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[music playing]

The best thing about history is

to be able to go back in the
past to discover yourself.

And the great difficulty
for we who are marginalized,

be we women or
Black or gay, is you

look at what is purported to be
history, and we are invisible.

We don't exist.

ROBERT CORBER: Reconstructing
the history of gays

and lesbians is
difficult because we

don't have archives of
letters, archives of diaries.

What we have are archives
of arrest Records

We're lucky if we have
an uncle or an aunt who

was gay and can
support or help or give

you a window into our past
and where we came from.

Often these letters and diaries

are destroyed by
families who are

horrified to discover that
someone in their family

was gay.

And so whenever you
find a diary or a set

of letters written by
gay people themselves,

it just opens up a world.

[music playing]

RENO MARTIN: From Mount
Vernon in New York,

this is Reno Martin.

Good morning.

My friend Reno, he was one
of my best friends in New York,

and I miss him.

I told him every little
thing that I did.

It was all letter writing.

We felt like sisters
or sisters that were

really brothers to the public.

ACTOR AS DAPHNE: August
23, 1955 Dear Reno...

I'm supposed to be doing
handwritten reports right now,

and I've got so
much junk on my desk

that nobody knows
what I'm writing.

And they love to read this.

It's like a confidential
book report.

I look extremely readable today.

The people on the bus were
dropping dead like flies.

It's a camp the way I
walk around not bothered.

I'm wearing one of
my stripette shirts.

It looks like an Ava
Gardner blouse without tits.

As always, Daphne.

This is so wonderful that you
were able to find these things.

When a historian like me
hears from someone like this,

it's just incredibly thrilling
because these sources

are so rare.

JOE E. JEFFREYS: Photographs
tell us one thing.

Words tell us another.

The thing that's brilliant
about these letters

is that they indicate
to people that there

are other sources that
have yet to be discovered

and yet to come to light.

[music playing]

Hello!

[applause]

(CHANTING) Gay and proud.

Gay and proud.

All the queens looked
horrid except for Josephine.

Josephine, she was a
fabulous drag queen.

My name is Lennie, and
I'm from a very small town

near Hershey, Pennsylvania.

And this small town
in Pennsylvania,

they're not too broad minded.

It's a farming area
and very religious.

Believe it or not, I became
the first male cheerleader

in Hershey.

I laugh about it now, but my one
brother was kind of embarrassed

because everybody wanted
to go into the game

to see the guy doing a
cartwheel with the cheerleaders.

So I knew it was time to go.

I left there when I was 18,
and I went to the military.

Back in the beginning,
well, like Dorothy, I was born

in Kansas, Wichita, Kansas.

We lived on a little tiny
small sort of a farm.

I mean, we had chickens,
and we had a billy goat.

And I hated Kansas,
even as a little kid.

We lived near a
railroad track, and I

used to go out there and
sit by that railroad track

and watch those trains
go by and think,

I want to get the
hell out of here,

even as a three-year-old boy.

My mother was very poor.

She was a working single mom.

She couldn't afford
to send me to college.

So my brother had
been in the Air Force,

and he suggested, you know, why
don't you join the Air Force?

See the world.

And so I did.

I joined the Air Force.

And then I was shipped
to Biloxi, Mississippi.

LENNIE: We were all the
military, my fathers,

my brothers, everybody.

Well, when I got in, I was on a
ship, and we had our own radio.

Marty Ryder his name was.

He used to run shows
on the ship every year.

And he did a show called
Sound Off of 1953,

and the star of the
show was DeeDee LaRue.

And I sang a song
and did a strip.

I went into France
and bought a wig

and did a lot more than
I was supposed to do.

I was supposed to be a guy
that looked like a girl.

So we did two shows.

The second show I had to get an
escort to come from where I got

dressed to go on
stage because the guys

thought that a real girl must
have got onto the ship somehow.

And if it wasn't, it was
the closest thing to it,

and they were going to
try to get it, I guess.

I got to get out of here
because at that time,

you got thrown out.

And thank God, within two
months, my time was up.

ACTOR AS DAPHNE:
November 13, 1957.

Dear Reno... did I tell you
the time I met a number

around my neighborhood?

It was so butch it's a camp.

Actually he's fighting
the gay scene.

He's really in love
with his close buddy

who is in the Air Force.

The things that go on in
some circles of straight life

are enough to make
ours look prudish.

As always, Daphne.

[music playing]

ROBERT: I had never been
in the South before.

Anyway, New Orleans was an
hour and a half away by bus.

I was given weekend
leaves, and they give you

a paper that has all of
the places that are listed

that are off limits to personnel
in the United States Air Force.

Well, of course all the
gay bars were on this list,

so they gave me a perfect
map to find everybody

in town that I wanted.

So I pranced down to New Orleans
and had a wonderful time.

Discovered a whole new
world in the French Quarter.

GEORGE: I actually was raised in
New Orleans in a shotgun house.

So consequently when I'm
asked when did I come out?

I jokingly say I was
born in a shotgun house.

We had no closets.

I had a chifforobe,
and I've always

been out to my knowledge.

Basically the first time
that I remember being in drag

and making a production of it...

My mother always went to
the straight balls, always.

My mother never missed a ball.

And she had this orange
taffeta ball gown,

and I decided I was going to
put it on one day and order

groceries from the corner.

And I literally put
this orange dress on

and just pulled my
hair down like in bangs

and didn't put any makeup on
because I thought I was pretty.

So I called the grocery store
and I said, this is George,

and I want to order
some groceries,

but I want to Sam
to bring them to me.

He said, OK.

So I ordered just
two or three things

because it was
just at the corner.

And he came to the door,
knocked on the door,

and I answered the door
in my orange taffeta gown.

And he went, little girl,
are these your groceries?

And I went, yes, those
are my groceries.

Thank you very much.

And I closed the
door, and I left.

I went, man, this
is pretty good.

This is crazy.

I can get away with this stuff.

ACTOR AS CHARLIE: Dear Reno...

Well, how do you like your
new job in New Orleans?

Are there any flames down there?

Do the queens paint very much?

