It was fun to be playful with this one, but I wrestled for many months whether to do it at all. I may have as many wigs as a queen, but I’m not comfortable doing full-on drag. I will never do black- or brownface. But this cis-het white guy had a blast celebrating Her Melismatic Majesty. Like so many, she was complicated and beautiful. Here’s what I wrote on my personal profile the day this flame went out too soon: “I wanted to be like Michael. Even wore a single glove sprayed silver to an all day skate once. But it was seeing Whitney in concert one night in upstate NY that made my year, Whitney who kept me company all those summer days mowing lawns, and Whitney who inspired me to find my voice. Thanks doesn’t even come close.”
