LOCATION
GLBT Historical Society Museum, 4127 18th St., San Francisco, CA 94114
ADMISSION
$5.00 | Free for members
RSVP and purchase tickets here
In WHO DOES THAT BITCH THINK SHE IS: Doris Fish and the Rise of Drag, author Craig Seligman dives into the short but abundant life of Doris Fish (born Philip Mills in 1952). There were effectively three Dorises—the quiet visual artist, the glorious drag queen, and the hunky male sex worker who supported the other two. He started performing in Sydney in 1972 as a member of Sylvia and the Synthetics, a psycho troupe that represented the first anarchic flowering of queer creative energy in the post-Stonewall era. After moving to San Francisco in the mid-’70s, he became the driving force behind years of sidesplitting drag shows that were loved as much as you can love throwaway trash—which is what everybody thought they were. No one, Doris included, perceived them as political theater, when in fact they were accomplishing satire’s deepest dream: not just to rail against society, but to change it. Seligman recounts a dynamic period in queer history — from Stonewall to AIDS — giving insight into how our ideas about gender have broadened to make drag the phenomenon we know it as today.
In conversation with Ms. Bob Davis, founder and director of the Louise Lawrence Transgender Archive and curator of the GLBT Historical Society’s Doris Fish: Ego as Artform exhibition, Seligman will discuss the life of this outrageous performer and artist and how we can reflect on Doris Fish’s legacy as a guide and inspiration in the fight against current conservative backlash against drag.
SPEAKERS
Craig Seligman (he/him/his) has written for and edited at a host of magazines, journals, newspapers, and websites. He is the author of Sontag and Kael: Opposites Attract Me (2004). He lives in Brooklyn.
Ms. Bob Davis (she/her/hers) is the founder and director of the Louise Lawrence Transgender Archive. In the 1990s she served two terms on the GLBT Historical Society Board of Directors.
Location
GLBT Historical Society Museum, 4127 18th St., San Francisco, CA 94114
Admission
Admission is free for members and $5 for non-members. This event will likely sell out, so guests are encouraged to reserve their tickets early. Tickets are available here.
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Photo Caption: Who Does That Bitch Think She Is?: Doris Fish and the Rise of Drag cover art, courtesy of PublicAffairs, 2023