The life & legacy of atlanta drag icon, Tina Devore

Jun 22

Written By Harry James Hanson and Devin Antheus

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The following is an essay from ‘Legends of Drag: Queens of a Certain Age’ a newly released photo book by authors Harry James Hanson and Devin Antheus. The book features 81 legendary queens across 16 cities — you can order it here via Abrams Books.

Tina Devore
Atlanta | Scorpio

I'm primarily known as a nurturer, more so than an entertainer. Make no mistake–Tina Devore entertained the children and brought them up right, but the humility to eschew her own ego distinguishes this legend from the herd. Tina spent forty-five years nurturing generations of Atlanta’s drag community before her sudden passing in September 2021. She spoke of her own legacy with profound clarity. I see my responsibility as more than just a drag queen but a leader. As someone who can be trusted, who makes a difference. Life is fleeting. Time is not promised to us, things can change in the twinkling of an eye. We met only once, an afternoon now suspended in time as the entropic universe churns on. A sweet gardenia in her hair, eyes gazing into the distance, Tina found the light.

Tina’s story begins farther south, in the small town of Live Oak, Florida, halfway between Tallahassee and Jacksonville. Her theatrical disposition presented itself early on. Her best friend Tony DeSario remembers Tina as “a boy with a little too much sugar in his tank.” At age eight she taught herself to play piano by ear, accompanying the church choir for years. Tina recalled a void of glamorous Black role models in her childhood, until she discovered Diana Ross & The Supremes. She used to put money in a jukebox at the local five and dime just to see their album cover pop up when the record played. Tina went on to play flute and clarinet in the high school marching band, then enrolled at Florida State University to study theater. In the summer of 1974 Tina earned a coveted role at Disneyworld as one of the Kids of the Kingdom, an ensemble composed of music and theater majors from around the country. The troupe performed four shows a day at Cinderella’s Castle, and attended classes teaching the principles of showmanship and entertainment.

Partway through their summer session she discovered a deeper kinship with her castmates. Somebody at the bus station tried to pick one of us up, and we were talking about it on the way home. One boy said, "Well, I wouldn't have minded if he hadn't been so ugly!" It was like an icebreaker, and everyone reacted, "Oh, well are you–?" It turns out we were all gay. The next night they sought out a gay bar called the Palace in Orlando, and fatefully found a drag show there. Between her theatrical training, natural storytelling ability, and supreme fascination with Diana Ross, Tina sensed intuitively, “I can do that.” Then it's that typical story: they were having a talent show next week. We decided one of us would do the show and the others would support. Of course, I was the one chosen. I entered the talent show and I won.

Following the summer stint at Disneyworld, Tina resolved to introduce Tallahasseeans to what I learned in Orlando: this drag show thing. It went over pretty big. Tina’s local celebrity soon attracted the attention of a skinny young thing named Pee-Wee. Infamously, Pee-Wee went on to become The Lady Chablis, The Grand Empress of Savannah. In her biography Hiding My Candy, Chablis admits to a crush on Tina. Out dancing one night, Chablis asked Tina for her number.

Later on that week she calls me, wants to know if she can come over and visit. I'm thinking, “Oh my goodness I don't want to be bothered with this girl… but ok.” I've always been one who has a place where everybody comes to eat and congregate and party. So she comes over and during the course of the conversation, I found out she's not a girl at all. But you simply could not tell! “Miss Pee-wee” is what they've called her all her life. We became really good friends after that because I'd never seen anything quite like her. Tina’s motherly instincts kicked in, and she cast Chablis in her very first show.

In 1977, Tina ventured to Atlanta for a weekend getaway, which took things to a totally new level. Drag is serious business; the people are living! A couple months later I was back lock, stock and barrel. The scene was hot, the energy over the top! Even more so than the show— the men. There were some beautiful men, unlike I had seen anywhere else. I was like, “Girl I'm sorry I love y'all but I gotta go!” Atlanta called. They call it Hotlanta for a reason. Despite successes in Florida, Tina professed she still didn’t know much about the art of drag upon her arrival. I looked horrible, but I was happy.

Tina brought her headshot and resume around to all the Atlanta bars, but soon discovered nobody cared about any of that. Her course changed when she caught wind of a talent night–here we go again–at the Onyx, a predominantly white bar. Tina took the audience to church with a stirring rendition of “Operator (Give Me Jesus on the Line).” Jesus seemingly got the memo, because that very same night two regular cast members quit, leaving the bar in a pinch. I was hired there, making $125 a week, working five nights a week. So that's where Tina was truly born, and it's been uphill ever since! Tina became the first Black cast member at the establishment.

