3 days ago
3
FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) - A Fresno resistance king has been recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records arsenic the oldest resistance king successful the world.
She is besides portion of the instauration of LGBTQ+ visibility wrong the Central Valley.
Born successful 1944 arsenic Elsie Saldaña, 80-year-old El Daña began her vocation arsenic a resistance king, oregon performative antheral impersonator, astatine 21 years aged successful 1965 astatine the Red Robin. The cheery bar, erstwhile located adjacent Belmont Avenue and Golden State Boulevard, was 1 of the fewer successful the vale astatine the time.
"I went to the barroom and erstwhile I walked successful I saw each these cheery men and a fewer women successful there, lesbians, you know, and I said 'Oh my God, I'm not the lone one!' I mean, it was each caller to me. You know, I thought I had died and went to heaven," El Daña said.
There, she met Jesse Villalobos, the laminitis of the Imperial Dove Court de Fresno, and aft auditioning for Villalobos, took the signifier to execute Ritchie Valens' "La Bamba."
"I was precise tense erstwhile I got connected signifier the archetypal time, my knees were shaking. But erstwhile I got into it and the assemblage responded truly well, pfft, I forgot astir being nervous. So it was fantastic and I was hooked from determination on," she explained.
Being the eldest girl of seven, moving successful the fields, and navigating beingness during a clip erstwhile homosexuality was deemed a intelligence illness, El Daña recovered her paradise done drag.
"Finally, erstwhile I could fto myself go, the amusement was my outlet, you know. At the infinitesimal that I was determination entertaining, I forgot astir everything else. I was feeding my psyche and what I wanted," she expressed.
In 1980, El Daña co-founded the Sequoia Imperial Empire with Joe Victoriano astatine the lone cheery barroom successful Farmersville, the High Chaparral. Together they would springiness backmost to those successful request and rise wealth for the LGBTQ+ community, including those who were suffering from AIDs.
"There was 1 queen, helium was truthful ill, you know, and we thought helium wasn't going to marque it. So I spell sojourn him," she explained. "He made it. And erstwhile helium came out, He came up to me, shook my hand. He said, 'Thank you. I cognize I couldn't pass with you, but I was telling you, I emotion you, and thanking you.'"
Through drag, El Daña has traveled crossed the federation and earned galore accolades, including the Harvey Milk Award successful 2024 by California Senator Anna Caballero. Most recently, she was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records arsenic the oldest resistance king successful the world.
Having lived done the Stonewall Riots and the AIDS epidemic to now, El Daña acknowledges the magnitude of advancement nine has made toward the LGBTQ+ community, but is fearful that the clime is regressing.
She believes the lone mode to determination guardant is together.
"We request to each travel together, you know, the cheery community, we each request to travel unneurotic and enactment together. Because immoderate of them, you know, they're against each other, and there's backstabbing and fighting. It shouldn't beryllium that way," El Daña expressed.
And for anyone struggling to find themselves oregon unrecorded authentically arsenic who they are, El Daña says to ne'er springiness up.
"If you tin assistance idiosyncratic adjacent though you request it astir yourself, if you assistance someone, bash it. Because successful return, you'll get it backmost tenfold, really, and you'll beryllium okay. You conscionable support going and beryllium gentle and benignant to everybody, nary substance however atrocious you hurt."
