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Melinda Wilson

Melinda Wilson is a much-beloved drag performer born in Pittsburgh, raised in Detroit, a longtime transplant to Lynn in the 1980s and 1990s, and a current resident of Manchester, NH. Before coming to Lynn, Melinda moved to Boston in 1978, where she began performing at Jacques Cabaret. Her interview was conducted in December 2023 at a 47 Central Reunion organized by George Chakoutis in Olde Thyme Italian restaurant. She discusses the challenges of growing up as a poor, gay black boy in segregated Detroit, where one could be arrested for failing to wear three articles of male clothing. She found herself and her passion for drag at Fran’s Place and 47 Central.

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Melinda Wilson

Duration

23:02

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I was gay when I was young.

Melinda Wilson

I have four sisters and a brother.

Melinda Wilson

We were just boys playing.

Melinda Wilson

I had nowhere to go.

Melinda Wilson

You had to undress for the cops.

Melinda Wilson

They fell in love with me on stage.

Melinda Wilson

Drag brunches are taking over.

Melinda Wilson

Lynn made bars close earlier.

Melinda Wilson

We had a club that went under.

Melinda Wilson

I don't believe in political activism.

Melinda Wilson

Just let us live our life.

Melinda Wilson

The younger generation is moving fast.

Melinda Wilson

After waking from the coma I kept going.

Melinda Wilson

I came out in the street in Detroit.

Melinda Wilson

Mother caught me and that's the beginning.

Melinda Wilson

A friend brought me to Boston and left.

Melinda Wilson

For me, drag started with a contest.

Melinda Wilson

The Detroit streets were violent. Be careful!

Melinda Wilson

You get back up and keep going.

Melinda Wilson

Fran's was a mixed breed.

Melinda Wilson

I do a lot of illusions of entertainers.

Melinda Wilson

Everyone was accusing us of spreading AIDS.

Melinda Wilson

Stonewall was a door opening.

Melinda Wilson

The younger generation's more wild and crazy.

Melinda Wilson

What I'd tell my younger self.

Melinda Wilson

We couldn't have talked like this before.

Melinda Wilson

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