“If I’m elected mayor in the next 30 days from now, it’ll be because I have the heart of a drag queen,” mayoral candidate Bevan Dufty said. “‘Cause when you have the heart of a drag queen, you’re fearless.”
You also have to be to able to dance around in heels, but the queens gave Dufty a pass on that at Saturday night’s “Politics is a Drag!” fundraiser at Beatbox, 314 11th Street.
The former supervisor for District 8 (a sliver of the Mission, but mostly the Castro and Noe) is the only openly gay candidate for mayor. “Yes, he is openly gay,” said Donna Sachet, co-emcee for the second half of the show. “Honey, did you see him saunter in here? Please.”
Dufty is also ranked first so far in campaign fundraising in the Mission ($34,942) and second for cash raised overall.
It’s not clear whether that will add up to votes, but Saturday night’s crowd loved him.
“He has all of the drag queen votes,” said a volunteer outside. That may have been a bit of an overstatement, considering that there have been drag queen–related events supporting Supervisor John Avalos as well.
If it’s not the largest voting bloc in San Francisco, it is one of the most fun.
Just before 7 p.m., a man who introduced himself as a St. Aidan’s pastor offered to buy me a drink on the church tab.
“Joking!” he said.
We watched as Dufty mingled with a dozen drag queens and watched others perform.
With a tap on his shoulder, he’d turn around and grin excitedly. He seemed to be on a first-name basis with everyone, and most were greeted with a big hug.
Sachet was amazed by the willingness of her fellow performers to take the gig for free.
“Oh, she doesn’t do anything for free. This is big!” said Sachet, referring to Monistat. The next moment, the sassy performer, dressed in a thigh-high slitted chiffon gown, had the full attention of the party as she sang Florence and the Machine’s “Dog Days Are Over.”
“We just wanted to do something fun,” said Jess Montejano, a field operator for the Dufty campaign.
But just being gay isn’t enough. “You’ve got to have the chops,” Sachet said.
Dufty has worked in civil service for more than 20 years and, as Sachet noted, worked in the office of Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman elected to represent New York’s 12th Congressional District.
Dufty said he learned the stuff of good mayors while serving five years — reading complaints — in Mayor Willie Brown’s Office of Neighborhood Services.
Among the things he wants to do as mayor, Dufty has mentioned giving some Muni buses more rock-n-roll lighting, and providing Muni drivers and other city employees with life coaching to keep them happy and showing up. According to the SFMTA, in fiscal year 2011 Muni drivers failed to show up for work 13 percent of the time.
All of the drag queens showed up for their job last night. “It’s like the U.N. of drag,” said Sister Roma. “Who knew we could all get along?”
Dufty stood near the stage, offering each queen a hand as she made her way up the stairs.
“If you should fall short of your desires, remember, life holds for you one guarantee: You’ll always have me,” Cookie Dough sang to Dufty as she placed his hand on her bosom, holding him close.
Others grabbed him for a dance. He held his own — no small feat with the likes of Heklina, Serenity Heart and Ethel Merman in the house.
“Bevan, you might want to change now. Your number’s coming up,” Sachet teased Dufty.
But first, Baby Love, a Los Angeles drag queen, performed a song about self-acceptance and loving everyone.
“My vagina is eight miles wide. Absolutely everyone can come inside,” Baby Love sang.
Oh, my!
Fortunately, Dufty’s daughter, Sidney Maely Goldfader Dufty, wasn’t there for that song.
“She’s enjoying her fame right now in the commercial,” said Sachet — referring to Dufty’s recent campaign ad, which features his daughter and has received a lot of attention — so she couldn’t be at the event. It’s a good thing, since “Sidney’s nightmare is being stuck in a room with a bunch of drag queens.… Drag queens terrify her!” Sachet said as Dufty slapped his leg, laughing.
“She’ll get over it!” shouted a woman from the audience.
Apparently Sidney has already gotten over the naked men hanging out at 17th Street Plaza, Dufty said in an interview on KALW.
Next was a performance by Lindsay Slowhands.
“So pretty. So young. So thin,” Heklina said, showing off her best cattiness. This little “tranny upstart” is nipping at our heels, she told Sister Roma, another emcee for the evening.
Dufty finally took the stage. The number one endorsements by each of these queens, he told the crowd, was more important than an endorsement from any political organization.
“Let’s make Michele Bachmann’s husband, Marcus, very nervous, OK?” he said, referring to Mr. Bachmann’s clinic, which offers “reparative therapy” that he claims can make homosexuals straight.
“Let’s do the things that we can only do in San Francisco,” Dufty continued.
The crowd cheered and laughed, embraced and kissed.