RenoVous

 First we took a drive to check out some water spots. We ended up in Tahoe. Then back in town for some Reno Pride. Performance by Derrick Barry.

 In honor of Pride Month and the season of protest we currently find ourselves in, fighting still for equal rights.... June 28, 1969 Gay clubs had long been a target for police, with raids happening at least once a month.  Patrons would be lined up and arrested if in drag - this included women who were required to be wearing three pieces of feminine clothing.  Typically, bar owners received a tip off and the raids occurred early enough in the day that business could carry on. This time was different.  Undercover officers entered without warning, and later in the evening.  Once the police announced themselves, there was too much confusion and running around.  They were not able to line up the patrons, and many in drag refused to go with officers to have their genitals checked, refusing identification, so the police intended to arrest them all. As they waited for transport, the crowd outside grew.  As the employees were loaded up, someone shouted "Gay Po...

From the headlines of Ru Paul's Drag Race  comes The Birth of Venus, "but BLACK." Shea Couleé is a competitor on the show, but this photo includes members of her house: Kenzie Couleé, Bambi Banks-Couleé, Baby Couleé (the pupper), and Khloe Couleé. With this, I thought we'd take a dive into some drag fashion with Shea. Nubia "Black Queens Matter" was the tag line for their show, which ran briefly in March. Vogue Nubia Instagram Google Images

I found an excerpt called "Queerest Little City in the World" from the book LGBTQ America: A Theme Study of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer History published by the National Park Service, with support from the  Gill Foundation . John Jeffrey Auer IV authors this chapter, and notes the Wild West history of our area.  Back then, western states didn't do much in regulating the behavior of their citizens. Reno specifically has "historically prided itself on being different from other cities in the United States, especially since becoming the divorce capital of the US in the 1910's and legalizing gambling in 1931 when it was illegal in every other state in the Union." Even though casinos were segregated until the 1960's, you would see a truly mixed community in the gay bars of the time.  Even if certain racial groups weren't exactly welcome, they were served.  A longtime resident recalls more issues with transphobia than ra...