Text and photos by Larry Baumhor
In September of 2016, I attended the Bushwig Drag Festival at the Knockdown Center in Queens as a photographer. I was so enthralled with the pomp and circumstance, the performances and, of course, the drag queens that I’m back again for 2017.
If utopia was possible, I lived in that world on September 23, 2017 at the Knockdown Center, Drag Queen Festival. Everyone that I met was friendly, warm, engaging, open about their lives and a bit on the wild side. No one rejected me for photos or interviews. I was whipped into a subconscious frenzied state. There were no conflicts, aggression, anger, or negativity. I was assimilated into a whirlwind of love. Anything was possible. I lost my inhibitions and spoke as nothing mattered. Six hours of bliss. I had no idea where I was. Age and race made no difference. We weren’t mortals. We were from Utopia.
“Don’t let it be forgot, that once there was a spot, for one brief shining moment, that was known as (‘Knockdown Center’), Camelot.” ― Alan Jay Lerner
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