean, how do you tell your family that you are gay.

The first person I told, was my sister Anita.  She and I have always been close.  As a young boy, I would get jealous because she would play Barbies with her friend down the street, and I could not go too.  I told her my news, and she took it pretty well.  I remember she told me she loved me…the rest was just conversation and questions.  I still love her very much for always being there.  Even when my mom found out, and didn’t talk to me, my sister would come visit me. 

I continued making new friends, and they people I was hanging around with, were drag queens.  They put on special occasion shows back then.  We only had one bar, and drag shows were seasonal.  Like a Christmas show, and 4^th of july show.  That kind of thing.  Some of the ‘girls’ in the group, has been asked to perform in the upcoming Halloween show.  They were buying new dresses and buying new wigs. They stocked up on panty hose and make-up.  I was so fascinated by the work that they put into a one night gig.  It was like being a local celebrity. One friend, Todd,  even rented a limo to drive her entourage to the bar.  Every one thought it was Reba McEntire getting out of that limo.

I was not interested in drag at first. It was something, that others did.  But little by little I thought, I might try it.  There is another small bar in Lawton Oklahoma.  It was about 45 miles away.  My friends had heard that they were having open talent nights.  My friends from Wichita Falls wanted to go enter the contest.  So along I went too.  I was hooked.  The contestants would put on costumes and gowns and parade around mouthing the words to popular dance songs and dramatic ballads.  The crowd would go wild. They would tip dollars and in the end, the winner of the night would be chosen by audience applause.  We cheered for our friends  and guess what…they still lost.  We said  the contest was rigged. But looking back now, those Lawton girls were pretty fierce.

I decided I wanted to try drag.  I entered the Lawton contests.  My friends would come and cheer.  I came back, week after week until guess what…I won.  It was hard at first. I kept doing what the other queens did and kept coming up short.  I figured that it was best to try making my own style and worked really hard to see a success. I made a costume, with hot glue and some scrap fur seat covers. That is a true fact.  I looked great.   My first few times in drag , I has no clothes of my own, and I borrowed stuff from my friend. I affectionately  refer to him as my Drag Mother.  He got me started.  He and I still talk about the old days, and all the drama over the years.  I have seen the success of many shows and drag pageants over my career. (20 pageants won…and several more lost too).  Being a drag queen has made me the man I am today. I know that sounds funny, but with each has been a learning experience.