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25-728: Lee Brewster was born in a log cabin in Honaker, Virginia , on April 27, 1943. He was primarily raised in West Virginia , where his father was a coal miner . He moved to New York City in the 1960s after being fired from the Federal Bureau of Investigation for being a homosexual . Brewster died of cancer on May 19, 2000, in New York City. He was survived by a sister and three brothers. West Virginia University has created an online exhibit dedicated to him, and his work. Brewster worked for

50-399: A ball he was hosting. He described it as the first one devoted to cross-dressers . Initially, the business was mail order based, but after so many people began coming directly to his apartment, he opened a store around the corner from his Hell's Kitchen apartment. It included a bookstore with a comprehensive collection of books on topics related to transvestites. After some years, the store

75-603: A drag queen. Following the tradition of old-time drag performers, Brewster preferred to be called by male pronouns, rather than female pronouns, as has become more popular in modern times. Brewster advocated for people who wanted to engage in cross-dressing , notably at times when this was an unpopular position in the LGBT movement in the United States . He became active in the Mattachine Society after moving to New York City in

100-485: A household in the town was $ 22,969, and the median income for a family was $ 28,611. Males had a median income of $ 26,071 versus $ 17,386 for females. The per capita income for the town was $ 11,888. About 20.4% of families and 27.2% of the population were below the poverty line , including 41.9% of those under age 18 and 17.2% of those age 65 or over. Honaker holds the Honaker Redbud Festival each spring, when

125-734: A protest for the repeal of crossdressing laws in New York. They marched to the Capital in Albany, "...in support of the bills currently before the legislators in behalf of liberalized laws on homosexuality. Amongst them are bill for the repeal of impersonation laws...". The groups and their supporters travelled to Albany on four buses that had been chartered by the NY Gay Activists Alliance. Other notable protest attendees included Reverend Troy Perry. Drag Magazine includes two full pages of photographs from

150-468: The Federal Bureau of Investigation as a file clerk in the early 1960s, until he was fired for being a homosexual . In the 1970s and 1980s, he published Drag magazine. Brewster owned Lee's Mardi Gras Boutique (now Michael Salem Boutique), a 5,000 square feet (460 m) clothing store in a loft on West 14th Street in New York City's Greenwich Village . The store catered heavily to drag performers . He announced its opening on October 31, 1969, at

175-682: The Radicalesbians (RL) group with few members. The Lesbian Liberation Committee, and initially the Lesbian Feminist Liberation as well, met at an old firehouse at 99 Wooster Street in SoHo , the location was known as "The Firehouse." In 1973, Lesbian Feminist Liberation participated in the campaign to lobby the New York City Council to add sexual orientation to the city's anti-discrimination city ordinance. Twenty-five members of

200-514: The 1960s, and was even nominated for the position of Secretary of the organization. He coordinated the organization's drag balls and fundraising events. Some members of the organizations disliked public cross-dressing, so he began holding the balls at the Diplomat Hotel on West 43rd Street . The balls, held from 1969 to 1973, became notable enough that the final one was attended by Carol Channing , Shirley MacLaine and Jacqueline Susann . In

225-583: The 1970s, Brewster financed a successful legal challenge to a New York City ordinance that allowed people to be removed from public places because they were homosexuals. Though seldom enforced, he felt the regulation gave law enforcement an opportunity to harass LGBT people. At his first ball in February 1969, he announced plans to form what would become known as the Queens Liberation Front , with October 31, 1969, to be its formal founding date. In 1971,

250-468: The Performing Arts movie theater that was showing Rainer Werner Fassbinder 's The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant , which some feminists found offensive for its depiction of lesbian sadomasochism. The organization opposed the performance by drag queens at the 1973 LGBT Pride March in New York City. As they passed out flyers, Sylvia Rivera , of Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries , took

275-668: The Queens Liberation Front was teamed with the Street Tranvestite Action Revolutionaries, and the Gay Activists Alliance in support of Intro 475 , to end discrimination based upon sexual orientation in New York City. Eventually these efforts were successful, and the early involvement of transgender organizations helped to guarantee that transgender rights were respected in resulting gay rights legislation. Lesbian Feminist Liberation opposed

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300-490: The building in pairs at 15-minute intervals, traveling by elevator to different floors before converging on the Standards and Practices offices. Advised that vice president Herminio Traviesas would not return to the office until the following week, demonstrators announced their intention to wait until he returned and occupied his office overnight. Around 75 women demonstrated in front of the building. The following morning half of

325-514: The end of the article on Male Prostitution. Honaker, Virginia Honaker is a town in Russell County , Virginia , United States. The population was 1,217 at the 2020 census. Honaker was settled as early as 1772 when William Ferrill established a homesite in the area. During Dunmore's War of 1774 a fort , known as New Garden Fort, was established to protect the settlers from Indian raids. The Honaker Commercial Historic District

