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March 24, 2005
What a drag!
Lupe walked through the thick, sweaty crowd and stepped onto the small stage at Kabu, the "It" spot for gay bogotanos. Lupe was dressed like a diva: bright red mini-dress with a ruffled skirt and snug top, knee-high black leather boots, sparkly rings on eight of her fingers and a black boa slung over her shoulders. At the sight of her, the men went wild. They hollered, blew kisses at her, pleaded that she lip-syncs their favorite 70s tune. Lupe liked the attention and twirled on stage like a fashion model, protruding her lips as if blowing a candle every time someone pointed a camera at her.
Lupe is a drag queen who claims to be 42, but looks at least 10 years older. She is a celebrity of sorts among gays in Bogota, who gather in the dark, smoky Kabu Wednesday nights to watch her performance. Lupe is the queen of musica para planchar, losely translated to "music to be listened to while ironing." These are love balads spiked with a pint of irony, Mexican and Colombian hits from the 1970s and '80s that are utterly tacky and, therefore, uber hip (sort of like wearing a mechanic's shirt complete with embroidered name on the chest to a New York club). The crowd - most of them gorgeous young gay men, but some very affectionate gay women as well - sang along with every tune. Rather, they screamed along, at the top of their lungs, their voices drowning out the music that came out of the loudspeakers at times.
I went to Kabu with the host of a popular evening newscast in Bogota, a gay man who shall remain nameless, for I don't want to be the one outing him to the world. Luz Maria, news editor at El Tiempo, Colombia's largest daily newspaper, came along, and so did the anchor's partner on screen, a beautiful woman with a penchant for vodka and orange juice (argh!). My new friends promised to take me Friday to Theatrum, another gay club. From what you can see, my husband, Mike, need not worry about my nights out in town.
Posted by Fernanda Santos at March 24, 2005 12:23 PM