| Table of Contents |  Queen,
cont'd,
After experiencing shows in larger cities as well as competing in the drag pageant circuit, the cutthroat atmosphere became tiresome. Brooks decided to limit her involvement at the pageant level by using her experience in the industry to act as a judge at some of the local pageants. She describes pageant competition as a large part of the drag scene in bigger cities, and the events are similar to beauty pageants. The pageant system can range from smaller contests, like the "Miss Wolf's Den Pageant" in Eau Claire, to progressively bigger shows like "Miss Gay Midwest Wisconsin" and "Miss Gay USA." Brooks describes pageant competition as "vicious." "You wouldn't believe what they do to each other (to win)," she says. For Haverberg, however, the competitive environment existed to a certain extent even in Eau Claire. After being accused of winning two pageants because he knew the judges, Haverberg realized that things were getting too serious. "You tend to get labeled as a part of the drag queen group," he says. "They're all really good people, but some of the things they do I don't agree with. They're kind of bitter." Haverberg says that some participants would go too far by going out for the evening after a drag show as women, trying to pick up men. "There are some queens in town, especially more in the past, who would go down to Water Street and try to pick up guys. Sometimes they would tell them (that they were men) and sometimes they wouldn't," he says. Haverberg admits that he would go to Perkins, 2025 Highland Avenue, after a show and men would hit on him, it was amusing but not a situation where he would lie about being a woman. "I could never do that," he says. "I think it's tacky. I'm not into that kind of stuff." While Brooks thrives on her drag identity, the idea of drag as an encroaching lifestyle is a more personal factor behind Haverberg's decision to stop doing the shows. "When I started realizing that people on the street would call me by my drag name, that kind of upset me," he says. "I didn't want people just to know me as Mira Dahl, the drag queen. I wanted them to know me as Rex, the boy, the person." But for many involved in the evening's show at Scooters, the concept of drag identity becomes very important. After complimenting one of the participants in the show using her non-drag name, a patron at the bar receives an unexpectedly negative response from the red-haired drag queen. "It's not Doug, it's De Lovely," she snarls impatiently. For the most part, however, the crowd and the participants are having
a mutually enjoyable evening at the show. Brooks introduces Frau, who struts
around the stage in a gold evening gown to Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive,"
and the crowd is dancing enthusiastically. Next is Diva, who artfully lip-synchs
to Juice Newton's "Upside Down", and whose suggestive tongue-waggling earns
her a fistful of dollars from the audience.
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