5 day forecast
Pittsburgh City Council honors drag queen with Sharon Needles Day
-
Sharon Needles, left, with members of Pittsburgh City Council Bruce Kraus (upper left) Darlene Harris (upper right) and Bill Peduto (lower right). -
After having a proclamation read in City Council proclaiming June 12, 2012 as Sharon Needles Day in Pittsburgh, Needles speaks on the portico of the City-County Building before performing for her fans,. At left is Councilman Patrick Dowd, who sponsored the proclamation. -
Pittsburgh city councilor Patrick Dowd congratulates drag queen Sharon Needles with a kiss after council declared June 12, 2012 Sharon Needles Day in Pittsburgh.
Share with others:
Sharon Needles, the spooky drag queen who vaulted to national cult celebrity as the winner of Season 4 of "RuPaul's Drag Race," was presented with an official proclamation declaring today "Sharon Needles Day in Pittsburgh" at a City Council meeting this morning.
"This is a city of champions in many regards," Councilman Patrick Dowd said, mentioning the Steelers and first-place Pirates. "We have a real champion in the room today."
Mr. Dowd praised the Bloomfield resident for her fearlessness as an artist and for speaking out against bullying of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth.
"A win for Sharon Needles is a win for every single kid in this city who's still being bullied," Ms. Needles said.
In front of a crowd of about 60 people outside the City-County Building, Ms. Needles, dressed in a blond wig and long black dress, dedicated the day to children who have been judged on the basis of their race, appearance, or sexuality.
"I just want to say happy Halloween to everyone in the room," she said. "It's humbling and almost embarrassing to have my favorite city in the world recognize what I do for a living."She performed the song "Sweet Transvestite" from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," changing the lyrics to highlight her Pittsburgh roots.
"I'm just a sweet transvestite from Transexual, Transylvania" became "I'm just a cheap transvestite from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania."
And "You look like you're both pretty groovy" transformed into "Yinz guys look like you're both pretty groovy."
First Published June 12, 2012 2:15 pm
