Working - Royals - March2023 (Cincinnati Magazine)

PAGE 57
Holding Court Performers at the Imperial Sovereign

Queen City Court of the Buckeye Empire’s December “Toyland”
fund-raiser included (from left) Queen Danicure, Princess Pet-
tycure, Ginger Snap-Clemons, Truly Scrumptious St. James, and
Anita Dushay.
speak about The Court, let alone count

themselves members. “Nobody knows
about it,” says Robin Kradles, Empress 19
of New York City.
“I talk about them all the time, and
people are like, Who’s that?” says Linda
Seiter, CEO of Caracole, Cincinnati’s larg-
est nonprofit for people with HIV/AIDS.
“They’re our largest consistent private do-
nor. Whenever we need something, they are
there for us.”
The mouthful of an acronym is part of
you step down, you lose ‘Most’ and ‘Sovereign’ and pick up ‘Gracious.’ Then after 20 years, what keeps the I.S.Q.C.C.B.E. incognito.
you become a Serene Majesty.” “I can’t remember that long name half the
Pond nods, adding, “It can get very convoluted.” Despite the fussy frocks, the regalia time,” says Donna Lunik of Cat Adoption
and regulations, and the protracted investiture ceremonies to bestow bizarre titles, The Team, an animal rescue organization The
Court boils down to something simple, he says. “It’s a social organization with a family Court supports with annual drag brunches
PHOTOGRAPHS BY (LEFT & BOT TOM RIGHT) RON COMSTOCK / (TOP) LAURIE PIKE / (RED CARPET) TORSAKARIN & TIERO / STOCK . ADOBE .COM /
aspect and a fund-raising aspect.” Another Court member likens it to “the gay Shriners.” and a campy “Wags and Drag” wall calendar.
More than its moniker, though, the
INCE THE BUCKEYE EMPIRE COURT FIRST APPOINTED AN EMPRESS I.S.Q.C.C.B.E.’s hidden-in-plain-view ex-
S in 1990, it has raised $1.5 million for Cincinnati area charities “one sweaty
dollar at a time,” says Pond. The recipients of that largesse are mainly nonprof-
its assisting the LGBTQ+ community, but any 501(c)3 can apply for assistance.
The Court’s other causes range from breast cancer research to animal rescue to student
istence is due to its age. When the Buck-
eye Empire chapter was founded in 1989,
“everyone had one foot in the closet, so we
didn’t want to be published,” says Andrea
scholarships to medical aid for sex workers. Victory-Parkway, Princess Ultima for Life.
Court members pay for their own gowns, jewels, and travel and lodging to attend coro- Truly Scrumptious remembers police ha-
nations by other courts. From crown to heels, a single ensemble can set a member back rassing cross-dressers, who would doll up
$5,000. Empresses and Emperors are allotted a tiny travel budget during their reign, but at a nightclub or bar rather than at home so
they’ll also typically shell out thousands of dollars of their own money to look the part, as not to be C O N T I N U E D O N P A G E 7 5
represent the local chapter at events in other cities, and contribute their own donations.
That’s not to mention the time involved; the crowned potentates can spend 30 hours or
PHOTO RETOUCHING BY LOGAN CASE / DESIGN ELEMENTS BY STOCK . ADOBE .COM
more a week focusing on their reign. “It’s all very grassroots,” says Truly Scrumptious St.
James, Empress 13.
At first glance, The Court is a seemingly goofy gang of mainly middle-aged, middle-
class men and women prancing on stage in the name of charity. What’s even more odd
is that such a long-standing and magnanimous group remains so obscure. It’s one of the
oldest, if not the oldest, national gay organizations, with close to 60 years of activity under
its collective garter belt. In addition to work for local charities, it contributes to national
efforts; it instigated the successful push to get a U.S. postage stamp and a U.S. Navy ship
to commemorate Harvey Milk, the late gay activist.
But The Court operates in a completely different world from the most famous drag
entity today, that of Drag Race, which has rocketed the art of cross-dressing to the inter-
national mainstream and along the way helped correct the understanding of drag as an art
form, not a sexual deviation. Celebrity drag queens who perform all over the globe don’t
Dressing (Up) for Success Cincinnati’s Court (opposite page) is active year-round, and its current dignitaries are
Empress 31 Anita Dushay (right, in dinosaur outfit) and Emprex 31 Anna Mae Ceres.

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Holding Court Performers at the Imperial Sovereign

speak about The Court, let alone count

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