Take care.

Regards from all, Charlie.

ROBERT: My first
carnival in New Orleans...

Of course at carnival
everyone goes in costumes,

and many of the
queens go in drag.

And a friend of mine whose
name was JoJo, and he

asked me if I would
like to go in drag.

I said, oh yeah.

I didn't have a wig, though, so
he bleached my hair snow white,

and he turned me on to this guy
who made me a gorgeous gown.

It was aqua blue velvet,
and the top part of it

was black Chantilly lace, and
it was encrusted with Aurora

Borealis And it
had a big floating

collar and one side what's
called a portrait collar.

It was just beautiful.

Of course, it's
absolutely jam packed.

I mean, you're bumper to bumper.

It seemed like people were just
parting to let me get through.

So I was getting
a clue that, man,

you must really look
good if you're getting

a pathway opening up for you.

And that's how the whole
drag thing began with me.

In the service, you know,
there's a whole patriotic thing

about a lot of people.

And I was that way when I
joined but not when I came out.

I'm not patriotic at
this point because I

finally got my discharge.

And when I opened
the envelope, it

was an undesirable discharge.

That means when
you're undesirable,

you're not just undesirable.

You receive no benefits.

You have no veterans
rights at all.

The chaplain says to me.

He said, Mr.
Bouvard, he said, you

have given this base
the worst reputation

of any Air Force base
in the United States

because of your gay activities.

So I told him.

I said, I would have been a
great radio operator whether I

was gay or whether
I was a unicorn,

and I tore the discharge up.

ACTOR: Dear Reno... remember that
number that was bats over me?

Well, he's in New York
now and out of the Navy.

He called me earlier this week.

I flipped.

The first thing he asked me
was if my hair was still long.

His digs that scene.

Then he asked me about
my Liz Taylor eyes.

Mary, I cracked.

That same night I did
a cleaning of the brows

and started a slight application
of mascara for that Liz effect.

I met him at a YMCA
where he was staying

this was 12 applications later.

I'm James Bingood.

And if you don't
know who that is,

you won't want to watch this.

[laughter] And you
probably don't.

Yeah, I made a movie, and I
was a drag queen, a fashion

designer, costume maker.

I did a lot of stuff.

I think I've always
been unique, maybe

because in Madison all
my life I've played

alone because I was different.

[laughter] And I just got to
accept, well, that's life.

I didn't turn gay.

I was born gay.

I mean, I had the paper doll.

I had girly toys.

When I first saw those
cartoons of little buildings

like they have them, I
put them in my movie,

and they were like
skyline, and then

there's little yellow
windows and the blue sky.

First time I saw that, that's
where I knew I wanted to be.

There was nothing
like that in Madison.

So I got here.

ACTOR: Dear Reno...

New York's hotter
than a firecracker,

and I'm not referring
to the weather.

That's been pretty hot
too, come to think of it.

JAMES: When I came to New
York, it was like the movie

version of New York City.

It's sparkled,
and it was colors,

and you could practically
feel yourself ready to do

some Gene Kelly dances.

Maybe it was the fashions.

Women had big skirts
that would "shk."

The minute I
stepped off the bus,

I felt I was where
I was meant to be.

It was fabulous.

ACTOR AS DAPHNE:
September 24, 1957.

Dear Reno... Josephine was with
me at the Valley Sunday night.

I was with my
number from Jersey.

We all danced and danced
and danced and danced

and danced and danced.

My number had to catch the
12 o'clock busted at 42nd,

so me and Baker cruised
the streets for a while.

I felt bummy and
didn't feel like going

home to bed to prepare
for work the next morning.

ACTOR AS DAPHNE: Well, let
me tell you what happened.

We spotted this
hot-looking blonde

on the corner of the Bali.

He looked at us and did one
of those famous retakes.

We couldn't read him for shit.

Josephine said let's ditch,
so she asked for a cigarette.

He was much smiles.

He said he was looking
for a good time.

Well, my dear, you
never saw two party

girls go into action so fast.

We took him to Joey
Ferrara's place.

Naturally he insisted
on walking behind.

We didn't exactly look like
any of his college chums.

GEORGE CHAUNCEY: You know,
to have a queen in a bar was

a very risky thing because
the laws against bars

serving gay people.

The mere presence of a
lesbian or gay man in a bar

meant that bar was disorderly
and could be shut down.

You'd be taken to jail
and charged with some kind

of obscenity laws.

The safe route was
you don't come out,

but these drag queen
was really out there

and took a lot of chances.

And that way led often times
to violence, being beaten up.

ACTOR AS CHARLIE:
September 16, 1957.

Dear Reno... Saturday night,
I decided to go to the Cork.

They didn't even
want to let me in.

Later Daphne came
in, and she had

to go through the same thing.

New York is very
hot, cops all over.

Hardly know queens paint.

They have to be careful.

Love your friend, Charlie.

CLAUDE: First time I went in
drag, I was with Billy, Daphne,

and with Josephine.

We were the freaks.

That's what they
called us, the freaks.

We had shaved eyebrows
that went up to here.

They were penciled on and
the eyeliner and eyelashes

that went on forever.

We were as close to being
female as you could get.

I was 15 in a black lace
and sequined strapless

dress that I borrowed from a
hooker and gold-sequined pumps

that I also borrowed
from a hooker.

The only thing that
was mine was my hair.

We all got into a taxi cab
in our respective drags

to be taken out
to the Cork club.

ACTOR: Claudia's back in town.

She was in Florida, you know?

She's back on the
scene with Josephine.

I saw them both at the Cork.

The Cork is quite the scene
for pancaked faces again.

I'm in the mood to
paint like crazy

and make an appearance
there tomorrow night.

ROBERT: The cork
club I went to often.

It was the place to go.

That's where... come
to think of it,

that's where I saw
Josephine and Claudia a lot

was at the Cork club.

Josephine and Claudia,
they were the upper echelon

of drag queens.

In the club was a
section in the back

where there was four booths,
and in those booths is where

the drag queens, we all sat.

But drag queens were accepted.

Drag queens were accepted.

Man, come on.

