Pickle is an imposing figure. In her uniform of vibrant pageant dresses and a bouffant blond wig, the vivacious, live-singing drag queen is hard to miss both on and off the stage. Perhaps a good quality to have as the inaugural official Drag Laureate of West Hollywood .
A native of Los Angeles, Pickle came up in the bars and clubs that cluster around the west end of Santa Monica Boulevard, a.k.a.
the backbone of this tiny city-within-a-city. As one of only two official Drag Laureates in the country (the other is in San Francisco) , Pickle has been tasked with highlighting and enhancing the appreciation and impact of drag culture in West Hollywood. “There’s an unofficial saying: So goes WeHo, so goes California, so goes the nation,” Pickle says.
“WeHo is such a young city. ..
. It’s just a really vibrant patch of land.” For a city that stands at just 1.
9 square miles, West Hollywood punches way above its weight in terms of cultural impact. As an unincorporated part of Los Angeles County until a coalition of LGBTQ activists, seniors and renters came together to establish the first city council in 1984, it has been the backdrop for the hippie movement of the 1960s and ’70s, the punk rock scene of the ’80s and a home to L.A.
’s queer community since its inception. It’s also been the unofficial playground of Hollywood since Hollywood began. WeHo landmarks like Chateau Marmont and the Sunset Tower Hotel have been the stomping grounds of the biggest celebrities in .