If you were thinking that the Obama administration is going to be a big change from the Bush administration, think again. The justice department announced last week that the Obama administration would stand behind the Bush policy of rendition, a practice in which agents seize terrorism suspects and take them to other countries without extradition proceedings, where they are often tortured. Obama has also embraced the Bush argument that any lawsuits against rendition should be shut down based on the “state secrets” doctrine. Change? Transparency? Not so much.

RuPaul and the Iris, RuPaul.  I can totally see it.

Did you know that RuPaul has a flower named after him? Oh, yes. It's the Tall-Bearded Iris, RuPaul.

If you were thinking Madonna was having a bad year, think again. Billboard has released its Top-Money-Maker list and Madonna was top dog for 2008. She made up for her less than stellar record sales by hitting the road with yet another successful tour. Madonna’s Sticky & Sweet tour took in an astounding $229,886,340 at the box office! Face it. The girl gives good show!

A little video Mash-Up Madness for Friday!

As a part of the celebration of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, I would like to honor President Lincoln’s gay lover, Joshua Speed. No one really likes to talk about him. But he did share Abraham’s bed for four years. At the very least, he deserves an honorable mention.

This amazing video of a Fireman coming to the rescue of a koala bear during the recent Australian bush fires really tugs at my heartstrings.  The koala was taken to the Mountain Ash Wildlife Shelter for treatment of second and third degree burns to its paws. The manager of the shelter said the koala was expected to make a full recovery.

I filmed this interview about New York City with RuPaul in November of 2007. During the interview we discussed the sad state of NYC nightlife and Ru predicted that if and when the economy went south, the turndown would start luring the “edgy” people back to the city and the club scene would be revitalized. Fast-forward to a year and a half later, as if on cue, the economy has tanked. And I decided to hit the clubs this past weekend to give the theory a  little prelim test. All I can say is that Ru really knows how to read tealeaves. I haven’t had so much fun in years! It’s Tuesday, and I’m still trying to recover from the weekend! Get ready New Yorkers, it’s coming around again!

As my way of saying a fond farewell to Drag History Month, I give a final salute to the "girls" of the Golden Age of Drag. It's been an honor to know their stories.

I found this illustrated Club 82 menu from 1954 up for auction on Ebay. After spending some time over the last few weeks researching the legendary Club 82 Drag Revue for National Drag History Month, I couldn’t help myself. The asking price was a bit more than I wanted to pay, but it was just pure serendipity, and I knew I had to have it. The menu arrived today and as an extra bonus a picture postcard of the cast was included!

George Obama, Barack Obama’s half-brother, has been arrested for possession of marijuana, known in Kenya as Bhang, and for resisting arrest. George first made news months ago when photographs of him living in a shantytown made national headlines during the presidential election. There have also been previous reports commenting on George’s Rastafarian connections. George has denied the charges and is being held at the Huruma police post in the capital of Nairobi pending a court hearing scheduled for Monday. In a related bit of news, the British tabloid, News of the World, has published a photo of swimming sensation and Olympic star, Michael Phelps, smoking from a bong! The paper claims they were offered extraordinary incentives not to publish the photo. But it looks like they decided the bong would give them more bang for their buck (NewsoftheWorld via JoeMyGod).

Leigh Bowery was an incredibly talented performance artist whose skillful fusion of drag and fashion design became legendary. His influence reached through the fashion, club and art worlds to inspire, amongst others, Alexander McQueen, Vivienne Westwood, John Galliano, and Boy George. Leigh never seemed comfortable in his own skin and he used his fantastical designs as a type of shield for his insecurities. The effect of his creations were often mesmerizing as well as shocking to behold. His 1993 performance at Wigstock in which Leigh “gives birth” to a very large baby covered in placenta epitomized his desire to shock and amaze his audiences. Leigh Bowery died unexpectedly from an AIDS-related illness on New Year’s Eve 1994. He had kept his illness a secret and very few people knew he was sick. His death bed pronouncement was said to be "Tell them I've gone pig farming in Bolivia."

MAD will now only publish as a quarterly; it had proudly published as a monthly magazine since 1955 (via JoeMyGod).