Sit down over here.

Sit over here with us.

Come on.

You drink?

What do you want to drink?

Only thing I had ever heard
of was I'll have a 7 and 7.

You get him a 7 and 7.

You get my pretty young
thing here a 7 and 7.

And I got a 7 and 7.

ACTOR AS CHARLIE: Dear Reno...

Well, Rose, did you
receive my three letters?

Have I gotten in
the swing again?

I went to the Cork
Club this past weekend,

and you should see the
trade that was there.

Gorgeous.

Josephine was there.

Josephine looks very good
since she lost all that weight.

She told me she had written
you a four-page letter.

Have you answered her?

Your friend always, Charlie.

Josephine was one of the most
famous queens from Brooklyn.

She was a fabulous
drag queen, beautiful.

And his hair was pulled
back, Chinese, bangs,

and an enormous black ponytail.

Josephine needed
to have a sponsor

because she came from the
Dominican Republic illegally.

But I owned beauty shops,
so I sponsored her,

and she did become a citizen
working as a hairdresser.

ACTOR AS JO BAKER:
November 19, 1956.

Dear Reno... how are you?

I wrote you a four-page letter
dishing you all about the drag

and everything.

You didn't get it?

Well, anyway, I hope
you get this one.

So you're still looking
for romance, eh?

Well, the scene is off.

Forget about it.

There's no happiness for a fag.

I'm out today with Claudia.

I walked in.

The door were all opened.

I picked out four gorgeous
sweaters and flew out.

Well, what a scene.

I'm starting my winter
collection already.

Love, Jo Baker,

There was lots of things that I

didn't like about
Josephine, one thing

that he was a kleptomaniac.

And I hope you're not alive,
Josephine, and hearing this,

but a lot of these
guys from Brooklyn

would steal anything that was
not nailed down, literally.

They were wild.

I mean, they were very
glamorous and everything,

but truthfully, both
Josephine and Claudia

had the same problem
with their hands

on other people's belongings.

ACTOR: Just a demented
note to say hello.

I saw Josephine.

We got very dishy,
mostly about the drag.

You remember that
famous fringe place?

You know the one
where we mopped?

Well, Frankie and
Josephine went there

and mopped on the whole
boat of silver lame

and the whole bolt of gold.

Isn't that a camp?

All this dish put me
on the kick, you know?

I can't see spending
all that loot for drag.

Those lucky bums got
everything for nothing.

CLAUDE: There was once a
place called Brooks Costumes.

Brooks Costumes was
the biggest contributor

to drag queenism in America.

There's a picture in my mind of
Josephine, and he went in there

and waited till the owner of
the place went to the back

to take a leak.

And he went in and grabbed this
enormous white ostrich feather

fan.

Picture a 5 foot 9, Hispanic man
with no eyebrows running down

the street with a white
ostrich fan that was taller

than he was.

No, [inaudible], I don't think.

ACTOR AS JO BAKER:
November 19, 1957.

Dear Reno... oh, last night I
was coming home in the rain,

and this kid followed me with
an umbrella and a suitcase.

So I stopped, got under the
umbrella with him not bothered,

and started to dish.

Well, anyway, he's
my neighbor, and he's

in this play "My Fair Lady."

Isn't that a flip?

He's a little gay.

I think he could be a
stead bang or something.

I called Billy Baker.

She surprised you
haven't written her.

She's my silver bugle
sheath for Phil's.

Love, Jo Baker.

Josephine had Billy Baker
make him a silver lame

and rhinestone dress with
fringe that hung down,

whatnot, and the fan.

You could see him clear
across the ballroom.

ACTOR AS BILLY
BAKER: Dear Reno...

I've been very busy
with Josephine's dress.

It came out sensational.

I could not get to
see her that night,

but I heard from Daphne
she looked gorgeous.

The drag was supposed
to be on a stick.

Take good care and write soon.

Always, your friend, Billy.

Billy Baker... his real
name was Billy Norton Jr.

LENNIE: He was a very
good dress maker.

He made a few of mine.

They were spectacular
beaded gowns, just brilliant.

I inherited one from Lynn
Carter, which I treasured.

I met Billy because Billy
could sew and sew well.

He had a sewing machine, and he
would make a living doing that.

He will make you a
knock-out dress for $10.

They were lined up
around the block.

ACTOR AS BILLY BAKER:
Please forgive me

for writing this in pencil,
but I'm at my new place

and didn't even
have writing paper.

I am very happy to hear
that you are working.

I am also working.

A dress designer I know got a
gorgeous seven-room apartment

next to the Hotel Pierre.

He's the one I'm working for.

Always, your friend, Billy.

Billy Baker,
Daphne, and Josephine,

we were joined at the hip.

We found each other.

We found each other.

We found where we all belonged,
and we belonged together.

ACTOR AS BILLY BAKER: Well,
enough dishing for now.

I'm putting a picture of
Josephine in this letter.

I hope that you receive it
and someone doesn't mop on it.

Your friend always, Billy.

Oh my gosh.

That's Josephine.

I did his hair, the
wig for this dress.

He stood there, and it was
nude chiffon with beads on it,

a few beads on it, and white
draped over the breasts,

over the hips, and over
the ass, and strategically

placed so that you
couldn't really quite

see what you needed to see.

Josephine, oh my God.

I think it was
[inaudible] apartment.

You must always remember
that when you're dealing

with drag queens in
situations like this,

they can't dress at home.

Him with his Spanish father
seeing his son walk out, no.

Not happening.

TERRY: I was born in
the east in a very small

town with a population of 350.

I never felt good about myself.

I can remember being
embarrassed, terribly

embarrassed and hating
myself because I

wasn't like my brothers.

When you grow up and
you have a father who

says to you that
you're worthless,

you're never going
to be anything,

you're never going to
have a life, what are you?

Who are you?

I don't know you,
I wish you'd never

been born, blah, blah, blah...

If you're told that
long enough as a child,

you start to believe it.

I've always hated
myself to the point

that it kills my
desire to do well.

It sort of plays off on that.

It sort of says, well, you're
not good enough to do this.

