Draft:Rollerena Fairy Godmother

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Rollerena Fairy Godmother (shortened to Rollerena) is a persona created by an American man and Vietnam veteran who became a cultural icon in the 1970s and 80s known for roller-skating around New York City. She is credited, in part, for the 1980s roller craze and was also active as an entertainer, a disco queen, and an activist. She prefers to keep her true identity anonymous.

Rollerena was born on Saturday night, September 16, 1972 by a young man from Kentucky. The man went into an antique store called Opulent Era on Christopher Street in Greenwich Village, New York and told the employees if they had a bathrobe with some glitter on it, he would skate up and down the street wearing it. Someone put a hat on his head and a basket on his arm; he was given a ballgown that looked like it was from the 1930s and needed a wash and put that on as well. He skated down Christopher Street in the garb and a group of people came out to watch. It was reported that a crowd gathered like they were awaiting Glinda landing in Oz.

Over time, Rollerena added to the outfit: rhinestone glasses, costume jewelry, a small horn, and a magic wand to bless mortals became regular accessories to her character. Rollerena donned a button that said "How dare you presume I'm heterosexual" and wore what she called her dingleberry ring and asked fans of hers to kiss it. Her skateathons were mostly limited to well-heeled neighborhoods, gay spots, and chic haunts, like Studio 54. She did not consider herself a drag queen and instead preferred to be called that person or Fairy Godmother or a cross-dresser.

Early Life

The man that would later be known as Rollerena was born in 1948 outside of Louisville. The area he was raised in was mostly Southern Baptist, but he went to Catholic school. His mother was a nurse, and his father was a factory worker. He realized at four years old that he was attracted to the same sex, but he did not come out as gay in Kentucky. Instead, he would hitchhike or take the bus into Louisville to meet men. He was often referred to as "the belle of three counties" and calls himself a third-generation hillbilly.

Vietnam

After high school, he served in the artillery infantry and was assigned to the 25^th infantry division in the Vietnam War. He initially tried to dodge the draft by moving around and ignoring letters from the service telling him to report to the nearest induction center for a physical. During this time, he had odd jobs, working at a hotdog stand, a bookstore, a restaurant, and as an elevator operator. When he received the third letter telling him to report to an induction center, he was living in New York City in a room at the YMCA. He decided to go to the induction center thinking he would not pass the physical, but he received a letter stating he had passed and was drafted.

During his time in Vietnam, some of his jobs included handling the rounds, preparing explosives for the rounds, and acting as an assistant to headquarters. He began eating much less than usual and lost a lot of weight; he was sent to a military hospital in Japan for a two-week rehabilitation and was then sent back to Vietnam. He returned to the United States in September 1969 and experienced survivors guilt. He was around 19-20 when he was in Vietnam and described the experience as "bad", saying he "didn't understand it well enough" and "was too scared surviving from day to day." In a profile of Rollerena in the international magazine Mandate, he said he'd "been sent over to help protect Anita Bryant's front lawn from Communism." Bryant is a retired singer and an outspoken opponent of gay rights.

Professional Life

In 1974, he began working in the financial district of New York City. He preferred to keep his identity secret because he did not want anyone he worked with to find out he was Rollerena. Though he has never revealed what his occupation was, the media has speculated that he was a stockbroker, an executive, a lawyer, a salesman, and an insurance firm worker. Outside of the character he has been described as "a blue-eyed, 5'11", 128 pound" man "who wears his long hair in braids for work." He worked at the same company for almost 30 years and retired in 2003.

Rollin' Skeets

Before becoming Rollerena, he briefly assumed the character of Rollin' Skeets. Late in 1969 there was threat of a subway strike. The company he was working for was arranging car pickups but he found the process too complicated. The strike was ultimately averted but in early 1970 transit fares increased by 10 cents from 20 to 30 cents. On a hot day he found himself sweating in the subway, and he officially began skating to work on May 12, 1970, thinking the skates would be the best solution to his problem.

