Fire Island Invasion

By West Village Bill

Tony P. and I were in Fire Island Pines for part of the long 4th of July weekend and so were able to catch the 35th annual Invasion of that hamlet by a boatload of drag queens (and a few drag kings) from Cherry Grove.

Miss Meat-Rack 2011 was one of my favorite individual queens. Tony and I really enjoyed the collection of Esther Williams wanna-bes, who did a synchronized-swimming-style routine on the dock; they won the (no doubt highly coveted) Most Tragic Group award.

Many more photos after the jump, including the winner of the Best Individual award, Chita, who looked fabulous in gold and oodles of feathers.

Drag Race Season 3 - Meet the Queens

Last night I attended the RuPaul's Drag Race Season 3 Series Finale with QNY contributors Bill and Darling, along with Miguel and Tony P., our camera crew and retinue.  The press event beforehand, during which we interviewed seven of the Season 3 Queens, was one of the highlights of my year so far.  Bill did a great job of reporting the details, so after the jump I'll have the luxury of giving my impressions and random thoughts about the girls and the event.  (Spoiler warning, I do mention who won.)

I was so nervous going into this event!  Celebrity is one of the few phenomena that can truly make me tongue tied.  I was never one of the popular, pretty people growing up, and sometimes the social anxiety I experience when thrown into a room of beautiful people can be intense.

These days I get through nervous times by letting my freak flag fly high!

(All photos by Miguel Dominguez.)

Angels, Punks and Raging Queens

Posted by David

This past Sunday I attended a fundraiser in the West Village, just south of Washington Square Park.

The event was called Teddy Cares and is hosted and driven by Ruby Rims. Ruby is a drag queen, by the way, for those of you readers in Topeka.

Teddy Cares raises money for the Actors Fund AIDS Program. The event also supports Judson Memorial Church, where the performances were held. Judson is also deeply involved with the community and provides life-saving programs to any and all who need them.

I was there because of Ruby. I was first exposed - I don't think there is a better word for it - to Ruby when I was a regular at Eighty Eights, a long lamented piano bar that I have spoken of previously. Ruby was part of the inner circle at Eighty Eights that welcomed me almost immediately from the first night I happened upon the place. I, too, became a regular and in the years following the bar's demise, annual events such as this became the primary time we saw each other. [More, with pics and video, after the jump.]