You'll never... why
are you doing this?

There's no point in that.

You have to fight that, or I
had to fight that all the time

constantly regardless of
whether I was in drag or out,

you know, because I
didn't feel worthy.

That's the word I'm looking for.

I never felt worthy of anything.

And whether it had anything
at all to do with my deciding

to have the transition,
I don't know.

I'm not smart
enough to know that.

There.

Not bad for an old man of 98...

I'm not 98 for Christ's sake.

What am I?

1990... I was born 1924.

How old am I?

Still got beautiful
legs, though.

You realize how old am I?

1924, quick.

94.

And I've lived here 64.

And the landlord says when
is that old son of a bitch

going to kick the
bucket? because he

wants to get more money.

Don't you think that
$256 a month is not fair?

Tish, to me, is a nickname
because my last name

is Tischette.

So then when I was
working the nightclubs,

they said, oh, use Tish.

You're going to wind
up using it anyway.

I'm from Connecticut.

I've got two sisters
and four brothers

who are French Canadian.

[french]

First of all, I'm
the oldest one.

When my father died,
he left me with five

brothers and sisters
younger than me,

which meant I brought them up.

And they all got married and got
lovely children and everything.

I'm Uncle Joe.

Hey, Uncle Joe.

I said, where?

And they say, oh, stop now
because they've all seen me.

You know, they know what Uncle
Joe does or did because I've

seen them in the audience, and
they've come to the audience

to see me.

ACTOR AS DAPHNE: Josephine got
me all hopped up on drag again.

We were having coffee at the
Waldorf about 4 o'clock.

And some butch-looking
rube comes over

and asks us if we know where you
can get big-sized high heels.

Well, that immediately
set the drag ball rolling.

We were sitting with this
psychiatrist we met in the bar,

much the eyeglass number.

He's making a study of
characters like ourselves.

Very nice, though.

Bought us drinks and everything.

He was giving us the whole
dish on the gay scene

and the old Greek times.

I'm sure I was born
in the wrong era.

I think I would have mapped
much more in a toga than

in nell pink tea pants.

The scene was really
on in those days.

As always, Daphne.

The drag scene in the
1950s in New York would

have largely been
private parties, which

were high-risk activities.

Could have easily and
were frequently raided.

I mean if you're just going
to make too much noise

or if your neighbor saw these
oddly dressed people coming

up and down the stairs, right?

In bars and clubs, the
clubs it was happening in

were primarily
heterosexual clubs

that were protected by what
the old-time performers called

the boys.

There's something
we call a gay tax,

and the gay tax is
because it is so desired.

You pay more.

So there was a heck
of a lot of money

to be made in opening and
running these gay bars

and also showcase
places like the 82.

But it was illicit
money, so who does that?

The mafia.

No, when I came to New York,
I went to work in a nightclub

called the Moroccan Village,
which was on 8th Street

and owned by the mafia.

When I used to work in the
club and I sit back there

and I look in the back and
I would see two or three

guys sitting with the owner,
they were either the police

department or they were
guys from the mafia

because the mafia had
their hands in everything.

As long as they're
treated as well

and they were content with
us, we were content with them.

Well, we had to be content
with them, but you know.

I think the mob saw it as
an easy money-making scheme

because they didn't overpay us.

You may be sure of that.

And I think it was a good match
because the gay people were

easy to control,
really, I would think,

more so than an ordinary
group, wouldn't you say?

JOE E. JEFFREYS: There are
certain performers today

who were around in
the '50s and '60s

who still get very upset
if you call drag queens.

I was not a drag queen.

I was a female impersonator.

I was a female mimic.

I was a female illusionist.

A drag queen was somebody
who walked around

the street in a dress
and may have been turning

tricks or whatever, right?

A female illusionist, female
impersonator, a female mimic

was an artist.

GEORGE: Glamorous
female impersonators...

It was high gloves.

It was boas.

It was furs.

It was heavy, chunky jewelry.

You're a vocalist.

You're a stripper.

You had a craft that
you had perfected.

ROBERT: I don't like the
word drag queen, actually.

It was a detrimental term
to me from the beginning.

And I use it myself now,
and I still don't like it,

but everybody else does.

So if it's acceptable,
I'll use it, you know,

if it makes you understand
more what I'm talking about.

I always call myself
a femme mimic.

A female impersonator got paid.

We didn't get paid.

Nobody gave us a dime.

This was a freebie.

Whatever drag we were
wearing we stole.

That's it.

We stole them.

[music playing]

Let's see.

[laughter]

JAMES: Somebody told
me about the 82 Club.

And I auditioned,
and they hired me.

And then they told
me I'd have to get

a gimmick because I had a
little bulge in my [inaudible]..

GEORGE: It was a very
plush, lush nightclub

down on the Lower East Side.

And it was a very
nondescript opening.

It was just a canopy over
a double door with stairs

that went downstairs.

It just goes way down.

It just seems like
they go forever.

And you are in a basement.

GEORGE: And once you went down
the stairs, you had to walk

into the club to see the stage.

And the stage was sort of raised

up in the middle of all this.

Fabulous, it really was.

They did about 10 acts,
and it was a funny show.

The place was packed.

TERRY: And there were
four dressing rooms, two

large ones and too small ones.

You know, you would just come
in and put on your makeup

and get in your costume and
wait for the show to start.

We would walk up ramps
behind a closed curtain,

and when the overture would
play, the curtains would open,

and then the number would start.

GEORGE: It was girls, drag
queens, and butch lesbians.

The butch lesbians were the
waiters in the nightclub.

The real girls were in the show.

Then the rest were drag queens.

And we used our
own singing voices.

If we sang like this, you
raised it an octave or two

and sang like that.

GEORGE: You had to
be a live performer.

You were not
allowed to lip sync.

You were not allowed
to impersonate

another live performer.

JOE E. JEFFREYS: There's
a long list of celebrities

that came to the 82.

You can hardly name
somebody who wasn't

there at one time or another.

TERRY: Liz Taylor, Richard
Burton, Warren Beatty.

HENRY: Natalie Wood
and Debbie Reynolds.

