The Drag Queens of Silicon Valley

Currently in San Jose, Drag Queens participate in pageants or shows, where they express themselves through their performances.  There is a strong partnership between the San Jose and Santa Clara County Queens and Kings and the San Francisco scene as well, making the community stronger with so many participating.

Since the onset of Covid-19, the performers have been turning to virtual spaces. To catch some of their shows, sign up for newsletters and notifications from the venues’ websites:

Explore the Imperial Courts and Drag Community

Kelli Collins 1

Jeff McGee AKA Kelli Collins

Jeff was an integral part of the gay community in the 80s and 90s. His performances as Kelli Collins in innumerable drag shows raised thousands of dollars for many causes, primarily for early AIDS victims who had no financial or medical support at that time. Jeff moved to the South ...
royal members the annual imperial court event scaled

Imperial Courts

Kevin Roche, a member of the Imperial Courts, remembers that it was over fifty years ago when groups in Portland and San Francisco first started drag balls. “This is when being in drag was a more transgressive activity than it is considered nowadays,” he said in an interview. This was ...
ray aguilar crown

Casa de San Jose

In the early days of Casa de San Jose’s informal association of drag queens, they would travel to San Francisco for the city's world-famous drag shows. Ray Aguilar, a San Jose drag queen, requested permission to form an IICS chapter in San Jose, which formed as Casa de San Jose ...
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Ray Aguilar

Aguilar always urged family members to celebrate holidays together. He was a founding member of The Imperial AIDS Foundation, which provided hot meals, paid rent, prescriptions, and provided transportation to medical appointments for people living with AIDS . Ray Aguilar died due to complications from AIDS in February 1995 ...