My friend Amy went before me in line to meet Bette but I clearly caught her eye. She whispered to my friend “Is she transgendered or just a good old-fashioned drag queen?” which tickled my friend who answered “Just good old-fashioned!” I was thrilled to find this out after I met Miss M. because it goes to show her level of caring and understanding and compassion. She was sensitive to the issue. The picture happened first, where she was mugging and resting her head on my bust (something I assume she would not have done to a transgendered person) and this was greeted by applause from the other people in the line for the meet-and-greet. We held hands as I told her that I’ve been working full-time as a singing drag entertainer for the last ten years since I graduated AMDA where I first met her at her Peggy Lee Songbook signing at Tower Records. She was flabbergasted when I told her I still live in Kansas City (not an uncommon reaction) and was impressed when I told her my dragapella® quartet was headed to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this year. I then told her that my group, The Kinsey Sicks, formed after they went to her concert in 1993 dressed as the Andrews Sisters. This made her laugh -and it was genuine amusement- and she said we should have been in the new “Pitch Perfect“. I told her she has to see it because Katey Segal has a part in the sequel and I think she’d overall enjoy it. I thanked her again for a great show, for her inspiration, and most importantly for her incredibly artistry. She called me one of her starlets.