I mean, the Gabors came in.

The Kennedys came in.

TERRY: Judy, of
course, was there.

Salvador Dali
would come in and do

sketches on napkins and send
them in the back to Ella-Funt.

And Ella-Funt would go,
oh, what is this shit?

She'd throw it and throw
it the garbage can.

She must have thrown away over
200 Salvador Dali sketches.

GEORGE: Adrian was
a show stopper.

I mean, when she
concocted that act

and brought out the head of St.
John the Baptist on a platter,

people went insane.

[applause]

The audience was not very gay.

It was all, like, tourists.

The people that were
coming to the shows

were your mom and dad.

They were heterosexual
couples, by and large.

They would bring through
literally tour buses.

It was just people had
heard about this hootsie show

where the women were all men.

And the economics
of that had to do

with straight people on a night
out gawking at gay people.

HOST: Good evening,
ladies and gentlemen.

Mr. Ty Bennett.

[applause]

TY BENNETT: I'm
quite sure you know

your reputations were
shot to hell the minute

you came in this joint.

So now that you're
here, relax and enjoy

it or we'll lock the doors
and make you one of us

or just make you.

I think that's what
the hell you all need.

I'm not sure.

You know what they say.

If you can't lick 'em join em.

I licked them and I joined
them, and here I am.

[laughter]

It was hard to watch because
the drag queens would circulate

in the crowd at certain
points in the show,

and the guys much more than
the women... the guys were like,

[gasp], don't touch me.

You know, I mean,
very visceral kind

of reactions where you could
see the stigma in the air.

You know, it was visible.

So it was a performance
by stigmatized people

for the normals.

In spite of being mob run,
we all felt rather protected.

ESTHER NEWTON: It was a
way for them to survive.

I mean, survival in this
world was a big deal.

It wasn't something you
could take for granted.

TERRY: The general
manager at the 82 Club

who was Pete Petillo.

His sister was Anna.

She was married
to Vito Genovese.

GEORGE: Who I later found
out was the head of the mob

of New York and New Jersey.

It was Anna's club.

TERRY: Anna was a
very nice person.

She and I got along
very well together,

and she did good things for me.

I tried to be a gay man.

I couldn't be a gay
man because I didn't...

I wasn't attracted
to gay men sexually.

So I thought, well, then
let's do this transition

because that's the
only way you're

going to have any peace in
your life in the years to come.

I had been at the 82
for a couple of years

before I even started thinking
about making my transition.

And I didn't feel like I could
afford to go to the transgender

guru of the time.

And apparently I
told that to Anna

because she said, well, I'll
send you to my personal doctor.

He's over in Brooklyn.

I'll send you over there.

I went, and he treated
me for 18 months.

And he would give me
a shot once a week

and give me the pills
you take every day,

and he didn't charge me a cent.

Not only that, he
arranged for my surgery.

I took two years of
thinking about it.

I took the hormones
for 18 months

before I decided
whether to do it or not.

You see, there were some
who thought, you know,

that it was just the worst
thing you could do because they

called it self-mutilation,
and they dug up

words like that to describe it.

But I thought, yeah, maybe,
but it's going to allow

me to have the life I want.

So to me, it's not mutilation.

It's rearrangement so that I
can live my life as I wish.

ACTOR AS DAPHNE:
February 7, 1958.

Reno Zambambansteen.

Well, here's Hedda again
giving you the latest dish.

This lady is a tramp,
but unlike the song,

she does dish the dirt
with the rest of the girls.

There's a young
ex-Marine beauty working

here out on the platform.

I think he digs me.

He's staring at me right now.

Maybe it's the paint
I'm wearing, full face.

He said hello today
when he came in.

I nearly fainted.

I thought he didn't like me.

As always, Daphne.

A lot of other more
gender-conforming gay people

were kind of horrified
that all straight

people would think this is
what all gay people were like.

REPORTER: What do
other homosexuals think

about the so-called queens?

What are their feelings
about themselves

and their place in society?

We think the swish or the queen

represents actually a
small minority within

the whole homosexual grouping.

But to the public, this
is the stereotyped view

or picture by which all
homosexuals are judged,

it seems.

These people actually,
in most cases,

are not even liked by the rest
of their homosexual brethren

because they have perhaps
rejected themselves,

and they feel that
society has rejected them.

Drag queens were
revered and reviled.

It was a form of embodiment
of what gay people loved

about being gay and
what people hated

themselves for about being gay.

ACTOR AS CHARLIE: Dear Reno...

As you must know by
now, Jo and I have not

been seeing much of each other.

When we do, it's on the sneak.

Her sister and brother caught
us at the diner one night,

and they both laid Jo out
about being seen with me.

She told Jo to stay away from
me because I look like a girl.

So now when I call, I
have to give a phony name.

Your friend always, Charlie.

[italian singing]

ACTOR: Jerry's in
jail for four months.

She was caught in drag
at the Wagon Wheel.

Her friend Shelly
was working there

in drag as the hatcheck girl.

She's that pale redhead.

Remember her?

She's always in the can too.

The cops had known Jerry.

She was sitting at
a table with Shelly

when the bulls pinched her.

They never knew a
girlfriend was a fraud too.

Poor Jerry.

She'll be out in the spring.

Choosing to even temporarily
give up the power that

was invested in them by
being born men was huge,

but it also kind of
challenged the whole concept

of patriarchy.

When girls take on boys
roles, we call them tomboys,

and we admire them.

But the boy who is a sissy
is always stigmatized,

and it has something
to do with stepping

out of a role that is
associated with a certain kind

of privilege.

Why would you do that?

You must be sick.

And I think that
for many Americans,

that was very disturbing,
and the evidence is

its association or its
understanding as a kind

of pathology, a mental illness.

They shipped me to a place
called Bellevue Hospital.

By then I was closing in on 16.

And they put me in a place
called PQ5, the whacko ward,

because I was gay.

And every day I had to
have a sit-down session

with the shrink, and
all they wanted to do

is get their paycheck.

Well, why did you run away,
blah, blah, blah, blah?