350-533: The march for being too male-dominated. This prompted Brewster to denounce anti- transgender lesbian feminists. The increasingly angry crowd only calmed when Bette Midler , who heard on the radio in her Greenwich Village apartment, arrived, took the microphone, and began singing " Friends ". This was one of many events in early 1970s where lesbian and transgender activists clashed. The Queens Liberation Front , including founders Lee Brewster and Bunny Eisenhower, joined with S.T.A.R . including Sylvia Rivera to lead

375-617: The microphone from emcee Vito Russo and spoke against the sentiment and spoke of the harassment and arrests of drag queens on the street, some of whom had been involved with the Stonewall riots . Lesbian Feminist Liberation's Jean O'Leary then insisted on responding by denouncing drag as misogynist and criticizing the march for being too male-dominated. This prompted Lee Brewster of Queens Liberation Front to denounce anti- transgender lesbian feminists. The increasingly angry crowd only calmed when Bette Midler , who heard these events reported on

400-477: The organization attended The Dick Cavett Show and disrupted his interview with George Gilder , an author the organization believed was anti-feminist and anti-lesbian. The organization also organized a demonstration with 200 participants, and a large fake lavender colored dinosaur outside the National Museum of American History to protest sexism at the museum. They picketed at a Lincoln Center for

425-503: The performance by drag queens at the 1973 LGBT Pride March in New York City. As they passed out flyers, Sylvia Rivera , of Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries , took the microphone from emcee Vito Russo and spoke against the sentiment and spoke of the harassment and arrests of drag queens on the street, some of whom had been involved with the Stonewall riots . Lesbian Feminist Liberation's Jean O'Leary then insisted on responding by denouncing drag as misogynist and criticizing

450-460: The population. There were 684 households in 2010, out of which 23.39% had children under the age of 18 living with them. The number of vacant housing in Honaker was 5.59%. In the town, the population was spread out, with 21.95% under the age of 18, 5.94% from 20 to 24, 12.84% from 25 to 34, 19.81% from 35 to 49, 20.63% from 50 to 64, and 17.05% who were 65 years of age or older. The median income for

475-520: The protest, including Lee Brewster and Sylvia Rivera together holding their protest signs. In 1972, Lee Brewster was part of a panel discussion on "transvestism" with S.T.A.R. representatives Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson and Bebe Scarpi representing of the Queens College Group. The coverage of this event and a corresponding photograph of the panel can be found in Drag magazine Vol.2 No.7, near

500-457: The radio in her Greenwich Village apartment, arrived, took the microphone, and began singing " Friends ". This was one of many events in early 1970s where lesbian and transgender activists clashed. When NBC aired " Flowers of Evil ", an episode of Police Woman about a trio of lesbians murdering nursing home residents for their money, the organization staged a zap at NBC's New York City headquarters on November 19, 1973. Ten women entered

525-583: The redbud trees start to bloom, celebrating its status as "Redbud Capital of the World". This celebration usually consists of dunk tanks, an array of food vendors, local petting zoos, horse rides, local beauty pageants and Inflatable playgrounds for the children. The town is currently undergoing a restoration project in order to make a welcome center, shopping and park. This project is expected to be completed by mid-2020, however nothing has been done. Lesbian Feminist Liberation Lesbian Feminist Liberation

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550-434: The women left, along with the children of the lead protester. The remaining protesters unfurled a twenty foot long banner from the balcony of vice president Herminio Traviesas's office reading "LESBIANS PROTEST NBC". They and street-level picketers chanted slogans like "NBC works against lesbians" and "Lesbians are sitting in". The demonstrators hoped to attract both network news coverage and arrests. When they realized neither

575-640: Was a lesbian rights advocacy organization in New York City formed in 1972. Lesbian Feminist Liberation was originally the Lesbian Liberation Committee and a part of the Gay Activists Alliance (GAA). In 1972, when the members felt the GAA was not giving enough focus to lesbian and feminist issues, they left GAA and formed the Lesbian Feminist Liberation. The departure was coordinated by Jean O'Leary . The formation of Lesbian Feminist Liberation left

600-693: Was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009. Honaker is located in the Clinch River watershed. According to the United States Census Bureau , the town has a total area of 1.7 square miles (4.3 km ), all of it land. As of the census of 2010, there were 1,449 people and 684 households. The racial makeup of the town was 98.83% White , 0.20% African American , 0.28% Native American , and 0.69% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were .35% of

625-754: Was relocated to a larger space on West 14th Street. His boutique made efforts to provide privacy to its customers, including never having a street-level entry. However, some customers have been public about utilizing the store. Among its public and notable customers were Lady Bunny , and costume designers for The Birdcage , To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar , and Tootsie . Brewster described his clientele in an interview in The Village Voice saying, "Half of my clients are respectable-looking businessmen," and that they were "very normal, but they know better than to present that side of themselves." Brewster staged numerous balls and often performed as

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