Pansexual Pride (1996)
In 1996 the first LGTB march took place in Glasgow (the first Scottish Pride march took place the previous year in Edinburgh). Previously activists had travelled south to London to take part in the march. I attended in drag as Jackie Derrida and had prepared a pansexual pride banner to represent a queer transgender presence in an otherwise lesbian and gay event. I was accompanied by the other members of the queer performance writers group Jessies with Attitude, Toni Davidson and Cal King.
This was the first of many actions carried out at Pride marches throughout the years. My "crossing of the line" from the street to the pavement where the public were watching caused problems with the organisers who told me to keep within the designated area.
The march finished in Glasgow Green where I performed my first ritualistic performance, inspired by the rumour that the only thing Divine refused to do for director John Waters was to burn her hair. I had previously shaved my hair and saved the cut hair for the occasion, setting it on fire in front of an “effigy of the goddess” (actually the massive hat I had constructed for the occasion).
During the burning ritual I invoked the power of an exaggeratedly feminine spirit in a speech which included this decidedly queer ecosexy statement: “We’ll embrace the trees and we’ll make love to the soil, we´ll get down on the ground and do an Elvis impersonation because we love you, ground. It’s pansexual...Who is Pan? He’s just an old drag queen.” The edited video was shown as part of the Jackie Derrida exhibition at the Transmission Gallery.
Video-stills