Thirty Jewels In the Crown, A Blog

The highest honor that the Imperial Court of New York bestows every year is our Diamond Award.  When you have an audience like ours,  the microphone and the eyes of the country’s Imperial Court System on you, it’s a great chance to pay tribute to some of the brave and courageous leaders of the LGBTQ movement.  A listing of some of their names  is a history lesson for the young ones who need to know how far we’ve come: Irving Cooperberg (1991), Michael Callen (1993), The Hon. Tom Duane (1994), The Hon. Deborah Glick (1995), Joan M. Garry (2002), Dr ...

Okay, I'll admit to a certain amount of bias:  it was very cool being on stage with Taylor Dayne and almost being in a selfie with her.  (My custom Tiger Gown from Planet Pepper was excellent, and big...lol.)   Night of a Thousand Gowns has always been a place to see amazing performers on and off the stage, and while I don't yet know who we might see this year, there's always something magical about seeing one of your favorite performers a foot in front of you.  (We do know that Ian McKellen and Dustin Lance Black will be among ...

We refer to Night of a Thousand Gowns as a Coronation Ball, when in fact, most of it is celebration and recognition of a reign that's coming to an end.  And yet, the final event of the night is always one of the most colorful, one of the most elaborate, and one of the things people will talk about forever and ever:  The Coronation of the new Emperor and Empress. I polled a group of my friends about their favorite costume from Night of a Thousand Gowns.  Ever.  I put no limitations on when or in what context, and more ...

It’s Called Night of a Thousand GOWNS. Night of a Thousand Gowns is a charity ball.  It’s a coronation ceremony.  It’s a chance to honor members of our community. But it’s also a fashion show.   There have been years when “a thousand gowns” has been less of a title than an actual description as dresses and gowns of every shape and size fly up and down in the pneumatic tube elevators at the Marriott Marquis for the world to see and enjoy.  (Sidebar:  There are actually YouTube videos of the elevators.  Here's one!) Some of New York’s top designers have ...

One of the grandest moments at any Night of a Thousand Gowns comes when His Royal Highness, the Grand Duke Swanson opens the curtains on the glittering assemblage of monarchs and courtiers of the Imperial Court of New York.   It’s a showstopping moment of huge gowns, huge jewels and it’s also the moment that the members step up to play the most regal and most ridiculous part of this game we play:  protocol. Part of what makes the Imperial Court of New York different from other fundraisers in New York is our attention to formalized whimsy.  Whimsy because we’re a bunch ...

A little known, underpublicized fact:  The Imperial Court of New York’s founding in 1985 was driven by a man who didn’t do drag:  Emperor I George Dudley! Though people may first think of drag queens when they think of the Imperial Court System, it shouldn’t be too far a stretch before they also think of Emperors and the male line:  after all, our system is based on male and female presentation, and a good balance is everything. In fact, many of our male line monarchs out shine and out glitter their Empresses!  It’s not OUR fault:  we do our best, ...

They say that a Broadway opening number sets the tone for the two and a half hours to follow. At Night of A Thousand Gowns, the Imperial Court of New York tries to do the same thing! For 24 of the last 30 years, members of the ICNY have poured their heart and souls into creating an opening that will grab the attention of the audience and hold onto it. Your humble correspondent still recalls sitting in the audience at her first Night of a Thousand Gowns in 1998 and marveling at a 12 minute version of “Mame!” Of course, ...

Okay, I intended this to be a quick blog, but New York’s Monarchs have appeared in so many film and television projects that the list keeps going. It’s far from comprehensive, but it’s true! And we’re talking more than appearing in interviews or news stories: most of us have done that, but beyond the news, there’s all of this: Starting with the very first Empress, Sybil Bruncheon, whose cable access shows in the 1980’s included A La Maison, Be Our Guest and Stonewall After Dark, we’ve made it our work of getting in front of every camera we can find! ...

Sometimes, it’s as important to raise spirits as money, and one annual opportunity for the Imperial Court of New York to shine is GMHC’s annual AIDS Walk. Rain or shine on the third Sunday of May, this event attracts tens of thousands of people each year.  They make the 10K walk from one end of Central Park to the other, up 110th Street to Riverside Drive and then back down the Upper West Side and into the park again.  Along the way, they’re likely to meet people providing music, Cheer NY doing all sorts of gymnastics, and other groups brought ...

How do you get your boss on your knees in front of you? Offer them a knighthood when you’re the reigning monarch! Well, at least that’s what I had the glorious opportunity to do when I invested my boss as Dame Ingrid Floyd. Granted, she’d just celebrated a decade as the Executive Director of Iris House, providing HIV Support Services to women and met any qualifications, but it was still a treat! I also had the honor of knighting Sir Will Clark, adult entertainer and longtime NYC philanthropic mover and shaker. At the Imperial Court of New York, it’s all a ...