Darrin Hagen
One of the most fun events put on by Flashback was held on the May Long Weekend. Annually the Mz Flashback Contest was held and part of the weekend fun was the Drag Races – invented long before RuPaul came along.
In fact it was Mz. Flashback 4 Bianca Bang Bang (Lee Denning) and Mr. Flashback 4 Mr. Vera (Daryl Broyles) that came up with the idea after they saw a video from the US. way back in 1979. According to Mr. Vera “it was an actual drag race on like wild world of sports and some old drag queens were there and the broadcaster said… now that’s a different meaning for a drag race.”
“And our silly brains just went with it!!!! First year Empress 4 Ray St. Claire wiped out so bad in the gravel…. poor thing never did look pretty again. Somewhere there is a picture of Lee and Daryl washing in the kitchen sink from mud wrestling.”
As host Ron Byers was lucky to lead the event – held outside in the alley of Flashback where all kinds of antics and silliness happened.
Patrick Monaghan – a consulting producer on the Flashback Documentary Film – decided to start filming drag shows at Flashback in 1981. This started a tradition of filming events at the club that has resulted in a trove of footage for the film and that he has made available for sharing in the Film and other projects memorializing what Flashback meant for our community. You can check out Patrick Monaghan and his Monaghan VideoEngine Films on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/@PatriCanuck
Thanks to Darrin Hagen and Chris Fassbender with the support of the Edmonton Arts Council and the City of Edmonton – Local Government here is a video that captures a few moments of the fun.
To read more about Flashback check out these links:
https://yegqueerhistory.ca/a-flashback-to-flashback/
https://yegqueerhistory.ca/relight-the-neon/
https://citymuseumedmonton.ca/2014/09/16/flashback-and-the-gay-drag-races/
https://citymuseumedmonton.ca/2020/09/30/history-of-edmontons-gay-bars-part-2-a-flashback-to-flashback/
https://www.edmontonqueerhistoryproject.ca/flashback
Funding for this story made possible by the Arts Council and the City of Edmonton
Darrin Hagen
Darrin Hagen is an award-winning playwright, author and LGBTQ historian. He has created many plays, stories and articles about our queer history, including Witch Hunt at the Strand, The Empress & The Prime Minister, and The Edmonton Queen: The Final Voyage. He also created the Queer History Bus Tour which ran for over a decade.
Blazewing Photography
Terrence Adams
