"It's important to highlight your community, it's important to show how large it is," L'Whor says. "We have nominations from Fort Collins to Grand Junction to Durango to Pueblo to the Springs. It's beautiful to see how much queer energy is all over the state."
Jessica L'Whor is also the creator of the DIVAs, an awards show for drag artists in Colorado.
Brian Degendfelder
L'Whor, who has dubbed herself the Drag Entrepreneur of Colorado, started the DIVAs six years ago, after she'd been involved with the drag industry for more than five. Inspired by New York's Glam Awards, which have been going strong since the '90s, L'Whor wanted to bring a drag celebration of Oscar-sized magnitude to Colorado. "I found a lot at that time that our community is so busy and on different schedules at different venues and spaces," she says. "This is one party a year that brings everyone together to celebrate each other under one roof."
A few decades ago, something like the DIVAs would've been unheard of in the Mile High City. Denver's history of queer nightlife stretches back to 1939 when the city's first gay bar, the Pit, opened; however, the scene remained underground as queer people faced constant threats from the Denver Police Department's vice squad, which targeted bar patrons for jaywalking and arrested them for hugging, kissing and dancing on charges of "lewd conduct" and "public indecency." In 1954, Denver Ordinance 315 made it illegal for "any member of the male sex" to appear in public "in the dress of the opposite sex."
Denver quit jailing its drag queens in 1973. The following year, the court ruled that police could not enforce laws against LGBTQ+ people in a discriminatory manner or continue to arrest them for displays of affection. The Triangle, originally a leather and denim bar for gay men, opened in Denver that same year, followed by many other bars; Tracks joined the lineup in the 1980s.
Fittingly, the DIVAs will take place at Tracks/Wheelworks with an afterparty at X Bar. "At the awards, we're going to be highlighting a lifetime achievement to Scottie Carlyle, who's been in the industry since 1970; she's over fifty years in the business," L'Whor says. "I have some special video messages from some of the pioneers of our community that we don't have here in Denver anymore."
L'Whor is also excited for the current winners, which are nominated and voted on publicly on the DIVAs website. "There are a couple of categories that have multiple winners chosen and some are even tied up this year, which his really cool," L'Whor says.
While people always vote carefully, L'Whor notes that there was more involvement and participation this year. "It seems like people really took the time to think about who was deserving of the awards," she says.
The DIVAs involves more than an awards ceremony; festivities include live performances, a red carpet and photo opps, an after party at X Bar with an an all-star drag show, meet and greets, and more.
L'Whor says she hopes the event gives people "a sense of community and celebration to see how big, large, powerful, loud, queer, drag and trans we are. To be able to recognize the incredible amount of work everyone has put in every single year and to just enjoy a party thrown for you over one night."
The DIVAs are Monday, April 14, at Tracks/Reelworks, 1399 35th Street; doors open at 5 p.m. and the awards are at 7 p.m. The afterparty at X Bar, 629 East Colfax Avenue, goes from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Tickets start at $35; purchase them at coloradodivaawards.com.
