Debra Kate

so, i made it across the u.s. / canadian border again without having a “men with guns” induced anxiety attack. coming back into the states, everyone has to get off and be interviewed, so i felt more at ease. at least i wasn’t the only one. here is the abbreviated version of my interview with the border police (for those of you who speak german, dry cleaning = reinigungs):

him: what was the purpose of your trip?
me: i attended a conference.
him: what kind of conference?
me: the international drag king extravaganza.
him: a dry cleaning conference?
me: drag king. an international drag king conference.
him: international dry cleaning?
me: drag king.
him: drag cleaning?
me: drag kings. biological females performing as men.
him: so, they are biological females performing as men?
me: yes. there are also biological males performing as men in that same style. they are called bio kings, but perhaps that’s too complicated…
him: no, that’s cool (i.e. not a problem). i’m just trying to find out what kind of conference you attended. i’ll just write down “conference”.

i was pretty wiped out on sunday. we had agreed to make an announcement about carlos at the end of the event, so that the news of the attack wouldn’t overshadow the brunch and the show. i had been looking forward to socializing and trading contact info, but i just couldn’t make chit chat under the circumstances.

i have to admit, i was feeling pretty grim. i was even having trouble enjoying the show, which is unusual for me. luckily, my black clouds were blown away when a stronger force took the stage - a miracle of nature called miasia. i’m at a loss for words, except to say that she shook the bad mood right outta me and opened the door for me to enjoy the rest of the show. oh yeah, and she has a sword!

other high points that come to mind at the moment:
-katz’s super duper mixed media poetry explosion (i am so crushing on him!).
-matt & brian rapping it up, “FTM is what I am! HRT, my reality…”
-the momma’s boyz bringing down the house!

what i won’t be laughing about is what happened when i left the building after the after-party. some guy came up from behind carlos las vegas and punched him full force in the side of the head. i SAW that punch, and i can tell you that carlos is lucky to be alive. chase and i spent the night in the hospital with him.

WE NEED WITNESSES!!!

if you got a look at the attacker or any of his friends when you were leaving the party, or if you were present after the attack, and witnessed anything else, such as Carlos’ physical state, and how the police conducted their initial investigation.

PLEASE CONTACT US NOW!

Carlos Las Vegas: carlos_lasvegas@yahoo.com
Debra Kate: info@debrakate.com

i also want to remind you of something very important. NEVER leave an injured trans person alone. by that i mean, there should be two people there at all times, so that one can stay by the injured person’s side while the other deals with stuff like talking to hospital personel, going to the bathroom, making phone calls, etc..

here’s where the weekend goes haywire. a bunch of us got stuck in an elevator in between the 30th & 31st floor on our way up to a revolving restaurant for the after-show party. stuff like that doesn’t bother me at all, but i guess most people aren’t that calm when they’re suspended high above the ground, crammed into a box like sardines and the heat is rising.

i wasn’t worried about plummeting to my death, but i was worried about people panicking. some of my companions were starting to tweak out, yelling, pounding on the walls and calling on the phone repeatedly making demands. the last thing you need in a situation like that is one person losing their shit or puking, because it can start a chain reaction. after about 20 minutes, i just opening my mouth and started singing “simple song”. i wrote that song years ago, and it’s been my experience that when a child is crying, if i sing that song, it will stop. works like a charm in elevators too. about five minutes later we were set free to continue with our partying. we’ll laugh about this later.

