June 8 is Pride here in Philadelphia and this year we have much to celebrate and commiserate over.
On the negative side, the closing of Sisters and Giovanni’s Room, and on the positive side, Ellen Page, openly gay elected officials and marriage equality in Pennsylvania! The latter will be commemorated at Pride with marriage ceremonies performed at Independence Hall by the Hon. Dan Anders. At Penn’s Landing The Village People (come on, make those letters in the air!) will be the event headliners. Other performers include Well-Strung, Akire, Lynne Koplitz (loved her on Comedy Central) and Betty. Keeping things moving will be the irrepressible Henri David. Among the honorees are Gloria Casarez, Mark Squilla and Miss Philly Gay Pride 2014 Mimi Imfurst.
Mimi Imfurst, aka Braden Chapman, is perhaps best known for her stints on “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars.” She has also appeared on several other TV shows such as “Celebrity Apprentice,” “The Big Ang Show,” “Jersey Couture,” “The Howard Stern Show,” ABC’s “What Would You Do?” and MTV’s “Jackass.” In 2005, the Catholic Advocacy Coalition named Chapman one of the top-10 anti-Catholic people.
Born in Hanson, Mass., raised in Maine and later adopted by a lesbian couple, Chapman told us about himself and how Mimi came to be.
PGN: So how long have you been a Philly resident? BC: It’s funny, I’ve lived here since last year, but everyone here thinks I still live in New York, and the whole time I was in New York everyone there always thought I lived in Philly! Truth is, I was born in Massachusetts, raised in Maine and lived in New York for 10 years while getting a lot of work here. I commuted back and forth for several years, sometimes doing three or four shows a week in Philly, until I realized that my heart was here.
PGN: What made you love Philly? BC: First and foremost, the community. I’ve made amazing friendships here. I’ve met such wonderful people and had amazing times doing shows here. Philly has the best audiences anyone could ask for. It’s such a beautiful city. I love the architecture and layout of the city and I love the appreciation for the history. I love the attitude here, which is like, “whatever.” People are not caught up in pretensions.
PGN: Tell me about growing up up North. BC: I grew up in South Shore, Mass., in a very traditional family. When I was about to go into high school, my parents had a difficult divorce. It was about the same time that I realized I was gay. For me, I didn’t know much about gay people, had never met one that I knew of, didn’t know what it meant to be gay and, because of that, I didn’t have a problem with it. There was never a struggle for me; it was just, “Oh, I’m gay. OK.” I was fine telling all my friends, I just didn’t tell my family because there was so much other stuff going on already. I’d gone to live with my aunt in Maine while my parents were dealing with the divorce and while I was living with her, I was assaulted by my bus driver, who pushed me up against the seat on the bus and called me faggot. It was bad. The school got involved, which led to my aunt finding out that I was gay. She was clearly uncomfortable with it; one night we had a big fight about it and the next day I was homeless. At 16, I was living on the streets. What was shocking to me was the lack of support for homeless LGBT youth. There are programs if you have substance-abuse problems or mental-health issues, but not much for LGBT youth, even now, though it’s a little better. We’re so focused on marriage equality — rightfully so, it’s a huge issue — but because of that a lot of programs aren’t getting the funding they need and queer youth are suffering.
PGN: How did you survive? BC: There was an amazing program in Maine called “Outright,” which was a small network of organizations helping LGBT young people. They were dedicated to youth involvement and empowerment. They didn’t have the resources for housing but they made calls for me. At 16, you are not a priority in most states, because you’re about to be classified as an adult at 17 anyway. Eventually they tried PFLAG, thinking maybe someone had a kid in college whose room I could use. I’d been sleeping on the streets, on couches and in shelters, which are not safe for queer youth. The coordinator of PFLAG, Sue, hadn’t had much luck until she ran into a social worker named Penthea on the street. Sue explained my situation and Penthea, who had just run out to feed the meter, contacted her partner Jessica and they arranged to meet me for lunch. I moved in the day after that first meeting and they became my moms. I went through hell to end up with an amazing blessing. Everyone should have the parents I have.
