The Atlanta Cotillion has always been a fun event. For several years, the Young Democrats had an unofficial table organized by current DNC Member from Georgia Page Gleason. I chose to pay extra in order to wear a tux mostly because I make one ugly woman, and I wasn't sure that the sitting President of the Young Democrats of Georgia (2007-09) should be photographed in full on drag. The heterosexual men at our table all dressed as ladies for the occasion, to some hilarity as well as surprise at how pretty a woman some of them made! It was all for a good cause, supporting AID Atlanta in its work preventing HIV infection as well as supporting those who have HIV/AIDS.
This year, a very good friend of mine decided to become a Cotillion Debutante. Debutantes are generally "tapped" by a member of the previous year's class and are men who have not done drag before. They make up a name, a history, and then spend the late spring and summer hosting fundraisers for their "cause". There is a competition to raise the most money, as that Debutante is crowned Queen. My friend John Michael Roch chose the name Liberty Belle O'Hara as a nod to his heritage as a yankee from Philly, as well as a nod to his "drag mother" who tapped him for Cotillion, whose last name was O'Hara.
John not only set an ambitious goal for his fundraising, he spent many hours and a lot of his own money pursuing the fundraising parties that fuel the Atlanta Cotillion fundraising. He has made good headway in meeting his goal, with the last hurdle being getting people to buy tickets off of his fundraising page for the Cotillion itself on Sept 19. And for folks feeling the pinch of this recession, he's asked for them to just give whatever they could afford.
UPDATE:
I have been asked, in the strongest terms possible, to remove this post in its entirety. It turns out that the Cotillion board did not make the decision referred to the original post. The co-chairs did, and the "bylaws" which I suppose the mean the handbook, specifically state that "gentlemen" must be the escorts. So for now, I just ask you donate to John's deb page.
However, I am accurately quoted by Southern Voice:
http://www.sovo.com/blog/blog.cfm?blog_id=27103
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