...And Unto Them a Drag Queen Was Born at Re-Bar, Seattle, Wa, December 27, 1992

This handbill advertises a benefit for the HIV scholarship fund at Bastyr Natural Health Clinic, held at Re-Bar in Seattle on December 27, 1992. Presented by local performer and producer Paula Sjunneson (b. unknown), then known as the Swedish Housewife, this show told the story of the mythical discovery of the “Percival Pump,” which was worn by a man and which proved “the existence of transvestites in pre-history, and implies that cross-dressing is a natural urge.” The event raised money to support access to natural medicine to those living with HIV and AIDS who could not otherwise afford it, and which was not funded by insurance or government programs. Performers included Sjunneson, Mark Fleming (b. unknown), Susy Schneider (b. unknown), Jesse Chipps (b. unknown), Carl Smool (b. unknown), and Tanya Ransom (b. unknown). 

Steve Wells and Patrick “Pit” Kwiecinski opened Re-Bar in January 1990 at 1114 Howell Street, which had long been a safe space for Seattle’s LGBTQ community. The Night Hawk Tavern (or Nite Hawk) opened in the 1930s, creating a center of gay nightlife featuring cabaret, followed by Thirsty’s in the 1970s, which then became Axel Rock, a dance-focused venue, in the 1980s, and finally Sparks Tavern, which added full-length stage plays, before Re-Bar moved in. Until 2020, when Re-Bar, like many venues during the COVID-19 pandemic, closed indefinitely, they hosted disco nights, art exhibits, theatre, drag, burlesque, and live bands, supporting generations of LGBTQ patrons and performers. KEXP’s Riz Rollins got his start as a DJ, becoming a big part of Seattle’s Black music scene, David Schmader put on his first three plays, and drag performer and comedian Dina Martina was born at Re-Bar. The venue also hosted one of the longest running poetry nights in the West, Seattle Poetry Slam, and a weekly Sunday dance night, Flammable. On September 13, 1991, Re-Bar also hosted the infamous release party for Nirvana’s second album, Nevermind.