Queer Across America: The Oldest Active Drag Queen in the World!

The beauty of my Queer Across America road trip is waking up in different cities every week. However, on this very hungover morning, I wake up and can’t even remember what state I’m in! I look around my hotel room to see that it’s very much catered to millennials: Banksy wall art, an Alexa virtual assistant instead of a phone, a room service menu that offers cannabis. 

I look to the door to find that it’s inexplicably covered in chalkboard material with a stick of chalk hanging next to it. This seems like a useless hotel feature until I see that I scribbled “Portland is the bessst” with enough S’s to mimic my probably slurred speech from the night before. 

So, I guess I’m in Portland. And I guess last night was a great time. However, the pounding in my head won’t let me remember much. The last thing I remember is being at one of the many queer bars. 

I saunter across the street to Grendel’s Coffee where I try to patiently wait in line before reaching the lesbian barista. After grabbing my order, I look around the shop to see a handful of queer people including a person in their 50’s who proudly doesn’t cater to gender binaries, by sporting silver hair that rests across their blue floral blouse, sleek manicured nails, and a scraggly gray beard.

Though Portland has an LGBTQ+ neighborhood just east of the Burnside Bridge, the entire city feels very queer. And not just “accepting” of LGBTQ+ people but genuinely queer. My entire walk through the area is filled with colorful personalities shuffling by, clean nature, artful buildings, and plenty of queer-owned businesses like WildFang, Fuse Theatre, Always Here Bookstore, and The Sports Bra—a newly opened women’s sports bar. 

As I continue wandering around, I come across the world’s smallest park as I try to cross Harbor Dr. The only thing more of a gem than Mills End park are the Yelp reviews. Whoever wrote that it was “quite a treat to hike the entire 24 inches” wasn’t wrong. Portland is quite the quirky city.

After eating at Farmhouse Kitchen, I finally feel myself becoming human again instead of the hungover monster that’s been roaming around the rainy town. My memory slowly comes back to me, and I remember speaking to a bartender at CC Slaughter’s who told me I had to check out a drag show next door. 

I make my way to the iconic Darcelle XV Showplace. The venue is an intimate, tightly packed theater named after Darcelle XV, the drag name of the owner and Guinness World Record holder for being the world’s oldest active drag queen at 91 years old!

The lights dim as the traditional drag show begins with an opening group number by the cast. Once it concludes, Darcelle, with her beehive hairdo and long red gown, takes the microphone.

“Hello everyone, I’m Darcelle XV!” the queen shouts. “Hair by Viagra. Why is a fire engine red? You’d be too if someone was pulling on your hose.”

The elderly performer delivers more dad jokes. She’s entertaining in the way a feisty grandmother might be after having a martini or two at bingo. It’s endearing, and the audience came into the show knowing Darcelle’s age. It’s an iconic performance nonetheless with high energy and multiple wardrobe changes over the next hour and a half.

Darcelle performs a final solo number to “Rhinestone Cowboy” as she is appropriately covered from blue cowboy hat to blue cowboy boots in rhinestones. As the chorus approaches, she turns to reveal her bare ass in chaps. The crowd goes feral! Darcelle estimates doing this same number four times a week since the 70s for an astounding 9,000 times, and the crowd is still eating it up!

The show concludes with some words spoken from Darcelle’s heart: “I first put on a dress when I was 37 years old. Nothing is ever too late. Be yourself. Be true to yourself. If you’re unhappy with whatever, move on.”

Traveling around the country for my Queer Across America project has been the most enlightening experience of my life because I’m getting to witness so many different queer cultures, communities, and individuals I would have never known existed otherwise.

Darcelle, real name Walter Cole, has since passed away after living an incredible 92-year life. His legacy will forever live on as his friends and mentees continue to perform his drag show. 

Continue on my Queer Across America journey with me next week as I make my way further up the Pacific Northwest to discover if Seattle, Washington is really queer-friendly or content with performative activism. 

Photos courtesy social media and London Alexander’s private collection