Dottie

In March of 2014 I began my first foray into Transvestitism, it was incredibly successful, illuminating and liberating. With my transition to the West Coast I found myself performing as a “Bearded Lady” time and time again, later with the discovery of “Dottie”, I decided to pursue being an “Executive Transvestite” offstage and in my personal life. The practice, one of radical self expression, and of political and cultural protest has had some amazing and lasting effects on my mental health, my relationship to women and my professional demeanor. Fully embracing both the feminine and masculine aspects of beings is a powerful and humbling experience that reaffirms our humanity and our potential. As such, I feel it is part and parcel to my identity and to my calling in life to integrate my personal philosophy with my professional life. The foundation of Queer culture is built on acceptance, understanding, and self expression, while the industry on the other hand thrives on toxic masculinity, the exploitation of workers, overtly politicized business practices and a most singular focus on the dollar. Situated in the chasm between these two cultures I work on a daily basis to bring these two groups together by hiring and training Queer people in the trades, a community that is vastly underrepresented and underserved in the industry, while challenging and changing the culture and mindsets of work crews across Los Angeles. Dottie certainly exists first and foremost as an extension of, by and for myself, but just as importantly as a portal between the queer and normie worlds which have so much to learn and benefit from one another. In the last 5 years I’ve built the queerest crew of riggers in LA, possibly in the world, mediated conflicts between these disparate groups on such high profile events as the Oscars Red Carpet and trained over 20 queer people in Rigging, Carpentry and Electrics.