He began practicing his skating turns at night on 79^th and Fifth Avenue; the skating helped him get his mind off of bad memories and find an identity. He started adding items to his attire, a horn after colliding with a girl on a bike, a backpack to free his hands from carrying lunch, a visor to deflect flying objects, like bugs, and an umbrella hat bought from a vendor in Central Park. This was the birth of Rollin' Skeets. The man maintained the character of Rollin' Skeets for about two years, going to his first gay pride parade in 1971 as the character and being referenced by Vogue in September, 1972 as "a man in high-laced roller skates, yellow goggles, and a cap with a polka-dotted parasol on the top."

Rollerena Persona

Before becoming Rollerena, she briefly called herself Roller-Arena. Although the character came into being in September 1972, she officially made her debut in late 1973 when she came through 49^th and fifth avenue at the Easter Parade.

To keep her anonymity, she would go to secret areas around New York City to get dressed, leaving her building in work or casual clothing and reappearing as Rollerena. She carried around a large, brightly colored beaded bag which held the antique wedding gown, one of the 30 hats from her collection, jewelry, cat-eyed rhinestone glasses, and the roller skates.

Rollerena wanted to portray what she called "the magnolia-petal purity in her chiffon fantasy, turn of the century ballgown." Her eye-glasses have been described as late fifties Upper Montclair bridge club, her hats as housewife convention, and she liked to wear her nails long. Rollerena washed her dress just once a year. She did not smoke, drink, or wear makeup.

Her favorite spots to skate were the Upper West Side, Midtown, the Village, Christopher Street, Fifth Avenue, Saks Fifth Avenue, the linen department at Bloomingdale's, Studio 54, and she once skated through the Marine Recruiting center in lower Manhattan.

In these spots, she would bless people with her wand. She blessed marriages, couples who lived together, cabs, babies, anyone or anything she felt needed it. She was seen by some as New York City's fairy godmother and her goal and purpose was "to spread the Rollerena magic as much as she can, to spread joy, to bring love, to bring happiness, to unite people in a common cause."

She refers to Rollerena in the third person and thinks of her as a native New Yorker. Though her loyalty was to New York, she would attend parties out of town for a fee if it appealed to her.

Cultural Impact

Rollerena became culturally relevant in New York City with many publications making reference to her. Dick Cavett, in a column for the New York Times entitled "If I Were Mayor" wrote "I would encourage the development of more street eccentrics, the kind only New York seems to develop... The wonderful creature known as The Skating Pixie, who performs delightful arabesques while clad in taffeta gown and pillbox hat as he roller-skates through the city, would be subsidized." Others have reflected on being blessed by her, one man deciding to stay in New York City instead of moving back to Iowa after she blessed him. She has been referenced as a fashion guru, street skater Suzy Skates called Rollerena one of her heroes, and she has been the maid of honor at a wedding. She inspired author Edd Swift to model parts of his fictional character, Miss Jessie, after her in his novel Splendora, and her photo was featured on postcards.

"Rollerena" the Comic

In 1980, the New York Native began publishing a comic strip called "Rollerena" that came out in every issue. The comic received a lot of positive feedback with one reader writing into the New York Native saying it is "a welcome relief to stumble upon a cartoon strip dealing with Rollerena." In another instance, a reader wrote a letter to the Native asking to "bring back the guy in the gown", saying "the paper just isn't the same without the levity of Rollerena" after the comic was momentarily placed on pause when the cartoonist of "Rollerena", Michael Thomas, went on vacation.

Television, Radio, and Print Appearances

Rollerena had a post office box and business representatives. She has been on the programs Real People, Today Show, P.M., AM New York, Entertainment Tonight, Tomorrow Coast to Coast, Liz Smith, NBC News Focus. She has also been on Tom Synder, received verbal exposure on WKTU, and was interviewed by disco critic Bob Weiner for WBLS. Her photo has been featured on New York Nude and appeared in Playboy, Afterdark, Oui, and New York Mag.

Backlash

In December 1980, Lucia Valeska co-executive director of the then National Gay Task force referred to Rollerena in a speech as a traumatized homosexual whose freewheeling arose from emotional problems. Rollerena penned an angry response, writing Valeska was using her "power to further fragment the community by making defamatory and judgemental statements." Rollerena's response was sent to publications around the country and Valeska wrote an apology.

