Drag queens are known for lots of things. The hair. The outfits. The colorful style. The lip syncing. And, of course, the dishing.
Now a drag queen in Toronto is putting all of that in a fun, sporty package that breaks the mold.
Coco Baskets is a drag queen ready to kick ass and take name on the queens’ court. For Coco Baskets, her sports theme isn’t an act. When I asked her why the sports theme is important to her drag persona, she waxed poetic about a life surrounded by sports. Heck, her non-drag name — Alomar — came from, you guessed it…
I was born between back-to-back World Series wins for the Toronto Blue Jays, and my dad commemorated that by naming me “Alomar”. I grew up playing sports in varying levels of competitiveness (basketball and baseball were my strongest). Sports were always on TV at home and it was often the thing that brought us together as a family.
Behind the mascara, Alomar is a gay man and a lifelong sports fan who has recently come to accept his sexuality.
Coco can be found most of the time dribbling a basketball with the Toronto Raptors logo. She isn’t afraid to make some bold predictions for the NBA Playoffs, and put her sports knowledge out there for the jocks to judge. She knows her stuff:
“Grampa Gregg Popovich.” She got game!
“‘Queen of the Court’ is marrying my life-long love for sports with a new burgeoning passion for drag performance,” she said. “And that’s how I know Coco is a perfect fit for me.”
And like any other drag queen worth her weight in glitter, Coco Baskets lip syncs for her life. True to her sports lineage, she does it to Quad City DJ’s title track to the Michael Jordan animated basketball film ‘Space Jam.’
I kid you not:
We have long loved jock diva Jackie Dupree in New York, who is a mainstay of the New York Gay Flag Football League.
Now we’re thrilled to see Coco Baskets enter the drag realm and continue to turn stereotypes upside down with her crossover dribble.
You can follow Coco Baskets on Instagram @CourtQueenCoco, on Twitter @CourtQueenCoco, or on Facebook.