Club 82 was a famous drag club in New York City during the 1950s and 1960s. The club was opened in 1953 and was operated by the mafia, as were most gay clubs during that time. It was illegal for men to impersonate women and all openly gay clubs were illegal in that era. Gay bars and clubs could operate only through a system of bribes and pay-offs to authorities, and the mafia filled that niche. Without the threat of constant police raids, Club 82 soon became quite popular and attracted both a straight and gay clientele. Several of the female impersonators that worked there held steady jobs at Club 82 for over a decade. Kitt Russell, who Walter Winchell named “America’s top femme mimic” in 1951, was the director of the "Club 82 Revue." The club quickly built a reputation as a desired hangout for celebrities who wanted a walk on the wild side. It was said that Errol Flynn had once whipped out his dick at the club and played the piano with it! Liz Taylor and Montgomery Clift were also frequent visitors. The club’s popularity ebbed with the dawn of Stonewall and the Gay Rights Movement as drag began to move out from the shadows and became viewed as less subversive. The club was transformed into a glam-rock bar in the 1970s, then later a disco. It was an illegal after-hours club in the '80s, and eventually housed the gay sex club/porn theater, The Bijou, in the '90s.

Flotilla DeBarge, the Empress of Large, has long been a popular figure within the New York City nightlife scene. She has been cast in several movies such as To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything! Julie Newmar, Marci X, and the miniseries version of Angels in America. Flotilla appeared on Broadway in The Threepenny Opera as well as performing an Off-Broadway one-woman show, The Flotilla DeBarge Minstrel Show.  DeBarge would garner considerable attention in 2005 when PETA featured Flotilla, as Star Jones, in an anti-fur Ad. Jones reportedly threatened to sue both PETA and Flotilla as a result of the ad. In 2006 DeBarge was arrested for assault with a high-heeled shoe during a bar fight in NYC. Though several witnesses said that Flotilla did not start the fight, it was clear that with the aid of her shoe, she finished it. Flotilla originally plead not guilty but later changed her plea to guilty and served time. Shortly after her release DeBarge would create a new solo show based on the experience, Flotilla DeBarge: Freshly Released -- Black, Blessed & Free. Of her time in jail DeBarge would later say, "It certainly wasn't OZ, honey. There was no Chris Meloni in sight."

A compilation of performances from Lady Bunny's annual NYC drag festival.

Kevin Aviance and Alan Cumming.

Andy Roddick has advanced to the semi-final round of The Australian Open with a win over the men’s third seed, Novak Djokovic. Roddick seems to have finally re-found the confidence in his serve and his play has improved as a result. This is the first time in two years that Andy has reached the semi-final round of a major Grand-Slam tournament. His match against Djokovic proved to be an especially brutal one. The temperature on court hovered around 100 degrees fahrenheit for the entire match. The court conditions and Roddick’s stream of heavy hitting were a powerful combination that proved to be too much for the Serbian to handle. Novak retired from the match after Roddick broke his serve early in the 4th set. Andy will now face Roger Federer or Juan Martin Del Potro in the semi-final.

I recently found this amazing clip of RuPaul's "Supermodel" tour appearance in Denver, performing "Back to My Roots" in 1993. The audio starts off and runs for about 25 seconds before the video kicks in, but it's well worth the wait. I remember a NYC club appearance at the Roxy that was very similiar to this. The crowd reaction was just as intense. I screamed myself hoarse!

The Pansy Craze, also known as the Anything Goes Era, was a period in the late 1920s and early 1930s in which performers known as "Pansy Performers" experienced a brief surge in popularity in speakeasy bars and clubs throughout the United States. It was in this environment that the legendary performer and female impersonator, Ray Bourbon, first flourished. Sadly, after the repeal of prohibition, public tolerance towards gay acts waned. But despite several arrests, Ray continued his act with bookings in hundreds of underground clubs across the country. During those times it was illegal for a man to perform as a female and Ray would face multiple arrests over his nearly 60-year career. Ray struggled to navigate the shifting terrain of social attitudes towards sexuality and transgender issues. He also recorded several popular bawdy albums for his UTC (Under the Counter) label during the 1950s that remained in print well into the 1970s. In 1956, Ray released a press statement claiming to have undergone gender reassignment surgery and began referring to himself as “Rae.” He would later claim the story about the surgery was just an elaborate hoax to stop the police harrassment of his stage act. His efforts were unsuccessful and ironically would even lead to a 1958 arrest in Miami for impersonating a man! By the 1960s Bourbon had fallen on hard times and would be arrested and convicted for the murder of AD Blount, a kennel keeper. Ray had lodged over 70 dogs with Blount, but when he was unable to pay for their upkeep Blount sold the dogs to a research facility. Ray reportedly hired two thugs to rough up Blount, but they panicked and ended up killing him. Ray was convicted as the mastermind of the plot and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. He died a short time later, in 1971. (Photo: Queer Music Heritage)