PGN: Did you get back in touch with your birth family? BC: I kind of let that go. My mom was going through a lot of stuff — I suspect substance abuse, but I’m not sure — my dad didn’t know how to deal with the situation and I think it was less about me being gay and more about just not being an active father. I have nothing but great memories growing up but when things went sour with them, I think he just didn’t know what to do. We don’t talk much but I know he loves me and I love him.
PGN: So how did you go from the streets of Maine to becoming Mimi? BC: I studied theater at Marymount Manhattan College and I did drag all through school. The first time I ever did it was for Vacation Bible School and the theme was undercover agents for Christ. For some reason, my mother put me and my brother in drag. I think she was thinking costumey more than drag, but she had us dressed as old ladies. It wasn’t until years later I started doing drag as theater and someone offered to pay me for it, and I’ve been doing it for a living ever since.
PGN: Did you try any other names before finding Mimi? BC: Well, I originally went by the drag name “Delilah DeMistra,” which was inspired by Hedy Lamarr’s character in “Samson and Delilah.” There was a great line, “No man can escape the love of Delilah!” I loved it, I would go to high school in drag as Delilah with my heels clicking. When I moved to New York there was another drag queen with the same name so I had to change it. I love Mimi Imfurst. I wanted something that would make people giggle if they saw it on a poster. Bill Cosby once said, “If you can make them laugh before you get on stage, you’ve done your job.”
PGN: A best Mimi moment? BC: I’ve been so blessed it’s hard to pick a favorite. Getting to open for Kathy Griffin, she’s honestly so down-to-earth. I hadn’t met her and was nervous about opening in front of 15,000 people. I was in the dressing room opposite hers and she popped in and asked if I had any hairspray. I was like, “I’m a drag queen, of course I have hairspray!” She started fixing her hair and noticed that the air conditioning wasn’t working in my room. So she offered to share her room with me. I’ve worked with a lot of celebrities and she seriously has to be one of the nicest. She does her job and doesn’t expect to be pampered. She doesn’t ask for frills, she’s very low-key.
PGN: Who else have you worked with? BC: Oh, everyone from Whoopie Goldberg to Lady Gaga, RuPaul to Dolly Parton. And I’ve never seen any of them diva out or do anything ridiculous.
PGN: How did you end up on “Celebrity Apprentice”? BC: It started out with Lisa Lampanelli. I was working on the “New, Now, Next” awards where Lisa was a presenter. I ran into her backstage and her assistant said, “OMG, you could be her body double!” We hit it off and a year later when she was on “Apprentice” and wanted a drag queen version of herself, she called me.We’ve done a couple of projects together and I’ve been to her house. She’s loaned me dresses, though now she’s skinny, so I don’t think I can play her anymore.
PGN: Did you meet Trump? BC: I did, and he’s intimidating because he’s so tall. Tall and orange.
PGN: What are two of your favorite drag names? BC: Lisa Newcar, and I gave my drag daughter the name Lauren Order. I like names that are puns. You meet some queens and their names are a combo of a perfume and a supermodel — that doesn’t tell me anything. I prefer something clever.
PGN: I noticed that you like to push the envelope. BC: [Laughs.] I don’t push the envelope, I deliver the mail!
PGN: [Laughs.] Your song “Who Will I Blow” (sung to Whitney Houston’s “How Will I Know”) has Muppet-like puppets, and the line, “He cuts more lines than a cripple kid at Disney Land.” Is there a line you won’t cross? BC: Um, I don’t know. I’m a comedian and I say things that I know are offensive or outrageous and sometimes people will say, “I can’t believe you think that that way!” and I’m like, “Oh my God! Are you kidding me, do you really think I think like that? No! No! It’s a character!” I don’t understand political correctness. I think we shouldn’t take things so seriously. There’s so much awful stuff in the world and if we can laugh at it then we can deal with it. People are too uptight.
