I'm From Driftwood is a 501(c)(3) non-profit archive of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer stories. It is having its Third Annual Rooftop BBQ Fundraiser on Saturday, July 13, at downtown gallery space Casa de Costa. Details can be found here.
If you hate the whole masc/fem labeling thing, Rudy Flesher's got a story for you.
The beer-drinking, beard-sporting marathon runner got the name "Rudy" for being a tough-as-nails, resilient college rugby player. Rudy explains in his I'm From Driftwood story:
I broke my nose in one of my first games. All I knew is that [my teammates] were cheering for me because I was bleeding, and that they were excited, and if I could stop the bleeding in 15 minutes, I could get back in the game. [My teammate] points out, and was like, "Dude," and he gets everyone's attention first, so all eyes on me, and, "Dude, he's 'Rudy' because he's scrappy."
Taking a skull to the nose and playing rugby in 100-degree weather is tough, but Rudy later found what could be considered an even tougher passion: dressing in drag.
I was presented the opportunity to start doing drag performances, so this transition from "I'm going to be the biggest, baddest guy I can" to "I'm going to master walking in 6-inch heels and a 22-inch corset."
Rudy's rugby world and drag world soon overlapped, as photos from his first performance popped up on Facebook. The results were very encouraging.
And pictures start going up on Facebook, and I'm like, "Oh, what's everyone going to say?" I'm wearing leather boots, leather jock strap, and a corset, and literally the first three people to say positive things about my first drag performance are my rugby teammates, who are my friends on Facebook.
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