Sylvester

Sylvester is enshrined in LGBTQ+ history due to his fearlessness and his singularly glamourous vision. Openly gay as a Watts-born African-American at the age of 22 could be tough in 2024, let alone in 1969, His androgynous looks and incredible, soaring falsetto led him to the burgeoning drag community in Los Angeles and later, to San Francisco to join and shape the famous drag collective, the Cockettes. A move to NYC brought further fame with the dance hits "Mighty Real" and "Do You Wanna Funk." Graced with the moniker, "The Queen of Disco," he was honored by the 1988 Castro Street Fair. Too ill with AIDS to attend the parade in his honor, the crowd screamed so loudly that he was able to hear the love from the streets in his bedroom.

Sylvester & The Hot Band Promo Poster – 1973 – David Bieber Archives

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