Juneau "Femme Fatale" Raises $3000 For Four A's

by E. Ross

The annual Femme Fatale Drag Show was a success, raising nearly $3000 for the Alaskan AIDS Assistance Association (Four A's), despite the lack of electricity in Juneau and an early end to the legislative session. 

"The surprise of the show this year," said Mikey LaChoy, Emperor 25 of the Imperial Court of All Alaska (ICOAA) and coordinator of Femme Fatale, "was when we pulled four un-witting contestants from the audience and let everyone vote on which would get a drag make-over and perform in the show. This was so popular that we decided to make it part of the show from now on."

Femme Fatale has been a tradition in Juneau for almost twenty years. 

"Emperors, Empresses and other drag performers from Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau put on a two night show, grown from the original one night only," said LaChoy, who has been involved off and on for fifteen years. "The performers and staff pay their own airfare, hotel, and expenses, so all the money raised goes to AIDS prevention, education, and client services." 

This year's Femme Fatale performers were Miss MeMe, a past Empress of Seattle now living in Anchorage, Past Empresses Joani and Vicki, the current empress Mary Bess, and the always fun Empress Rosie Rotten. Local performers also supported the show, including Juneau personality Mikea.

Originally, the show raised money for Shante of Juneau. Then Four A's expanded to serve most of Alaska, including Juneau, and now the money raised by Femme Fatale is donated to them.

The Four A's was established in 1985 and provides one-on-one case management, housing assistance and other supportive services to people living with HIV/AIDS, and also provides HIV prevention and education. The main Four A's office in Anchorage coordinates services around the state.

Four A's in Juneau is a small two person office. The case manager, Robbi Woltring, handles the client issues such as doctor's visits, medications, housing, food and counseling. Lee Wagner is in charge of education and outreach.

"I hand out condoms on the streets downtown and in the bars, as well as doing outreach at the Glory Hole (Homeless Shelter/ Soup Kitchen) and the Polaris House (Mental Health Facility)," said Lee, an AmeriCorps volunteer known as the "condom lady" of Juneau. "I teach HIV 101 classes for Lemon Creek Correctional Center, Gastineau Human Services, Rainforest Recovery and others."

Juneau Four A's also provides free HIV testing in the office and the community. They use the Oraquick rapid test, which is an oral test that requires no blood, and the results are given in twenty minutes.

As for Femme Fatale, LaChoy is already making plans for next year. "We want to have the show earlier, during the legislative session, so we can get more attendance," he said. "Yes, some of those legislators DO attend!"

"Hopefully, they will have fixed the energy crisis down there - although the girls looked even prettier with the dim lighting."