OUT Magazine: Celebrating icons of resilience
On June 14, the New York City AIDS Memorial presented its third annual Legends of Drag program as part of our 2025 Pride Month offerings. Held at the Church of the Village, just steps from the Memorial and in the West Village neighborhood, considered an epicenter of the AIDS epidemic, the evening brought together doyennes of drag and other performers in a joyful, defiant celebration of identity, legacy, and resilience.
Legends of Drag celebrates pioneers whose contributions to culture and community are too often overlooked. Many of the queens featured this year–Simone, Coco LaChine, Ruby Rims, LaRitza DuMont, and Stella D'oro–have been fixtures of New York City nightlife for decades. This year, they were joined by The Red Ribbon Revue, a vocal ensemble established by Sam Bolen and Brian Mummert, which highlights the voices of HIV-positive artists across generations and the music of those lost to AIDS.
The evening featured pop lip synchs, campy ballads, Broadway classics, and historic songs from 1993's AIDS Quilt Songbook, and was poignantly celebratory. Imagine LaRitza DuMont's provocative lip synch to "Bring Me to Life" by metal band Evanescence followed not long after by Brian Mummert singing "Walt Whitman in 1989," composed by Chris DeBlasio (1959-1993) or Brian and Sam's duet to "Love Don't Need a Reason" by Michael Callen (1955-1993). Stella D'oro closed the evening with a raucous rendition of Stephen Sondheim's "Live Alone and Like It," as performed by the legendary Liza Minelli, delivering a moment that was both hysterical and moving.
Legends of Drag is a reminder that visibility and the preservation of LGBTQ+ stories and HIV/AIDS history are inextricably linked. The event provides a platform for performers who lived through, and in many cases were directly shaped by, the AIDS epidemic. At a time when drag artists are increasingly targeted by political attacks, when trans and gender-nonconforming people and people living with HIV/AIDS face heightened threats, Legends underscores the necessity of creating space for these communities to be seen and heard on their terms.
It's also worth noting that many of the evening's participants themselves are living with HIV, are Long-Term Survivors, or are veteran activists. Ruby Rims, who has been living with AIDS since the 1990s and who has been a fixture in the New York cabaret world for over 50 years, spoke candidly about what it means to still be performing in her 70s. Sam and Brian created the Red Ribbon Revue in 2019 to allow younger, HIV-positive performers to share their voices, experiences, and the music of artists lost to AIDS.
Others, like Coco LaChine, has raised over a million dollars for AIDS service organizations through her work with the Imperial Court of New York and Simone, who began performing in the city's clubs in the 1990s, represent a throughline from the street queens and trans and AIDS activists of generations past, like Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera.
The continuity between past and present, between grief and celebration, is central to the New York City AIDS Memorial's mission. Our programs are designed not only to remember but to foster intergenerational dialogue, support artistic expression, and insist on the continued relevance of HIV/AIDS in our cultural and political life. Our work is especially critical now. As anti-LGBTQIA+ rhetoric makes gains in mainstream discourse, promoting the visibility of queer and trans artists, especially those living with HIV, is not accidental. It is a core part of our mission to preserve history and build a more inclusive and equitable future.
Whether it's Pride Month or not, we will continue to make space for these legendary performers. We will continue to present their stories and share their work. And we will continue to ensure that the lessons and legacies of the AIDS epidemic are not just preserved, but seen, heard, and celebrated.
Publisher: Out Magazine/Out.com
Details: Online
Publication Date: August 13, 2025
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