1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
83rd OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2025 Regular Session
House Resolution 3
Sponsored by Representatives NELSON, ISADORE; Representatives ANDERSEN, CHAICHI, FRAGALA, GAMBA,
HUDSON, LIVELY, MARSH, MCDONALD, MUNOZ, NERON, NOSSE, SANCHEZ, VALDERRAMA,
WALTERS,WATANABE
SUMMARY
The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject
to consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor’s brief statement of the essential features of the
measure as introduced.The statement includes a measure digest written in compliance with applicable readability
standards.
Digest: Honors the history of Black drag in Oregon. (Flesch Readability Score: 61.2).
Recognizes and honors the history of Black drag in Oregon.
HOUSE RESOLUTION
Whereas Oregon has a rich tradition of building, supporting and celebrating LGBTQ communi-
ties, and the Black drag community in Portland is among the most vibrant and storied in the entire
United States; and
Whereas Portland’s Black drag community is deeply rooted in an illustrious history of fantasy,
and members of the community helped build the foundations of what would become known as the
International Court System by recognizing “Queens” of community-organized events as far back as
1958; and
Whereas in 1969, Rochelle was crowned the first Black Rose Queen, Rose Queen X, at the “Days
of Wine and Roses” Fall Ball; and
Whereas in 1970, Portland’s Black drag community connected with the blossoming concept of
the Court with the formation of two parallel nonprofit organizations, the Portland Forum and the
Imperial Sovereign Rose Court (ISRC); and
Whereas prior to the election of the newly designated title of “Rose Empress,” it was determined
that, to ensure that nothing be taken away from Portland’s own unique experiences in drag history,
all past “Queens” would be assigned their appropriate chronological numbers, in sequence to the
“Rose Empress” designation; and
Whereas in 1971, Talani was crowned the Portland Forum’s first Black Rose Empress, Rose
Empress XIII, and Lillian Carter was crowned Black Princess I; and
Whereas in 1973, Irvina, Lillian Carter, Leora and Desi presented a grand, first-in-the-nation
all-Black Queens entrance at the ISRC Coronation; and
Whereas in 1975, the United Ebony Kingdom (UEK) was formed, and Irvina was crowned Queen
I of the UEK that same year; and
Whereas 1975 also ushered in a new era as the last Sovereign Rose Empress gave her blessing
to, and relinquished a portion of her territory to, the newly formed Imperial Court of the Emerald
Empire (ISCEE) in Eugene; and
Whereas in 1976, ISRC elevated its first Black Monarch by public election, and upon his
crowning, Rose Emperor II Harold became the first Black Emperor in the International Court Sys-
tem; and
Whereas on October 16, 1977, with deepest admiration for those trailblazers that helped build
NOTE:Matter in boldfaced type in an amended section is new; matter [italic and bracketed] is existing law to be omitted.
New sections are in boldfaced type.
LC 4195 HR3
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
up the Black drag community in Oregon, Rose Empress XIX proclaimed “That each Empress shall
bear one number and one number only, and the number from the year of their reign shall never be
altered from what we, the people, have established in the past”; and
Whereas in 1978, territory would be adjusted again when ISRC granted sovereignty to the Im-
perial Sovereign Court of the Willamette Empire (ISCWE) in Salem; and
Whereas in 1980, Misty Waters was crowned ISRC’s first Black Trans Princess XI; and
Whereas in 1983, Rosey Waters was crowned ISRC’s first Black Rose Empress, Rose Empress
XXVI;and
Whereas in 1986, Lady Elaine Peacock was crowned ISRC’s Rose Empress XXIX; and
Whereas in 1988, Cicely was crowned ISRC’s Rose Empress XXXI; and
Whereas also in 1988, the Portland Forum and ISRC merged, and the organization operated from
that point forward as a newly unified ISRC; and
Whereas in 1993, Maria Peters Lake was crowned ISRC’s first Black Female Rose Empress, Rose
Empress XXXVI; and
Whereas in 1997, Diva Simone Slaughter was crowned ISCEE’s first Black Empress, Empress
XXIV;and
Whereas in 2001, Poison Waters, who is renowned for her advocacy work on behalf of BIPOC
and LGBTQ communities in and around Portland, was crowned ISRC’s Rose Empress XLIV; and
Whereas in 2008, Krystal Lynn Benoit was crowned ISRC’s first Black Trans Rose Empress,
Rose Empress L; and
Whereas in 2009, Karess Ann Slaughter was crowned ISCEE’s Empress XXXVI; and
Whereas in 2020, Poison Waters began teaching a “Histories of Drag Performance in Portland”
class at Portland Community College, with a prominent segment dedicated to the history of Black
drag in Oregon; and
Whereas 2022 saw ISRC’s first all-Black reign, when Arcadian Campbell Starr was crowned Rose
Emperor XLV and T’Kara Campbell Starr was crowned Rose Empress LXIII; and
Whereas in 2023, Alexis Campbell Starr was crowned ISRC’s Rose Empress LXIV; and
Whereas in 2024, Devlin Lynn Phoénixx was crowned ISRC’s Rose Empress LXV; and
Whereas also in 2024, Rose Empress XLIV Poison Waters was named Queen Mother II of All
Oregon, a lifelong title which was vacated by Queen Mother I of All Oregon Rose Empress XV
Darcelle upon his death in 2023; and
Whereas Poison Waters is believed to be the first and only Black Queen Mother of a state
within the International Court System; and
Whereas many of the founding title holders in Oregon remain actively involved in the Court
system as highly respected members of the ISRC College of Monarchs; and
Whereas there have been decades of all-Black productions for various community charity or-
ganizations in Portland, including Peacock in the Park (1987-2004), Peacock After Dark (2008-2013),
Hot Chocolate (2010-2024), Race Talks: History of Black Drag in Portland (2022-2024) and Elite
Blacksperience PDX (2025); and
Whereas countless Black drag entertainers have made their mark in this state, and while many
have sadly passed away, Oregon has benefited tremendously from the indelible contributions these
pioneering performers have made to the Black drag scene in this state and across the country; now,
therefore,
Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of Oregon:
That we, the members of the House of Representatives of the Eighty-third Legislative Assembly,
[2] HR3
1
2
3
4
recognize and honor Oregon’s rich history of Black drag, and we congratulate all those whose
spirited contributions have made Oregon’s Black drag community one of the most vibrant and vital
in the nation.
[3]