I LOVE DRAG! and i look forward to the IDKE Showcase every year. saturday night was no exception, and as expected my world was rocked. more later.

i’m usually both jet lagged and wound up at IDKE, and saturday was no exception. i stumbled around during lunch trying to talk to as many people as possible, but not really able to say much coherently.

at some point i ended up at the table where the momma’s boyz were selling their styling briefs. now, you KNOW i had to get me some of those! i’m a pretty hard fit, so i had to try on a few pairs to find the right size. if anyone has pictures of my foray into the sexy lifestyle of cafeteria underwear modeling, please forward them to me!

the showcase (the big saturday night show) was a sit down event this year. that was pretty weird for me, because i love to stand right up front, screaming my lungs out and waving my arms around like a maniac. yes, i am a fan! at least i had a media pass, so i was running around in the pit in front of the stage snapping shots. it still wasn’t the same though, because i was kind of ducking down, so that i wouldn’t block the view of the folks in the front row.

most importantly, the show was great.

i’m exhausted.  it’s 3:15 am and i just woke up after passing out in my compression shirt thingy.  i’m still wearing my too-tight jeans, belt & facial hair too.  this part of performing always kicks my ass. 

my alter ego, Ray Camaro made an appearance tonight at Dragdom, the IDKE open stage show.  i sang one of my own songs a cappella and did a little intro story.  singing my guts out is one of my favorite things in the whole world. 

the "Boys’ Best Buddy" photos got a great response at the art show.  everyone who looked at them would immediately point to one and say, "that’s my favorite" and then explain why.  each of the guys has their own fan base. it’s very boy group!

CHECK OUT THE BOYS

Boys’ Best Buddy: www.debrakate.com/gallery/categories.php?cat_id=20

el roc (pussycoxx): www.pussycoxx.com

Kris Ko (Kingz of Berlin): www.kingzofberlin.de

Océan: www.oceanleroy.biz

Rochus Obscurus: sorry, no website, but check out his BBB photo, ‘cos he’s fine!

those of you who know me, know that i am freaked out by border police and customs officials and all of the freaky ass vibes that get shot at you by various weapon wielding officials when you’re crossing international lines. so, of course, when three people got pulled off of the bus to get interrogated, one of them was me. i guess i looked like i was smuggling firearms or perhaps livestock.

as luck would have it, the woman who was getting questioned next to me at the same time was also going to IDKE. the border police lady asked her: so what’s a drag king? is that the opposite of a drag queen? i started laughing, which the officer did not find amusing. i said: i’m sorry, i was already asked that question by someone on the bus.

now we are waiting for them to finish with an 18 year old kid, who looked like he was about to die from fright. it’s taking a very long time. they are probably making him squirm like a half squished bug that’s still trying to crawl with it’s guts trailing behind it

now, i know a lot of you are going to think i’m nuts, but I LOVE RIDING THE BUS! i’m into bouncing down the open road with a bunch of strangers, and i hate doing the driving myself (Jonathan Richmond wrote a song about riding the bus. He loves it too).

the lady across the aisle from me asked me why i was going to winnipeg, so, i told her. she thought that a drag conference might be something that would interest her granddaughter, because her granddaughter wears cat ears. i gave her my card and the IDKE web address.

i also showed her the “Boys’ Best Buddy” pics (she was especially impressed by rochus’ good looks), and the discussion turned to “gender identity & expression”. i’m pretty sure that the bus driver heard us, because we were sitting right up front, and i saw him stiffen in the reflection of the front window. when i first got on the bus, he was friendly (travel tip: bus drivers generally seem to like being called sir and ma’am), but after that, he was noticeably uncomfortable when i smiled at him at the rest stops and looked away from me with a cold expression. later on, i asked him some questions in a girly, i’m a bit clueless voice, and he warmed up again.

so, i’ve never had a blog before, but i figured this is a good occasion to try it out. i’m on the bus from anoka to winnipeg (i love laptops! ), heading up north for IDKE.7 (7th International Drag King Extravaganza).

this year, photos from a new series i’m working on called “Boys’ Best Buddy”, will be shown at the art exhibit. all i can say is: bois are hot! and i always feel lucky when i get a chance to snap some shots of all that beauty and then show it off to others.

in winnipeg, i’ll be showing photos of el roc (pussycoxx), kris ko (kingz of berlin), océan & rochus obscurus. the idea for this series came from ric köhler, who presented it to me as “possy meets purse”.

check out the boys and their buddies at:
www.debrakate.com/gallery/categories.php?cat_id=20