PGN: I was reading your response to the controversy over RuPaul. You called it “Distractivism.” BC: Yeah, RuPaul is getting heat over using the term “tranny.” In our culture right we’ve really begun to get caught up over words, and I’ve seen it happen to a lot of celebrities over a lot of issues. It’s like, “You said this word, so we’re going to put you in timeout!” Everybody gets riled up for two weeks and then forgets about it.
PGN: But in the meantime we’ve destroyed that person. I read that Logo is trying to distance itself from Ru. BC: Yes, and it’s ridiculous. First of all, if you look at the word “tranny” and its origin in the community, it was invented within the drag community as an inclusive word. It was a sisterhood of people who were male-identified drag performers and trans-identified drag performers, people who were often regarded as freaks and outsiders. We might identify differently off the stage, but on stage we are together. It’s been misconstrued by other people but so have so many other words. PGN: Kind of like us reclaiming “dyke” for the June 7 Dyke March. BC: Yes, and some people can’t deal with the way other people made them feel using certain words, so they want to project that onto everyone. If that’s how you live, you’re going to have a very hard life. I’ve been called names all my life. We spend too much energy and capital on shaming and destroying our own. To say that RuPaul is against the trans community is ludicrous! RuPaul is one of the most visible LGBT people I know; grandmothers in Kansas know who she is. She has spent her career breaking down barriers and educating people. To try to shame her and paint her as anti-trans is shameful. The argument is, “If you google ‘tranny’ you’ll find a description of people who work in the adult-entertainment industry or sex workers.” Well, to me that’s shaming those people! Saying that they are not equal to others, and I don’t find that acceptable. If you have a problem with certain words, then move. This is America and we have a First Amendment right that protects us, so we can say what the hell we want to say. Sorry, it gets me going.
PGN: Hey, I agree. As reprehensible as I think Donald Sterling is, I’m uncomfortable penalizing someone for comments they made in private, in their own home. Arrest him for housing discrimination or unfair pay practices or if he said it on the job, but not personal comments taped without consent. BC: I know, where does it end? If I utter, “Oh, I could just kill so-and-so,” am I under suspicion for murderous comments? It distracts us from so much good we could be doing. Stop putting our energy in being so PC and put it into getting homeless youth off the streets, feeding the hungry.
PGN: Random topics … If I could switch places with one person for a day, it’d be … BC: Oh boy … One of the Obamas. I’m a political dork and I would love to be in the White House, and I would love to hang out with Michelle Obama. I adore her.
PGN: What topic puts you to sleep? BC: Nothing, I’m a nerd and I have ADD, so if something comes on TV that I don’t know or understand, I have to go to my computer and look it up. I want to know why that ship sank in 1847.
PGN: What’s one item you should throw out but probably never will? BC: One of my many dresses, I have way too many frocks … and shoes and wigs. I must have 200 wigs. I’m invested in Mimi.
PGN: Worst etiquette breach? BC: When random people ask me for drink tickets. If you’re not buying the drinks, the drag queen’s not getting paid. Don’t ask for freebies.
PGN: If Mimi was a natural element, what would she be? BC: Wind.
PGN: What world record would you want to set? BC: Hours awake. I hate going to sleep. I always feel like I’m wasting time when I could be doing something.
PGN: What do you want on your gravestone? BC: I don’t want one. I don’t feel the need to take up space once I’m gone. It’s absurd.
PGN: People are always telling me I need to stop … BC: Worrying about what other people think. As a person who works in entertainment, it’s a constant battle, but it’s something we all should strive for — not to let other people’s words and behavior affect our happiness.
Mimi Imfurst takes the stage at the Philadelphia Pride Festival, which runs noon-6 p.m. June 8 at Penn’s Landing.
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