On the first Saturday of each month legendary queen Juanita MORE! and drag matriarch Glamamore throw a party called “Powerblouse” in which they invite one (un)lucky person to the tiny stage of Powerhouse – San Francisco’s premiere leather and cruise bar for a full-fantasy drag makeover. Next up? Saturday January 4. Doors open at 10 pm.
The requirements are that the newbie has never done drag publicly or, as Juanita likes to explain, “Someone who never wants to drag again because I don’t have time to help them do it.”
Juanita and Glamamore are joined by Juanita’s Granbaby Voodonna Black and together they use all of their sacred drag queen powers to tuck, tape, shape, glue, and staple this unwitting, unlikely drag person together.
When the vision is complete they push them onto the stage for their first-ever live lip-sync performance. It has become a right of passage for many San Franciscans running for political office to get up in drag before an election. The magic mascara wand only yields so much power and the baby queen is truly left to “do or die” onstage.
This monthly event benefits the Q Foundation / AIDS Housing Alliance, an organization that promotes a world where all people have a safe, decent and affordable housing. The group works to prevent homelessness for people with HIV/AIDS by protecting the housing they already have, providing resources to secure new housing, and by promoting public policy to expand opportunity for all.
The San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development awarded $1 million this year to the Q Foundation for rental subsidies for people living with HIV.
Here’s a sampling of the fabulous baby queens from previous Powerblouse events who enjoyed one bright moment, never to be heard from again:
Miss Saiquan Bhan She
Uhleashya Britches
Tywan Banks
Padma Hips
Klaudia Wayup
Miss Cissy S’More
Ima Supastarr
Images by Shot In The City Photography, Mr. Joe Montana & Fred Rowe Foto
