Drag queens may bend gender, but they have broken this traveler's understanding of ecosystems, achieving a feat unduplicated anywhere else in nature.
Neither during my summers in the Galapagos Islands nor my expeditions to the Great Barrier Reef have I observed a population that is so rare and simultaneously abundant, so small yet powerful, as the Drag Genus is in the Queer Kingdom.
These colorful creatures compose the tiniest fraction of the Queer Kingdom – or, to use the vernacular phrase, the LGBT community – and yet their presence dominates. They rule the kingdom's nightlife. They once monopolized media images of herding rituals known as Pride parades. They are the stereotype, with a good many of those outside the Queer Kingdom mistakenly thinking that all within the LGBT community are drag queens.
A road trip to Florida over the Memorial Day holiday weekend has become an annual tradition for LGBT people in the South. The coastal oil spill scare of 2010 seems to be long forgotten as visitors continue to make the trek and pack the beaches and bars.
The tradition of gays gathering in Pensacola for the holiday used to be male-oriented, but women’s parties have become so prevalent, they actually compete against each other over the jam-packed weekend.
Owners of the Atlanta-based lesbian bar My Sister’s Room are involved in one of the premiere Pensacola parties, Sexacola Beach 2012. Now in its third year, Sexacola hosts its events at Capt’n Fun Beach Club in Pensacola, which Jennifer Maguire, owner of My Sister’s Room, calls a terrific location.