September 22, 1992

By Michael Musto

	That hot day in the park: Wigstock, where "You'd better work, bitch" has become the catchphrase photo: Sylvia Plachy

At Boy Bar’s Thursday night transie-thon, drag Ziegfeld Matthew Kasten urged us to call the mayor’s office and complain about the new ordinance shortening Wigstock – the Labor Day dragfest – from eight hours to four hours. The next day, they all apparently did, unleashing an avalanche of anger unseen since the Kris Kross buffet turned out to be pretzels. “The decision is inflexible, “ a city rep told the event’s organizer, Lady Bunny, in the midst of this protest. Some zillion calls later – including a teeny one involving a lawsuit – and the same person rang Bunny to slither, “We have worked things out in your favor.” And once again the drag queens outsmarted the mayor.
Wigstock – where “You’d better work, bitch” has become the catchphrase of the downtrodden – was so gorgeous in all its required length that they should add a book to the school curriculum called MyMommy Is My Daddy. The fest brought a diverse crowd to Tompkins Square Park, including the guy who plays Young Indiana Jones and his girlfriend, who confessed (when probed) that her man has a sizeable tool. The peace and love atmosphere encouraged one to say such things about love and piece. Bunny MCed with her usual sass, announcing things like, “The fabulous – move it! – Wigstock Dancers.” And the other acts are still spinning through my head like eye-shadowed apparitions: Tabboo! Doing a grung-rock-vs.-Wigstock rap which compared Mudhoney with Lady Bunny, and Nirvana with Anna Conda; Endive turning “Pretty Woman” into “Big Fat Drag Queen”; the purposely atonal and abeautiful DeeAundra Peek massacring “Losing My Religion” as Daisy Chain wanly twirled a baton behind her; topless Codie Ravioli warbling “I am Woman” while unzipping her pants to show either an operation or a tucked penis (only her hairdresser knows for sure). And so on, until your hair raise itself into an involuntary bouffant.
The Boy Bar beauties elaborate production number climaxed with Anna Conda, Sweetie, and Faux Pas as a riotous Wilson Phillips who’d clearly been in the sun too long. But the shiniest moments of all were the political ones, like Liz Holtzman’s rallying speech and the urgings to visit the registration booths set up around the park as part of “Drag the Vote” campaign (slogan: “Beauty with a purpose”). Borough Prez Ruth Messinger lauded Bunny’s creative costume, which she said “shows her commitment to recycling,” upon which Bunny grabbed the mike away from her to yell, “Security!” And when it all ended, a wig attached to a mass of balloons was fancifully set free into the sky. I hope it lands right on Patrick Buchanan’s head.