Because I wasn't having
a whole lot of fun

being beaten up every day.

That's why.

They finally released me
because after a certain point,

they can't keep you.

I haven't done
anything but run away.

The only phone number I could
remember was Bobby Perez.

Bobby Perez was Josephine Baker.

Tell me where to meet you.

She said, tell me
where to meet you.

And I hooked up again with
Josephine and with Daphne

and with Billy Baker,
and then I started

turning tricks because I had
no other source of income.

So I had to.

It was a matter of, well, do
you want to be hungry or you

do not want to be hungry?

Pick one.

And then I found out
that I could make lots

more money if I did it in drag.

ACTOR: Claudia's back on
the scene with Josephine.

They mopped four paste-ons from
the Metropolitan Opera House.

They sold one to Terry,
one to Ricky from Brooklyn,

and kept the other two.

Oh.

ACTOR AS JOSEPHINE
BAKER: Dear René...

Well, the latest
seed was that Claudia

and I mopped at the Met.

Ha!

35 paste-ons, all
gorgeous... white,

red, brown, black,
every color you

could think of, the end wigs.

There's a white one
that's down to the ass.

Most of them flew
already for $75 or $50.

I have a blonde paste-on
ponytail that's fab.

Ah!

Well, I'm going to bed
now, so write soon.

Good night.

Josephine Baker.

PS... burn this letter please.

That Met scene
was in the papers.

Don't dish.

We were working again at
Loew's State on Broadway,

and Josephine Baker came
backstage with another queen

named Claudia with
this bag of wigs,

beautiful lace-front
wigs, which are the most

expensive kind of wigs.

So a lot of the
people in the show

bought wigs because
they were expensive wigs

selling for much less.

You could buy, you know,
$1,000 wig for $70.

So we immediately...
I bought one,

Lynn Carter brought one,
a few of the other people.

Two days later, the
police come back stage.

Of course, we didn't know
where the wigs were from.

So they arrested everyone who
had bought a wig on possession

of stolen property.

We went to jail.

[sirens]

INTERVIEWER: Police have
recovered 17 of the 33 wigs

allegedly stolen from
the Metropolitan Opera

three months ago by two
young men who sold them

for fancy dress-ball adornment.

Police revealed Wednesday that
the arrest of Robert Perez, 23,

hairdresser, and Claudia Diaz,
22, a waiter, for burglary

in connection with
the wig lifting.

According to authorities,
Perez and Diaz

heard about a gay Thanksgiving
costume ball in Harlem

and decided to get the wig
concession by hook or crook.

They gained entry into the Met
by imitating ballet dancers

arriving for a rehearsal
and danced off with $3,000

worth of headpieces.

Yes.

One, we did not get
in with the dancers.

They still don't know
how we got in there.

Do you have a piece
of paper and a pencil?

These were all gates, and
each one of these gates

was enormous.

Each one had a lock,
and they used to use

these to move in scenery.

Some idiot in this thing didn't
have the brains to make sure

that they were locked,
and the one in the middle

was left unlocked.

And then we went up the stairs.

And after the last steps,
I was standing stage level,

and I stepped out onto the
stage of the Metropolitan Opera

House, and I stood there looking
up at that enormous chandelier,

and I got my cookies off.

I did.

I got my cookies off.

Josephine said,
what are you doing?

I said I am saving this memory.

That's what I'm doing.

We went upstairs
one more flight,

and it was the wig room,
and I kicked the door open.

We went out the
same way we came in.

Very simple.

We started selling some of them,
the ones that we didn't want.

Some were in Brooklyn.

Some were in New Jersey.

Some were the Jewel Box Revues.

Some were at the 82 Clubs.

And one idiot ratting
out the whole thing.

We gave them back
synthetic, cheap wigs,

and cops didn't
know the difference.

So the best they
could do was the guys

for breaking and entering, which
is a year at Rikers Island,

which is a whole other thing.

This wig I'm holding here was
part of "Rigoletto," the opera.

This is a 60-year-old.

INTERVIEWER: Why do
you still have it?

Part ego, part
here New York police.

You couldn't find your
way out of a closet,

and two faggots have both
outsmarted all of you,

and you still don't
know how we got in.

ACTOR AS JOSEPHINE:
October 27, 1957.

Dear Reno... well, the
ball is this Friday

at the MacAlpin Hotel, and
I don't know what to wear.

I have a blonde
wig that's the end.

And I want to pull a blond
scene with a blue dress,

but I heard everybody will be
there, so I'll wear the gold.

Well, that's all the
dish for a while.

I have to start
douching for tonight,

and I have to cut my
lashes now before I forget.

Write me soon.

Love always, Josephine.

A drag ball is
when a party is held

and everybody comes dressed
as the opposite sex.

There were maybe 10 or
12 different drag balls.

A special permit that would
allow this type of thing

to happen for one
night at that venue.

CLAUDE: And what they were
were an excuse for all of us

to get into drag, and we did.

We took advantage of it.

ACTOR AS CHARLIE:
August 3, 1961.

Dear Reno... well, there's
two drags the same night,

Mickey Marlowe's and Daisies.

Marlow got a fantastic
ballroom with water

fountains and chandeliers.

It's really gorgeous.

Daisies got her permit
already and the ballroom.

She's not dishing yet
where it's going to be.

I'd love to make them both.

Do you think it's possible?

If I don't lose 30 pounds,
I'm not going to none of them

in drag.

I'll just go painted.

Love, Charlie.

Yeah, Dayzee Dee's
Thanksgiving Eve Costume Ball.

My drag name is Dayzee
Dee, and I ran those balls

for seven or eight years.

The very first ball, I
printed 1,500 tickets.

I figured if we sell 600
or 700, we'll be lucky.

That ball, we had between 1,2000
and 1,500 the very first year.

GEORGE: This picture here
is when we went to Dayzee

Dee's ball in Brooklyn.

That's Bubbles and me
and Brandi Alexander.

It was a fun night.

TERRY: Everybody who was
anybody in the drag world went.

LENNIE: There I am on stage.

This is what Billy
Baker made for me.

That was in '62.

