Performers

The Jewelers of Mardi Gras

The Jewelers of Mardi Gras

During the height of Mardi Gras, when half a million revelers fill the streets of Soulard, beads are currency, and represent status. Good beads ignite conversations, spark negotiations, and become prized parts of permanent collections. Disappointed by the prevalence of ubiquitous, low-quality throws, The Krewe of the Lustful Lushes formed a decade ago with the

Colin Murphy. Photo courtesy of Colin Lovett

2024 Queer-in-Review

2024 Queer-in-Review

Did 2024 represent the pinnacle of LGBTQ acceptance, leaving us with nowhere to go but down?  The nearly $215 million in anti-LGBTQ ads this election season, and Trump’s resulting victory, certainly makes it feel that way. Winter is in the air, and Corporate America is dispensing with diversity programs like flip flops at an end-of-summer

Gabe Montesanti performing as Fender Bender in the talent portion of the Pride St. Louis pageant. She dressed as the pope and performed to "One of Us" by Joan Osborne. | Shelby Baseler Photography

My Journey to Becoming St. Louis’ First Mx. Pride

My Journey to Becoming St. Louis’ First Mx. Pride

Until I competed in my first pride pageant on May 28 at River City Casino, all I really knew about pageants came from watching the iconic 2006 film Little Miss Sunshine and occasionally mining YouTube for the worst beauty pageant responses to the on-stage Q&A. My working class roots and the fact that I was

Female impersonator Stanley Rogers, Bonnie Blake, and Cat Schmidt donation one of her drag king outfits to the St. Louis LGBT History Project. | Courtesy Steven Brawley

A History of St. Louis’ Drag Scene

A History of St. Louis’ Drag Scene

St. Louis’ LGBTQ+ ancestral family tree includes countless drag performers and gender nonconforming individuals. Currently, St. Louis lays claim to having the world’s oldest performing drag queen – John Chaney, who performs at the age of 94 as Bonnie Blake, a St. Louis legend. Chaney and others have paved the way to advance LGBTQ+ rights

Rocky St. Moore is a female drag queen.

Portrait of a Drag Friendship: Big, Queer and Female

Portrait of a Drag Friendship: Big, Queer and Female

In the dressing room at St. Louis’s newest gay bar, Prism, nine drag performers are in varying stages of undress. They pass around duct tape to secure their genitals and help each other shimmy into breast plates. Their voices are low, and they always need something: safety pins, concealer, eyelash glue. Usually, I have whatever

PrideSTL’s Entertainment Line Up for Virtual PrideFest 2020

PrideSTL’s Entertainment Line Up for Virtual PrideFest 2020

Pride St. Louis is excited to announce the entertainment lineup for Virtual PrideFest 2020. This first-of-its-kind STL Pride event will feature a wonderful mixture of national recording artists as well as regional and local entertainers. Many national recording artists will headline the festival, including Ava Max, Betty Who, Kim Petras, R&B sister duo Chloe X

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