The Onyx promoted Tina to show director in just six short weeks. An opening on the cast occasioned a reunion with her sister-daughter, Miss Pee-Wee Chablis. In her autobiography, Chablis remembers Tina inviting her to move during a return visit to Tallahassee. If you ever want to make something of your life and career you gotta leave here, girl. ‘Cause if you stay, you’re gonna end up bein’ a wino and a barfly. The two hopped in Tina’s yellow Pinto to start a new chapter together in the Big Peach. Chablis described feeling uncertain how she’d survive in Atlanta until Miss Tina informed her of a talent contest at the Onyx after her arrival. However Tina recalled knowing all along that Chablis would join the cast. Mother always knows. On the Onyx stage, Tina christened Chablis as The Lady for the very first time. I used to call her “The bubbling and sparkling Lady Chablis.” Maybe that was a stretch!

Throughout the late 70s and early 80s, Tina and Chablis took their act on the road to Nashville, Charlotte, Roanoke, Columbus, and towns throughout Georgia. They’d bring a few newcomer girls along, too. Sometimes it would be six of us in a Volkswagen with all our drag. We were determined to make that money! One time we were all jammed up like that and the hood of the car blew up and we couldn't see, swerving across the interstate. Who had a driver’s license? I don't know. Who had insurance on their vehicle? Nobody. We were doing everything we could to survive in those days. It was not easy but it was a lot of fun.

Through Atlanta’s thriving drag scene, Tina learned from the very best. Rachel Wells was THE Atlanta icon and just overall good people. I loved and worshipped her. Tina loved Hot Chocolate as well, she was the dancing disco diva at the time. She remembered Lisa King as an ebony goddess who could stand still and just mesmerize. Those three in particular stand out, though many others came and went. When the stars aligned, their power coalesced to form an indestructible megalith. Clubs such as the Sweet Gum Head, Illusions, the Answer, LaVita’s and the Armory were more than just gay bars with drag shows, they were show bars. In those days we had costumes and choreography, very unlike today. We were putting on a SHOW. Back then, the show was the star and the star was the show.

As Tina refined her stage persona she cultivated a reputation for bringing a level of class to the craft. She contrasted her style to that of Charlie Brown, the legendary mother of Backstreet nightclub. She's very in your face: "Hey motherfuckers! I may look like mama but I'm hung like daddy!" That's not my approach. I want to be respectable. I see how the crowd reacts to it, it still doesn't make me want to do it. Tina desired to make her audiences feel comfortable, rather than intimidated. I always entertained this idea I could bring my mother to the show and she'd enjoy it. I’d never bring my mama anywhere they say “motherfuckers” or “assholes.”

Tina’s ladylike graces proved a crucial asset as she launched her pageant career. Among a litany of conquests one always stood out as her crowning glory: Once I won Miss Gay Atlanta 1983 I really felt like I'd arrived. Tony DeSario recalls, “At Miss Atlanta she brought the house down, and upset the children bad. ” The list of former Miss Gay Atlantas is a veritable who’s who of Southern drag: Hot Chocolate, Dina Jacobs, Lisa King, Rachel Wells, Lady Shawn, all of whom went on to win national titles. I always, always, always wanted to be part of that legacy because that put me in a sorority that absolutely represented the best of the best.

Although she held her local title dearest, Tina competed at a national level as well. She achieved Miss Black America 1985, the second queen to ever win the title. Some people didn't understand the need for MBA, but it was a time when entertainers of color frequently did not get their due. Throughout her reign Tina cherished the opportunity to connect with Black audiences more deeply. Working in the Onyx and other white clubs, she felt at times like an outsider in the Black community. MBA brought her into the fold. It was an acceptance that I strived for. Tina also competed and judged within the USofA system for over four decades, holding the emeritus title of Miss Gay USofA Classic 2003, among many others.

Regal as she was, Tina possessed cunning wit and impeccable comedic timing too. She cowrote and hosted News Beat, a satirical gay interest news program which debuted on local access cable in 1984. Portraying reporter Louise Marie Goodman, Tina condescends to cohost Rachel Wells in her very best over-articulated white lady voice. The duo keep Atlantans in the know on a range of hot topics, from suspicious gatherings of homosexuals downtown to homo poachers in Piedmont Park.

