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“Drag, female impersonation, and gender-transgressive performance has a been part of queer life around the world and in the U.S. “As long as I can still get up on stage and entertain I have no desire to retire.” “I’ve still got it in me, as far as an entertainer,” Peters said. Still happy at 61, Peters continues to perform about once a month. You be friendly to me and I’ll be friendly to you. I never wanted to get involved in any kind of drama. “Back then we really didn’t have much drama,” she said. The good ‘ol days, Peters said, were a simpler time. “It’s so funny, the year that I won Miss Gigi’s Tempest crowned me and the year that she won Classic I crowned her,” said Peters. Oh yes, and Miss Gigi’s and, eventually, Miss Gigi’s Classic, too. Like Alexander, she has racked up a laundry list of titles including Miss CT’s, Miss Gas Station, Miss Gold Coast, Miss Other Side, Miss Gay Michigan America and Entertainer of the Year for the Performers Awards of Detroit. “They both came up to me and they said, ‘Renee, with a little bit of work on your hair and your makeup, you’re going to go a long way,’” Peters said.Īnd she did. Just a fledgling drag queen, Peters encountered two more experienced girls, Vanessa LaSalle and Lady “T” Tempest. So, I wish I had come up with a name that showed my ethnicity. All of a sudden I said, ‘I’ll just say, Renee.’ And they said, ‘Renee, what?’ And I said, ‘Peters.’ In hindsight, I’m Latino. “We didn’t know our drag names or nothing. “I entered a contest for the first time in drag and we were all in line waiting for the contest to start and we looked at each other,” Peters remembered. But her first time, so to speak, was at Backstreet.
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She’s not the prettiest thing on two feet but I think she is talented.” I don’t want to brag but I do feel that Eunice is talented. “I just want people to remember Eunice as a good person, a humble person, and I think someone that is talented. “I hope when people think of me they think of someone who basically was humble and loved to entertain and put smiles on people’s faces,” she said. She shows no signs of slowing down but if and when she ever does, she knows how she wants to be remembered. “I’ve performed in almost every bar in Detroit as well as Flint, Lansing and Toledo.” “It’s just been a whirlwind,” Alexander said. Throughout the years Alexander would go on to win Miss Gay Detroit, Miss Other Side, Miss Gigi’s Classic, Miss Motown Invitational Classic and Royal Queen Mum from the Royal Court of Michigan. Everything else that came after was an extra feather in the cap – or an extra rhinestone in the crown.” “Once I was a part of that group that meant that I was the cat’s meow. “The moment I figured that I’d made it as an entertainer was when I won Miss Gigi’s,” said Alexander. And after that, she would win another title that many consider the epitome of success in the Detroit drag scene: Miss Gigi’s. Just a few short years later she won her first major title: Miss Gold Coast. So, with a title under her belt, Alexander’s career took off – and she didn’t remain an amateur for long. But then I placed second runner up for Miss Amateur Todd’s.” I’d spent too many years and too much money on it. “I had made a decision that if I didn’t place or win the title I was giving up. “It was 1982 at a bar named Todd’s,” Alexander continued.
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“Back then if you weren’t in a clique or you didn’t have a title you couldn’t get any shows.”īut after five years in the game, Alexander grew tired and questioned her calling. “Eunice went around from ’77 to ’82 running from bar to bar trying to get a title,” she said. So me and my friend, we started developing Eunice.”Īlexander’s beginnings in drag were humble. They had a drag show going on … and I said, ‘I can do that.’ I wanted to be a part of the theater and so forth. “I was with a group of friends and we were actually barhopping. They will recount their histories in the Detroit LGBT community and recall the early days of their careers.įor Eunice Alexander, her story began over 40 years ago. For this installment of the Our History in the D panel, the title is “Episode 2: The Queens.” The panel will include veteran drag queens including Eunice Alexander, Fantaysa Dior, Renee Peters, Nicki Stevens and Lady “T” Tempest.
#GOLD COAST GAY BAR DETROIT SERIES#
The Menjos Entertainment Complex and specifically the Olympus Theater are hosting their second of a three-part series of panel discussions on the stories of gay life and gay bars in Detroit. Menjos Entertainment Complex Hosts History of Detroit Drag Queens Panel