Digital Transgender Archive

Photo of Unknown Queen with Black and Red Boa

A photograph of drag performer in stage costume with black and red feather boa. This item comes from the Felicia “Flames” Elizondo papers (#2021-06) at the GLBT Historical Society. Felicia Elizondo, who performed as Felicia Flames, was a Chicana trans woman and drag queen associated with San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood. She was a regular at Gene Compton's Cafeteria at the time of the Compton's Cafeteria Riot, a historic 1966 uprising by trans and queer people. Elizondo performed for many years at Aunt Charlie's Lounge alongside her close friend Vicki Marlane. This collection contains Elizondo's writings, photographs of her and her community, ephemera she collected about local drag and queer topics, and materials about Marlane and her legacy.