Doris Dear, the drag persona of Ray DeForest, shares Pride-related pictures and has been performing for about 15 years. DeForest grew up on Staten Island and developed a character inspired by the women who raised him and the family he knew. He wanted audiences to feel familiar joy, comfort in being accepted as they are, and the importance of preserving stories from loved people. He came out to his family at the dinner table in 1975 and felt terrified, even keeping a bag packed under his bed. His family’s response was lighthearted, and the character Doris continues to deliver humor, nostalgia, glamour, and an open invitation to join the table.
"“I wanted audiences to feel something familiar: the joy of sitting around a kitchen table laughing until your sides hurt, the comfort of being accepted exactly as you are, and the importance of holding onto the stories of the people we love,” DeForest, who grew up gazing across New York Harbor from Staten Island, told LGBTQ Nation."
"“I had a bag packed under my bed 'just in case' things went badly. That tells you a lot about what it felt like to be gay back then.” While passing the mashed potatoes, he blurted out, “I'm gay!” “Okay,” his father replied, “but the potatoes are getting cold.”"
"“She's funny, nostalgic, glamorous in her own perfectly imperfect way, and believes there is always room for one more at the table,” DeForest explains. “What makes Doris special to me is that she comes from a very real place. She carries pieces of my mother, my sister, my aunts, neighbors, and the strong women I grew up around.”"
Read at LGBTQ Nation
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