Wigstock Welcomes New York's New Wave Of Trannies

New York's annual drag queen festival Wigstock returned to its spiritual home of Tompkins Square Park in Manhattan's East Village last weekend, with an all star line-up including Ru Paul, Boy George and Jackie Beat.

Thousands braved heavy showers to attend the early evening event, including scores of new school cross-dressing clubbers, Skrufff man-in-New York/ photographer Conrad Ventur reported.

"There is a whole new generation of dragsters in New York who are all 21, tall, skinny and fabulous, who are using the City and now our club Disgraceland as a laboratory for their experiments," he said (Conrad co-promotes Disgraceland with Larry Tee).

"These new kids were out in force at Wigstock, but even though they turned it out, nothing took the show away from Lady Bunny and her special guests like Boy George and some fabulous newcomers such as Milan who's like a dancing Rupaul on speed."

Conrad suggested the unseasonally wet conditions had improved the overall event, deterring fair-weather revellers and tourists.

"It rained and rained and rained all day, meaning people who didn't care stayed at home, whereas all the people who really wanted to be there turned up," said Conrad.

"It was full of freaks and geeks, gays and celebs, New York scenesters and hard-core Wigstock types."

('Tompkins Square Park has long been synonymous with dissent, going back to the "bread riot" of 1857. . . In the '60s and '70s, the park became a haven for countercultural freaks.')
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