The Performers that Make Perry’s Drag Brunch

THIS STORY HAS BEEN EDITED TO REMOVE LAST NAMES TO PROTECT THE PRIVACY OF THE SOURCES INVOLVED. THIS STORY WAS NOT OFFICIALLY PUBLISHED ANYWHERE. 

It was 10 a.m. on a Sunday when India walked into Perry’s Restaurant in Adams Morgan with a lipstick-stained mic, shiny dress, and a large brown-blonde wig to introduce the rules for their weekly drag show.

“Rule number one: enjoy yourself,” said India, one of the drag performers. “Two: Please, please, please share your love, share your good energy, share your light because I will definitely share mine with each and every one of you.”

Settled at the edge of Adams Morgan, Perry’s operates as a Japanese restaurant every other day of the week. But for Sunday brunches, it’s a drag show. The two shows each Sunday, one at 10 a.m. and one at 1 p.m., features 3 drag queens employed by Perry’s, called Perry’s Ladies, and one guest queen. Running for 34 years, Perry’s Drag Brunch started as a response to local riots in the Mount Pleasant area. It aimed to bring people back downtown to Adams Morgan - and it ended up doing just that.

“Even when I started the show, it used to be first come, first serve,” said Devin, the manager at Perry’s for the past 26 years. “People stood in line around the block.”

Perry’s went through many reiterations, from other restaurants to clubs, but Devin said it was always known for its large gay following.

“People have a great time,” said Devin. “It’s full of heart. It’s full of love.”

Drag is an art form in which performers don exaggerated apparel to critique gender expression, as defined by Human Rights Campaign. Drag performances go back a very long time in US history, whether they were called drag explicitly or not. Professor Robert, an instructor in English at the George Washington University, said that sexologists started to examine sexual desire through cases of men passing as women living in a heterosexual lifestyle, which caused major scandals around the 19th century.

“They often turned to the metaphor of a woman trapped in a man’s body, or a man trapped in a woman’s body,” said the professor. “That’s certainly archaic at this point, but it was for a while, a way of explaining homosexuality in general.”

Events like the Harlem Renaissance, added Robert, introduced balls which would feature transgender performers. As time progressed on, riots like Stonewall and other major events like the AIDS epidemic brought issues of LGBTQ individuals to the forefront of people’s minds.

“The 1980s is basically a lot of people who previously thought they were kind of assimilating into society [who] recognized that education, media, medicine, the economy, was actually perfectly willing to exclude and stigmatize them, and sit around and watch them die.” said Robert.

Because LGBTQ+ individuals were being pushed to the edges of society, they banded together to create and find community together. But Devin added that at Perry’s, the doors are open to all.

“We have people that just want to have a good time and be entertained. I don’t think that it’s limited to that,” said Devin. “Watching artists, that’s how I look at it.”

The ladies of Perry’s express the same sentiment towards their audience. India has worked at Perry’s for twelve years. Growing up surrounded by theater and art, she found that drag provided the perfect mix of the two.

“I feel like it gives me the opportunity to share love with a whole bunch of people that I would never normally come in contact with,” said Houston. “Through this art form of drag, it brings us together.”

India is known for hosting each Sunday, being the first and the last queen that the audience hears from. Every Sunday, she pulls anyone from the audience that is celebrating something. Once they are selected, they line up at the front of the room and take turns telling India what they’re celebrating. India then provides advice or congratulates that person on their accomplishments, and gives them what she calls their time to shine.

“Life was created, a person was put on this Earth to be whatever they’re going to be, whether that be the president, Goddess, beautiful, transgender, entertainer. God put you here for that reason,” said India. “And why not enjoy and celebrate this?”

Monet, a former Miss Perry’s with over 30 years of experience in drag, absolutely agrees. While she doesn’t speak with the audience, she portrays her positivity through her performance.

“My whole goal, doing what I do, is just to put smiles on people’s faces,” said Monet. “You never know what someone is going through that day.”

The performers also said that they not only wanted to bring positivity, but also a glamour to their performance. Monet and India both say they practice old school drag, which they describe as a 70’s and 80’s form of drag which forces the performer to interpret the music they perform rather than having it decided for them.

Drag has seen a more modern shift and moved more into the mainstream, thanks to shows like RuPaul’s Drag Race and popular drag influencers like Katya. And while Monet and India might reject modern forms of drag, it’s a widespread practice that is popular today. There are many places to choose from, and many different types of drag to be entertained by. It’s what professional drag queen Tara Hoot, an entertainer in the DMV, describes as somewhat of a fantasy.

“It’s kind of whatever your version of being powerful in a different way [is],” said Hoot. “Drag is an art form, and it’s an expression, it’s radical. No matter what form or shape you choose to be in drag, I think that still kind of comes through loud and clear.”

Despite the increase in drag shows like Drag Bingo, that Hoot hosts, or Perry’s Brunch or Drag storytimes with children, there’s also increasing backlash. Tennessee and Montana have passed laws to ban drag performers from hosting in a select few public spaces. Protesters have said that drag shows are grooming children and are pure indoctrination. Tara Hoot said she had bomb and death threats sent to her simply for performing.

There’s also pushback against transgender individuals, who are now being banned from playing sports on the team with which gender identity they are or being told that it’s “unlawful” to change their sex on their ID’s. Pieces of art, such as Amy Sherald’s painting of a transgender Statue of Liberty, are taken down prematurely to avoid backlash. The Trump Administration erased references of transgender people from the Stonewall monument website, an event in history where Professor Robert said that transgender people played a pivotal role in. Devin recalled a time where an anonymous person sent a message on Facebook reading “I hope somebody shoots all of you sickos.”

But that won’t stop Monet.

“First and foremost, I love what I do. Secondly, I love who I am.” said Monet. “As we continue to deal with the Trump administration and the attempt to erase us from existence, it’s very important that we show them that we’re more than just being transgender; we’re human, and we deserve our human rights.”

And so the show goes on. Raul, the bar manager, said that the day starts at around 8:30 a.m.. The performers arrive, put on their makeup, their wigs, their costumes and prepare their music. The kitchen staff preps the food buffet. Raul checks to make sure there’s enough alcohol to serve guests, with the amount of guests reaching over 100 regularly. Once everything is set up, customers roll in, having paid for a ticket to attend. Once they get seated, India introduces herself, and the performance begins.

Hands clap, heads bop, people get up and dance in the tight space between tables. The queens walk around the tables, collect one dollar bills from the audience with their hands and cleavage, and give the occasional lap dance and kiss to their audience members.

Bob, 75, came to the show for the first time with his wife, daughter, and daughter’s husband. He came after his daughter invited him, and walked away with a red kiss mark on his forehead.

“Music was awesome. Performances were wonderful.” Bob said.

“It’s a staple,” his son-in-law added. “It’s like gay church.”

Vanessa, 50, also a first timer, experienced being able to go to the front and celebrate with her friends from college with Houston.

“I didn’t like the attention but it was still really fun,” she said.

And Betty, 24, came for the sushi, but left with so much more.

“It was so fun. I wish I brought more cash,” said Betty.

After giving their guests a two hour long show, the queens said their  farewells to the audience.

“You can share your Sunday with anyone, but you chose to spend it with us, and that’s amazing,” said India at the end. “Thank you.”

And next week, they come back to do it all again.

“If you want to experience the love and joy that we have here, that we share here, the best thing I can have you do is come.” said India. “Come see us, come and share this love so that you can take it out into the community and share it with somebody else. Because you just never know what that could do for somebody.”