Here's Tish, me and Tish.

It was elegant, number one.

It wasn't draggy,
draggy, faggy, faggy.

They were giving
out first prizes

for the most beautiful wardrobe,
first prize for the most

beautiful hairstyle.

Everything was elegant.

CLAUDE: Everybody walked
around and paraded.

It was like somebody had
opened a gigantic pair of doors

and threw them open, and
all these crazy people

and the way they looked
were suddenly filling...

Literally filling this
gigantic place in drag.

And at the end
we'd see which one we

would name the queen of the
ball or the king of the ball

or whatever.

Terry Noel, she came to
my ball and won first prize.

She was beautiful,
very beautiful.

It was really fun.

Dayzee's drag ball was
not the only drag ball.

GEORGE CHAUNCEY: In Harlem,
there was a very vibrant

gay society, as they called it.

It was a very visible
culture, especially

in the African American press.

MICHAEL HENRY ADAMS: You
know, you had all these spots

in Harlem that were
known to be patronized

by gays and as much
gay activity in Harlem

as you had in Greenwich Village.

And the thing that struck
me was the discovery

that the most
luminous luminaries

of the Harlem Renaissance
were all gay and lesbian.

ACTOR AS DAPHNE: Dear Reno...

All the queens are
selling for Phil Black's.

It will be at the
Rockland Palace.

Where else?

There are so many
new nels in town.

But as Josephine says, they all
fade into the crowd at a drag.

I'm going to paint
like crazy tonight.

Nobody even noticed
me last night.

Very next!

But tonight... As always, Daphne.

Phil Black was a
female impersonator

that was kind of a celebrity
in the gay world at that time.

And the queens started making
their dress for next year

as soon as they got
home that night.

It was like their life.

They went crackers.

Like we were at a move premier
in Hollywood waving to us

and throwing kisses.

And there was no prejudice.

It was wonderful.

And that's one of the things
that makes this so interesting

to me is that it is both the
first time in American history

when you have African Americans
and whites interacting

in a non-clandestine way.

This was a place where
all the races mixed.

So this was kind
of an integrated

space, which was unusual.

And it's also then one of
the first instances in which

ordinary heterosexuals
have some experience

of an interaction with gays
without any hostile judgments.

CLAUDE: I felt at home,
I feel, at the drag ball

because I was no
longer the weirdo.

I belonged, which I had not
belonged anywhere before that.

ACTOR AS DAPHNE:
October 26, 1955.

Dear Reno... just a
few lines to say hello

and a word or two to let
you know that I haven't

forgotten completely about you.

My God, with the upcoming
drag, I've been in such a spin.

I haven't had any time to
dish or anything with you.

As a matter of fact, I'm very
upset and a little nervous

about some dish I
heard about myself.

Daphne, he had
the most beautiful

pair of legs you have ever
seen on anyone in your life.

I know women that would give
their souls for legs like that.

They came up to here, and
there wasn't a hair or a bump

or a [snort] on them anywhere.

They were gorgeous.

ACTOR AS DAPHNE:
Many of the girls

have been saying they don't
think I'll map as a blonde.

I'm beginning to wonder myself.

It is a shocking change.

Everything will depend
on my makeup job.

If worse comes to worse, I'm
fucking all respectability

and I'm shaving off
my complete browettes.

There's nothing like
that Lana Turner

pencil line of gorgeousness.

Fuck Liz Taylor.

I want to be a bum that night.

As always, Daphne.

He had a silver lame dress
made that was like this.

It was also like this.

But on this side here hidden
where you couldn't see it,

there was a zipper that
opened up and opened...

Literally opened
up to the hip line.

And he stood there, and
the woman he stood...

Opened his legs,
there were the legs.

And it was like, oh my God,
and people would freak out,

and he looked fabulous.

He was wearing two wigs
because the person who

was supposed to do
his hair dumped him,

and he had everything
but the hair.

And I wound up putting two
blonde wigs on his hair,

the hairline showing, but...

With great big... and he looked
amazing, absolutely amazing.

[music playing]

Oh shit.

Yeah.

Oh.

[crying]

Oh.

Oh shit.

I suddenly feel as though
somebody had just stabbed me

because I remember that night,
and I remember putting the wigs

on him and pinning them
down, and his own hair

was as black as black can be.

Oh God.

I have to keep in
mind that that's over.

That's over and finished.

And I'm sorry that it's over and
finished, and you have no idea.

ACTOR AS DAPHNE:
November 20, 1957.

Dear Reno... well, it's me
again, star reporter of the New

York gay set rat race.

I'm going steady
with this number Bob

from my neighborhood.

Ella, I've had numbers that dug
me, numbers that featured me,

and others that were
even bats for me,

but this one takes the cake.

He calls me constantly,
and when we're together,

it's much kissing me
every two minutes,

holding my hands
on trains, buses,

movie houses, lobbies, and
just about everywhere we go.

To put it mildly,
he's demented for me.

Much kisses and
claiming he can't

sleep or eat ever since we met.

And, Mary, I love it.

I never felt so cunty.

I actually miss him
and his compliments

whenever he's not around.

He came upon me like a shot
in the arm, the kind I needed.

As always, Daphne.

We all used to
laugh about old age.

I said, don't worry.

I have a house in Pennsylvania.

Well all go there, and we can
spend the rest of our lives

reminiscing, but we're not
going to do that until we're

in our 70s or maybe 80s.

We're still going to
be living in New York.

And then starting in 1983, I
guess, the first AIDS cases.

MAN: Gary, Tate.

MAN: My friend Micah.

And they knew it.

They knew it was
going to happen.

TERRY: Were a lot
of them who did.

MAN: Steven, Samuel,
Mike, DeRost.

I met Geno in New
York when we were

at Loew's Theater on Broadway.

And he was in the audience
several different times.

He sent notes back to me, and
we became very good friends.

After I got out of the New
York, I moved to San Francisco

with Geno, and we lived
on Guererro Street

close to the Castro area.

I just loved Geno.

I thought he was a
beautiful person.

Geno and I went to be tested for
HIV, and we both were positive.

