Washington Post features DC’s Drag Queens [video]
For 11 years, we were at a bar called Club 55 over in Southeast, and unfortunately, they lost their lease because the ballpark was coming in. And the building got torn down and we had to look for another home…. I honestly feel the ballpark was needed. The city needed a ballpark, and unfortunately, they chose the place where so many of our bars were. And I’m okay with that. But I’m not okay with them not helping these people relocate.
Carl Rizzi (a/k/a Mame Dennis) of The Academy speaking to the Washington Post. (Washington Post)
”There’s varying levels of resentment. But you have to keep in mind, displacement is a very old narrative for gays and drags in Washington. There was the old gay bar area along 9th street that fell to redevelopment, there were bars downtown near the bus stations that were closed, a number of historic African American clubs that allowed drag were closed due to the riots. It’s a fact of life that fuels some of their drama. As to why they didn’t take the potential for redevelopment into account, I think many see their lack of planning as a tragic mistake. Mame Dennis makes the point that it was such an undesirable area, they thought they were safe and just never came up with a Plan B.”
Washington Post Writer, Lonnae O’Neal Parker, answering questions during a live online discussion (Washington Post)
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