PrideScape Blog Series- Drag King Power Hour: Pride Through Performance Art at the Portland Pride Waterfront Festival 2026

Drag King Power Hour: Pride Through Performance Art at the Portland Pride Waterfront Festival 2026

Author: Jax Lamont, Pride Northwest Media Team 

Hear the word “drag” and the first thing that comes to mind for many people are queens in elaborate ball gowns. However, there are many ways to do drag. Drag kings continue to push the boundaries and shatter expectations of what one might think drag looks like. For the second year, the Portland Pride Waterfront Festival featured a drag king-specific performance hour, headlined by the first ever “Drag King of The Year”, Tenderoni, with support of local kings Karla Marx, Papa Titty and Dolores General. Aside from their drag king status, another common denominator united the four: all of them are Latine and incorporated their culture and heritage in their performances.

The combination of both queer pride and Latine pride was apparent in each of their performances. Karla Marx came out in Black Bloc and protested ICE while waving the Mexican flag. “I created this act as an act of catharsis. On the ground protest is just as critical as any other kind of protest,” he explained. "I’ve had spaces that have not wanted me to do the kind of drag I do and I reject that.”

Dolores General, whose performance was an act of indigenous protest with the messages “defund”, “protect” and “land back” painted on their red suit jacket, echoed similar sentiments. Originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico, General said they’re not used to seeing people that look like them in drag spaces. “Drag is for everybody,” they stated.

During their performance, General tipped their hat to the audience in gentleman-like fashion and passed out roses to the crowd with a special message on them: “You are loved. You are important.”

Papa Titty used their performance to reclaim their roots and challenge the misconception that the “Wild West” was white. Prancing around in a cowboy hat and fringe to the country song “Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy”, Titty proved the West can be both proudly queer and Latine. “I really like taking very patriarchal normative songs,” Titty explained about his song choice. “I think it’s very fun to make the masculine person as the object of objectification.”

Tenderoni closed out the Drag King Power Hour with a display of pure Puerto Rican pride. Dressed in a bedazzled cream outfit emblazoned with the number “88”, they replicated Bad Bunny’s recent Super Bowl half time performance.

Together the four drag kings filled the hour with their Latine queer flare and reinvented and challenged socionormative stereotypes of masculinity. “It’s a different vibe when you get to perform with all drag kings,” Tenderoni said of the drag king hour. “I feel like I’m at a family BBQ.”

With four different Latine drag kings, all from different backgrounds, the Portland Pride Waterfront Festival highlighted the role of intersectionality, community and cultural significance during its Drag King Power Hour. All of the drag kings spoke on the importance of this as well and how special it was to get to have an hour dedicated entirely to drag kings. “Not only is it important for people to see the diversity of drag but also we are getting to be spotlit in a way we haven’t been before,” expressed Titty.

Marx reverberated a similar feeling: “To have that focus instead of just kings being thrown here and there, it feels like this is needing to happen now more than ever and I hope that this is something that expands from here…we should have kings all over the fucking place,” they stated.

A Note on Hispanic Heritage Month and Community Resilience

Hispanic Heritage Month Statement from Pride Northwest

Every day, across our country, the need for an appreciation of the positive impact of the Hispanic and Latine community becomes increasingly evident. We celebrate both the culture and contributions, and how these reverberate across the many axes of our lives. Pride Northwest strives to put this sentiment into action, as we lift up our Queer Latine leaders, leverage our stages and platforms to advocate for appreciation and engage in collaborative social justice work, such as participating in the Oregon for All Coalition. 

-Ian Morton, Director of Programs, Pride Northwest

Community Resilience

This Community Resilience Drive season, we'll be highlighting the organizations, people, spaces and stories that make our LGBTQ2SIA+ community resilient. At the heart of resilience is connection and ensuring that our communities thrive.

National Hispanic Heritage Month, observed September 15 through October 15, offers an opportunity to celebrate the culture, heritage and contributions of people with ancestry from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. Community Resilience is driven by our diverse community, and it’s also an opportunity to highlight the many ways Hispanic and Latine communities have built connection, culture and strength among their communities. 

Latine art and resilience feels especially important at a time when many latine communities are experiencing heightened fear, uncertainty and targeting. Highlighting and celebrating our Latine Drag Kings is not only about honoring history but affirming that LGBTQ2SIA+ Latine communities as well as immigrant communities are all an essential and important part of our LGBTQ2SIA+ community. 

The Drag King Hour at the 2026 Portland Pride Waterfront Festival is an example of what visibility and connection can make possible. Through performance art, Drag King Hour highlights Latine excellence while creating space for the community to see themselves represented and celebrated. 

In times of fear and division, isolation can become a natural response. That is why responding with community care and connection can be so important. And that is what Pride Northwest’s Community Resilience Dive is all about: finding where you plug in. Whether you are an artist, volunteer, supporter, or an ally, there is a place for you in the work. 

The Community Resilience Drive strengthens Pride Northwest’s connection to the Portland LGBTQ2SIA+ community by investing in and collaborating with the people and grassroots organizations closest to the issues facing our communities. As a conduit for connection, resources, and visibility, Pride Northwest helps amplify community-led work and the resilience of our communities.

So, where will you plug in?

Learn more about the 2026-27 Community Resilience Drive: Community Resilience | PRIDE NORTHWEST, INC. 

-Julie, Administrative Assistant, Pride Northwest

Performance Gallery