Despite Rollerena's best efforts to avoid labels, many publications referred to Rollerena as a drag queen or a transvestite.

Roller-Skating and Disco

Rollerena is credited, in part, for contributing to the roots of the roller-skating phenomenon in the 70s and 80s and was referred to as a famous roller and "America's Number One Roller Queen." In 1980, the New York Times suggested that Rollerena was "legendary in the city's roller skate subculture" and OOB suggested that Rollerena may have been the cause of the roller craze during that time.

Studio 54

In the mid 1970s, Rollerena became enthralled with the disco scene, becoming a regular at Studio 54 and dancing in her skates. Despite her love for skating, Rollerena was not a fan of roller-skating discos and preferred to dance face to face. She went to Studio 54 for the first time on Halloween night 1977, and it was reported that there was a flurry of applause from the people waiting outside. During her disco era and time at Studio 54, she became well known and danced with many stars. She danced with Liza Minelli and Rudolf Nureyev as well as Steve Rubell and Roberta Flack. She was also introduced to Betty Ford and Elizabeth Taylor and met Martha Graham during her time at the club. Rollerena was known on the streets of New York and in the disco scene.

From street fixture to nightlife scene, her skating became more geared toward big social parties at Studio 54. On Monday nights the club had charity benefits that were closed to the public, which Rollerena would frequently attend. The club closed for a time, but Rollerena attended the reopening of Studio 54 in 1981 where she blessed the event with a wand.

Activism

ACT UP and AIDS Activism

In 1983, Rollerena became involved in the AIDS community when she did a benefit for ARC at the Five Oaks and performed the song Coal Miner's Daughter. She began attending AIDS support groups on behalf of her friends who were too sick to go, ultimately stopping in 1984 when the experience became too painful.

In 1986, a good friend of hers passed away from AIDS and in August 1987, she decided to attend an ACT UP meeting. The international political group's goal was to end the AIDS pandemic, and the group would sell tickets to actions/events/rallies. On October 19, 1987, Rollerena officially joined ACT UP. She was asked to be the Ticket Queen and skated around the room selling tickets for these actions.

In 1988, Rollerena, along with about 14 other ACT UP activists, protested President Ronald Reagan's speech by holding up placards that protested Reagan inaction regarding AIDS. The protest turned violent as Reagan supporters began beating and kicking the protestors.

Rollerena was arrested at the City Hall action in New York City on March 28,1989 and again on April 20, 1989 in South Carolina for protesting anti-HIV laws. In 1990, she was apart of the 1000 ACT UP demonstrators who stormed the New York State capital who came to Albany to find money for AIDS funding. She also joined the picket lines at Memorial Sloan Kettering to protest under-enrollment in AIDS drug trials and hosted a dance party to benefit AIDS treatment. She officially left ACT UP in March 1990 after being the Ticket Queen one last time.

Additional Activism

Apart from her AIDS activism, Rollerena attended a housing rally in Chelsea in 1986 to prevent someone from being evicted, protested St. Patrick's Cathedral and John Cardinal O'Connor around issues surrounding the church and state, abortion rights, and gay rights, and cared for the elderly and battled at housing court to protect the tenants of her upper east side building. She also attended every pride parade in skates from 1971 to 1994.

Honors/Awards

Rollerena received a lifetime achievement award from Heritage of Pride's (HOP) fourth annual awards ceremony. In her acceptance speech she said "I always knew that when I left my home state of Kentucky in 1967, New York City would always be the best place for me to serve as a role model for posterity."

Rollerena was listed as an honorary guest at he drag ball Night of a Thousand Gowns and she was honored at a gala benefit for ACT UP on April 8, 1988.

Alternate Spellings

Alternate spellings for Rollerena include: Roller Arena, Rollerina, Roller Rena, Roller-Arena, Rollerarena, and Roller(a)rena.

Archival Materials

Rollerena donated her materials to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender Community Center Archives between 1995 and 2009, consisting of four boxes which include newspaper and magazine articles, listing of appearances on radio or TV shows, files about her participation in ACT UP, awards, correspondence and photographs. Select items from the collection have been digitized by the Digital Transgender Archive.