Darcelle aka Walter Cole is the Guinness World Records holder for oldest performing drag queen, undated (Courtesy to KOIN)
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Late Portland drag queen Darcelle, whose real name was Walter Cole, was recently tapped as a 2023 inductee for the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor.
Every year, the International Imperial Court System and the National LGBTQ Task Force honor individuals who made significant contributions to the liberation of LGBTQ+ communities.
The Wall of Honor is located in the historic Stonewall Inn, where the Stonewall Riots became a turning point for the LGBTQ+ rights movement in 1969.
Nicole Murray Ramirez, a San Diego city commissioner and “Queen Mother of the Americas” for the International Imperial Court System, says she founded the Wall of Honor to remind the LBGTQ+ community of “whose shoulders it stands on.”
Ramirez added that she was proud that two drag queens were being highlighted this year, including San Francisco’s Heklina who passed this April and the Rose City’s Darcelle who died at the age of 92 in March.
Over the years, Darcelle opened iconic drag venue Darcelle XV Showplace, published the autobiography Just Call Me Darcelle, and broke the Guinness World Record for oldest drag queen — among many other accomplishments.
Darcelle has also inspired performers at her namesake showplace to break a record of their own, with a ‘DRAG-A-THON’ scheduled for this July.
Other Wall of Honor inductees include “Will & Grace” actor Leslie Jordan, Tony-Award-winning playwright Terrence McNally, lesbian activist Achebe Betty Powell, and gay art patron J. Frederic “Fritz” Lohman.
“As we reflect on 50 years of hard-won progress, we hold tight to the fact that we not only fight for rights, we fight for people,” National LGBTQ Task Force Executive Director Kierra Johnson said. “The honorees this year not only showcase the beautiful diversity of our movement, but also embody this commitment to community and each other.”