During the Harlem Renaissance (~1920s), a blues singer and pianist named Gladys Bentley owned the stage in her signature tuxedo and top hat, with her back up chorus of drag queens, while flirting with all the women in the audience. During the McCarthy era, harassment and laws — she had to carry a special permit to be able to perform in ‘men’s’ clothing — pushed her into dresses and championing a ‘cure’ of female hormones for her lesbianism. She still managed to record a single and appear numerous times on Groucho Marx’s’ television show before passing from the flu at age 52.
Project / 100 Rad Humans