Women dressed as men, men dressed as women, women dressed as different women, men in masks and trans and straights and gay and who knows who’s who, and who cares? It really doesn’t matter; it’s the Drag March — one of the most joyful events of Pride Month (or, for that matter, of the year).
An explosion of creativity, self-expression, joy, and pride, the Drag March, held this year on June 26, has “gotten much bigger exponentially” since its inception, notes Hucklefaery, the event’s organizer since 1998. He went to his first March in 1997, a few years after Gilbert Baker — the creator of the rainbow flag — founded the event.
Although its name has a fairly specific definition, the Drag March has come to include many forms of individualization and, let’s be honest, a fair amount of showing off. Not that there’s anything wrong with that! It just adds to the fabulousness.
The expansiveness of the March works for Hucklefaery, who opines that, “the more inclusive we can be, the better. I feel like the circle is strengthened by diversity, as all ecosystems are, which we know from science. So I think the more diverse and inclusive we can become without losing our queer roots is important.”
Participants gather every year at the northwest corner of Tompkins Square Park an hour before the march’s start, giving the plethora of photographers a scant 60 minutes to capture what they can before the group steps off on their way across town to the Stonewall National Monument.
Hucklefaery is quick to mention the tremendous efforts of the “volunteers who show up every year. We had over 40 marshals, and it just takes a village to make this happen for sure. Well, two villages – East and West!”
“We’ve also aspired to make it more accessible by offering wheelchairs, ASL interpretation, and we also include pedicabs for our elders,” Hucklefaery adds.
How does Hucklefaery feel, we wondered, as he led almost a thousand people across town?
“I feel very proud to be a part of the community,” he said. “I feel honored to be trusted with the circle of the Drag March for almost 30 years now. I have aspired to remove my ego from the situation and really focus on serving the circle, the larger circle of the Drag March. So once we get to that and I look back and I see all those people, I am filled with pride – not for anything that I particularly did, but pride for my community.”