Barely recognizable in “Cooking with Esther” segments, Tina dons country auntie drag complete with a cigarette hanging out of the corner of her mouth. She instructs viewers to keep your husbands at home with her neck bones and rice recipe. First you take four pounds of neck bones, get the young tender kind like I use. They only cost 87 cents. Through Esther, Tina showcased her genuine love for cooking to comedic effect. Kelly Ray confirms the authenticity of her material: after spending what little money they had on rent and fun, they’d pool change to buy neck bones, and “Miss Tina would feed us all.” Tina’s drag daughter Terry Vanessa Coleman relayed the miraculous: “she could take a can of corn and feed 1,000 people.”

As the autumn leaves reached their vibrant crescendo in early November 2021, Tina’s chosen family gathered in Atlanta to celebrate her life and legacy. The community she nourished came out in full force for a tribute show at the Heretic nightclub, its lineup stacked with eighteen veterans of the Atlanta scene. Throughout the decades, Tina performed at every single show bar in the city. As show director of numerous venues and producer of her own talent contests, she birthed dozens of disciples, many of whom matured to become legends themselves. Her very closest associates knew her as “Tina Coquina Consuela Deveroux Devore.” All that talent together in one room, united in their devotion, put the tremendous scope of her life’s work on display. Before the performances began, we overheard one guest remark, “ain’t enough chairs in this room for every homeless transient little hustler boy that she gave food’n shelter to.”

Paula Sinclair, Tina’s successor at Miss Black America, delivered Natalie Cole’s “This Will Be,” and the crowd lined up to tip her as if taking communion. Tony DeSario recounted Tina’s unwavering commitment to AID Atlanta, raising hundreds of thousands over the years, and volunteering in hospitals to provide comfort to those abandoned by their families. Tiffany Arieagus took the stage for the first time in two years, covered in crystals and shrouded in a silver cape trimmed in white ostrich. Preceding her performance of “Imagine,” she testified: “I know she’s an angel. This song says everything we used to talk about, and still talk about in our dreams.” Dressed in glittering gold filigree, Tasha Long performed Tina’s signature song, “Here’s to Life.” She praised Tina’s deep influence: “You, Tina, were to me what Maya Angelou was to Oprah.” Niesha Dupree reflected on Tina’s dream of owning a restaurant, “she fed us all with her love, her performances, her gracious spirit.” Kelly Ray stormed the stage with arms outstretched to the heavens. The stomping of her heels left a hole in the floor, and sent reverberations throughout the room. She recalled how Tina comforted her while at her lowest: anyone can be Miss America but nobody else could ever be Kelly Ray.

The catharsis continued at Friends on Ponce, where Kelly Ray climbed atop the bar and the pool table, then beat her fists against the ceiling to Natalie Cole’s “I’ve Got Love On My Mind.” Alicia Kelly channeled Patti LaBelle with such explosive power she fell to the floor and kicked off her heels, wailing “You Are My Friend.” Shawnna Brooks paid tribute with one of her signature high energy dance routines, her daughter Nicole looked on beaming with pride. Shawnna calls Tina “the reason I'm in Atlanta. Her true beauty was in her personality.” The room shook with thunderous applause, dollar bills rained down in a flurry. Tina loved seeing that light in the eyes of her audience. That lets me know I've somehow made a difference in their lives. Tina’s radiant light shines on through those she inspired and entertained.

I run into people all the time who say "you're the first drag queen I ever saw! You gave me this bit of advice when I was seventeen! I'll never forget it." It makes me feel so good when I see younger performers achieve and succeed, because I know somewhere there's a little piece of me in there. It touches my heart. That's what we need to continue to do: pass on little pieces, because the future depends on each of us. I'm glad to be here but I've earned my seat in the shade.

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Harry James Hanson is an artist, creative director, and lifelong drag performer based in Brooklyn. Their work spans the fine art, commercial, and editorial worlds, driven by a desire to tell beautiful stories and collaborate with other artists. Hanson’s photography has been published in the New York Times, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Dazed, PAPER, New York magazine, and Rolling Stone.

Devin Antheus is a floral stylist, spirit worker, and writer living in San Francisco. They are a devotee of the Goddess Flora, a founder of the Temple of Dionysos, and the Thiasos of the Flowering Branch. They teach classes on floral design, Mediterranean mystery traditions, and queer spiritualities. Their writing has appeared in Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, the New Inquiry, and Co-Star Astrology Society. They are an editor-at-large for Contagion Press.

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