And there was no
cure for it then.

Geno two years
later died of AIDS.

The reason I lost my right leg,
it's because of a blood clot.

I don't do that well
on the prosthetic,

but I'm OK on the wheelchair,
and I can get around.

And I still clean my own
house and do my own cooking.

And luckily I'm still here
many years afterwards.

(ON PHONE) OK.

Jerry I know is coming
over on the 12:30 ferry,

so just whenever.

Whatever you want to do,
just deal with it, OK?

MAN: (ON PHONE) All right.

I want... I'll shave here...

Yeah.

MAN:... and nail
down my eyebrows.

Yeah, because everybody else
is putting on the whole face

but carrying the
wig and the clothes

over to the thing, whatever.

The summer of '68, I won
Miss Fire Island 1969.

It'll be my 50th
anniversary of winning.

Today, the drag queens
are still drag queens,

and some of the older drag
queens are still there,

and there's a younger
bunch of drag queens.

MAN: Gorgeous.

[applause]

Nice.

You've got that
lipstick on pretty.

MICHAEL HENRY ADAMS: When I
first came out in Akron, Ohio,

I would meet all
these drag queens,

and they all just
seemed to love me.

And to my consternation
and discredit,

I would be on the street, and
there would be some drag queen,

and she would
start waving at me.

And I would just want to sink
to the sidewalk and think,

oh no, she's going to
come over because I

didn't want to
experience the scorn

of being gay by association.

I felt like, you know, I
could hide in plain sight,

but these people
were not hiding.

MC: Can you Imagine?

She somehow has been Miss
Fire Island for 50 years,

but she's only 13.

JOE E. JEFFREYS: The queens at
that point crossing the line

was dangerous.

It was against the grain of what
society was telling them they

should do, who they should be.

So you have to
admire their bravery

and courage to do such
a thing, much less

put themselves on stage.

But it also tells you
then how committed

they were to the art form,
to what it was that they

wanted to present to the world.

They were performing
this resistance

and they were making
political statements

and they were sort of lobbying
and fighting for social change

and for acceptance by the
very fact of existing.

JAMES: It can't be
something you want to do.

It has to be something
you have to do.

It's to speak to people
and say something,

make them see something.

This is the most
fucked-up fucking world.

It's just nothing's right.

Nothing's right.

[laughter] Well, Judy was good.

We should throw a drag march.

We should throw a drag march.

[drums]

[applause]

MC: There are so many
legends on this stage.

Are you ready?

[thunder]

MICHAEL HENRY ADAMS: Just to be
gay in general costs something

and particularly in the past.

And the one thing
that I discovered

was that so many
people had spent

a lifetime hiding from most
people who they really were.

And yet in their
80s and 90s they

were coming to the
realization that if they

didn't reveal their
stories to someone,

they would die with them.

(CHANTING) Gay rights!

NIH need us!

Got no...

We did it, and
nobody gives a shit.

MICHAEL HENRY ADAMS:
It's now or never.

I mean, I don't want her
stories to die with me either.

MAN: I believe in the gay power.

I believe in us
getting our rights

or else I would not be out
there fighting for our rights.

Revolution now!

GEORGE: I was in full drag, and
these two little young queens

came up to me.

And they said, you know,
we don't realize what you

older gay men went
through that allows

us to do and be as we are now.

And it was very nice
to hear that because we

thought nothing of
doing it because we

were doing it for ourselves.

We didn't realize
that we were doing

it for the next generations.

People fought and risked
their lives and, in some cases,

lost their lives to
win what we've won.

RENO MARTIN: Well, it looks
like it's just about time to end

our rendezvous for today.

This is Reno Martin saying
thanks for listening.

[music playing]

This is Reno Martin saying
so long until tomorrow

when we'll rendezvous
with the stars.

ACTOR AS BILLIE: Dear Reno...

Please forgive me for
not writing sooner.

I feel awful, Reno, not being
able to say goodbye to you.

I didn't find out you
left until days after.

I didn't even have your address.

I called up Daphne and got it.

Well, Reno, take
care of yourself

and forgive me for
not writing you.

I miss you.

Your friend, Billy.

INTERVIEWER: Whatever
happened to Billy?

He was murdered.

This kid, when he found
out, went to the kitchen,

grabbed a knife, and
stabbed him to death.

It made me sick to think that
you survived everything else

from strangers and
tough times, whatever,

and now the closest person
to you is going to kill you.

ACTOR AS JOSEPHINE: Hi there.

Sorry I couldn't write sooner.

Here's hoping to find
you in good spirits.

Well, the beach is
marvelous to say the least.

The weather is fantastic,
every night so far in the 80s.

Very romantic.

There's so much loot
to be made down here

if you're a call girl, but I'm
afraid I threw in the heels

for a while.

Well, René, I have
to close for now.

I'll write you soon.

Regards, Josephine.

CLAUDE: Josephine died of AIDS.

And when he died,
his family refused

to let any of his friends
come to the funeral.

If I had known in time,
I think his mother

would have let me come.

And I blame myself
a lot for that.

I lost track of
who I really was,

and that's something that
I live with every day.

I don't want to talk
about that any more.

ACTOR AS CHARLIE: Dear Reno...

Glad to hear you're doing well.

Your friends called.

I told them you moved
to California for good.

As for settling down to pipe
and slippers, forget it.

Once a "bomatza,"
always a "bomatza."

Well, I must dash.

Take care, stay
well, and write soon.

Your friend always, Charlie.

ACTOR AS DAPHNE: Dear Reno...

I'm typing this
letter at work, and

the only reason I'm not
writing it out in longhand

is to fool my boss.

He thinks I'm doing
my regular work.

Remember that beauty, Ace?

Well, he was back in town.

He digs Josephine.

He asked about her
and you, of course.

They all asked about you.

I've really got to be going
now, it's way past my time.

And besides, this documentary
is practically long

enough for book publication.

I'm hoping you are in fine
health and good spirits

when this autobiography arrives.

La de da for now.

Love, as always, Daphne.

My name is Michael Alagna,
but my real name is Daphne.

[music playing]