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Drag is an art form that spins a web around everything it touches, from music, fashion and film to comedy, theater and video games. It is unapologetically queer in a way that inspires audiences no matter who or what they love. It pulls a little of everything and makes something new, something that celebrates the world around it while holding up a fun house mirror to society. Don\u2019t be the fool who thinks all that serving is just for laughs, babe. <\/p>\n
In 2025, Willamette Week\u2019s inaugural Portland\u2019s Finest Drag Artists Issue recognized the city\u2019s premier drag practitioners in the same insiders\u2019 poll style of our annual Funniest Five comedy and Best New Bands music issues. (Department of Shameless Self-Promotion: The issue won second prize in the Association of Alternative Newsmedia\u2019s LGBTQ+ Coverage category.) And we have once again asked Portland\u2019s drag performers, promoters, bookers, venue owners and members of the press\u2014nearly 100 people, all told\u2014to educate our readers on the city\u2019s top five drag artists of the moment.<\/p>\n
Surveying the city\u2019s pageants, revues, brunches and more, we\u2019ve learned that Portland\u2019s drag artists are not only influenced by the city; the city, in fact, is influenced by them. The late great Darcelle XV is now namesake to two landmarks: the Old Town nightclub and a goddamn public plaza downtown. Her proteg\u00e9e, Poison Waters, rules Darcelle XV Showplace in her stead as part of Portland\u2019s unofficial welcome committee and stars regularly in Oregon Ballet Theatre\u2019s annual Nutcracker production.<\/p>\n
Our finest drag artists balance irreverence onstage with thoughtfulness offstage\u2014though some never really leave the stage, and opted to conduct their interviews under their nom de drag. They\u2019re often activists on top of performers, using lipsyncs to speak up for some of society\u2019s most vulnerable. Are they this way because of their time in Portland\u2019s scene, or is Portland\u2019s broader culture this way because of people like them?<\/p>\n
Only one of this year\u2019s winners performed in drag before the pandemic, but they\u2019ve all quickly impressed their peers. Jay Colby<\/a> is a member of the storied House of Colby, and is making a name for herself as this year\u2019s Portland\u2019s Finest Drag Artist. Quesa D\u2019Mondays<\/a> won Miss Gay Portland this Pride season, and is winning fans on Instagram with her drag comedy videos. Seven<\/a> is a punk rock villainess practically ripped from a video game. Harlow Quinzel<\/a> started off as a burlesque personality and now advances the cause of \u201cfemale female impersonators\u201d everywhere. Last but certainly not least, Khadijah Diamond<\/a> blends classic Southern grace with trademark Portland weirdness.<\/p>\n Portland loves drag, but even after almost 20 years of drag on TV, newbies might not know where to start with the local scene. This year\u2019s crew offers an excellent introduction to Portland\u2019s drag world. Our finest drag artists came here for different reasons, but well exemplify Portland\u2019s welcoming spirit and DIY ethos. Long may they reign. \u2014Andrew Jankowski, guest editor<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Willamette Week\u2019s Monthly Donor Drive is on! When you support WW, you help keep Portland’s leaders accountable. Reporting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":314136,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-314135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=314135"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314135\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/314136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=314135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=314135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=314135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}