Drag queen Aqua Flora walks across the Oregon House of Representatives chamber holding a pride flag in honor of Pride month. (Mia Maldonado / Oregon Capital Chronicle)

Bill sponsors brought up House Resolution 3 during Pride month, ahead of Juneteenth

 

Using the name Kimber K. Shade, Henry Felton’s first drag performance was in 2010 at a Portland nightclub imitating Beyoncé in her featured hit “Telephone” with Lady Gaga, portrayed by fellow drag queen Kimberly Westwood.

The performance went viral overnight, with Felton waking up to more than 100,000 views of the video posted to Youtube.

“At the time we were just gay boys,” Felton told the Oregon Capital Chronicle. “But after this performance, we were the drag queens on everyone’s lips.”

Oregon’s drag community has a lot more visibility now, especially among the Black community, Felton said. He hopes to keep the memory alive of the Black drag performers in Oregon who came before him through House Resolution 3, which honors Oregon’s history of Black drag and provides a four-page list of the Black drag performers who since 1958 have shaped the community today.

It was the first piece of legislation the House took up on Wednesday, the eve of Juneteenth, and lawmakers adopted it in a 34-9 vote.

“When we think about Black histories and the inaccuracies of it, or the lack of history or erasure, this is a moment in history where we’re actually pinning and writing down Black artists into time,” Felton said.

Resolution honoring state’s Black drag history passes Oregon House

Before a vote on the resolution, the House floor session began with an opening performance by two drag performers, Aqua Flora and Isaiah Esquire, lip syncing to Beyonce’s “I Was Here,” and  Aretha Franklin’s “A Deeper Love.”

Reps. Travis Nelson and Shannon Isadore, both from Portland and the only Black Democrats in the House, sponsored the bill. They intentionally timed its passage during Pride month and ahead of Juneteenth.

“Even though Black folks aren’t a huge part of Oregon’s community or even the gay community, we’ve been very influential in the drag scene,” Nelson told the Capital Chronicle.

He said the resolution is inspired by all the Black drag performers who have gotten Oregon to the level of LGBTQ+ acceptance it has today.

And Nelson and other supporters reflected on the state’s difficult history of discrimination against both Black and LGBTQ+ Oregonians. Oregon’s original constitution banned Black people from living within its borders, and by 2024, Black people made up only 2.4% of the state’s population.

And while Oregon has championed LGBTQ+ rights, becoming the state with the most LGBTQ+ people in 2021, voters passed a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in 2004. Advocacy groups including Basic Rights Oregon are working to send a constitutional amendment to repeal that measure and add more protections for LGBTQ+ and reproductive rights to the ballot in 2026.

Most Republicans skipped the opening performance and vote. That includes Rep Dwayne Yunker, R-Grants Pass, who expressed his frustration about the resolution on social media.

“I’m not sure the Founding Fathers envisioned taxpayer-funded legislative chambers being turned into platforms for political theater,” he said on X, formerly known as Twitter. “The House floor is meant for serious debate, lawmaking, and serving all Oregonians, not partisan spectacles designed to push cultural agendas.”

All Democrats present voted in favor of the bill. Six lawmakers were excused, and 11 were excused for House business.

One Republican, Rep. Cyrus Javadi, R-Tillamook, voted and spoke in favor of the bill.

“While we may not all share the same beliefs or backgrounds, we share this place, this country, this constitution and I support the spirit of this resolution because it affirms that no matter who you are or what you believe, you matter and you’re welcome here,” he said on the House floor.