exclusive: Cher hits town

The annual Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras is in full swing for it's 40th anniversary. Here is our exclusive 'selfie' sent poste haste to Whispers from the PM himself, Malcolm Turnbull. Pictured is Malcolm, Cher, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Lucy Turnbull. What fun !

Maxine's Magnificent Gig

She's a welcoming sight to Darlinghurst visitors : drag star Maxi Shield patrols Sydney's Oxford Street like she's owns it. And why not. On freezing winter nights like those we are currently experiencing Maxi warms the cockles of any heart as she happily chats to passersby at the Colombian Hotel on the Golden Mile adding a touch of glamour to the strip, now losing much of it's glitter under new licensing laws that are crucifying inner-city nightlife.
Now Maxi will be the grand hostess at Madonna's 2016 Rebel Heart Tour of Australia where she will host after-parties in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne and hopefully it could lead to a whole new career along the lines of Perez Hilton who does similar around the USA. # Maxi swears that bosom is real.

Sydney's Newest Cross-Dresser

There's something about Virgin boss Richard Branson- he loves to slip into a frock at the drop of a hat, or in this case, allegedly after losing a bet.
He seems to have taken quite a fancy to this dark-hued man who is promoted from by-stander to passenger being spoon fed by Richard. Just what is going on here? I think we should be told.

Sydney's drag queen set have been moaning recently about the dearth of young trannies coming through the ranks to entertain on the Golden Mile of Oxford Street. Perhaps Branson can lend a hand !


Right : a previous drag episode saw Branson impersonating the Bride of Frankenstein.

Only In Oz # 1

A new series : sights rarely seen elsewhere but common place in this strange land: at the Beresford Hotel where assorted folk gathered including some Diggers from the morning's Anzac Day march to gamble on Two-Up, the one day of the year it is legal to play.

Call Me A Cab

It's been an institution since it opened in 1958.

The Taxi Club in Flinders Street, Darlinghurst is a 24 hour club that originally catered for taxi drivers coming off their shifts, at 3pm and 3 am.

It soon became one of the most popular venues in Sydney and the place to end up after a night out to continue the celebrations. By 4am the joint was jumping and it stayed that way until around 10.30 am when it shut it's doors for one hour so the cleaners could give it the once over.

The great fun about the Taxi Club was the sheer variety of clientele : taxi drivers, off duty coppers, high court judges, bank robbers, drag queens, con men and a huge swathe of the gay and lesbian community long before Oxford Street became the gay haven it is now. In fact eventually the club changed it's constitution to state that it's prime objective was to serve the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and intersex community.

And you could be sure that any visiting celebrity would end up partying at the Taxi- Tom & Nicole watched a drag show as did Morgan Freeman. 
Bruce Springsteen played the pokies for 2 hours, Liberace called in for a drink as did Sammy Davis Jr and Shirley Bassey while Winifred Atwell often gave a impromptu performance at 2am.
The Shuttle once spotted Hollywood Legend Van Johnson nursing a drink at the bar.

lethal stairs

Around 5am a burly truck driver may discover that a transgender status was no barrier to a night of romance and there were many tales about the noted magistrate who was fond of stilettos and skimpy frocks who often lured heterosexual men to the car park next door in the early hours and never once had anything other than a 'happy ending'.

And if anyone got out of control which was frequent before the club clamped down on drug use, the tales of who was ejected via the narrow staircase to the street below were legendary. Most woke up in hospital with no memory of where they had been the night before.

Sadly with the proliferation of nightclubs around Sydney that are mainly a variation on the last one, the Taxi Club has suffered for the past few years and is no longer financially viable. On April 6th it's doors close forever.

Drag Star Carmen Laid to Rest

Some mourners flew across the Tasman for her funeral as the legendary drag star and Kings Cross identity Carmen Rupe was laid to rest today at Rookwood Cemetery in Sydney.

Carmen died last week of kidney failure at the age of 75.
At her service at the Sydney Anglican Maori Church in Redfern almost 250 mourners crammed in to celebrate Carmen's life and were treated to same memorable stories.

Such as when Carmen was summonsed by the New Zealand Parliament in 1977 to explain herself for for claiming on a TV chat show that there were many gay New Zealand MPs. How times have changed. Former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark sent a letter of condolence and NZ television was there to record her funeral.

Lifetime friend Jacquie Grant, looking out across the congregation said "this looks like the best drag show in town"
Jacquie described how during the 1960s and 70s she and Carmen were hauled in by the Kings Cross police many times when they were spotted walking down the street in drag. Sometimes the police were brutal, sometimes very very friendly, but the 2 spent many stints out at Long Bay Jail.

Koko D'Vyne

Ribena arrives

Friend Ribena said "Carmen's life was theatre in action, so her funeral was always going to be a colourful event."
Said friend Koko D'Vyne:“It is a very sad day because who else do we know that was able to do things that Carmen did? Who was bold enough who was strong enough?”
Famous Oxford Street cabaret star Monique Kelly said :“I used to say ‘you’re to blame for all this influx of drag queens from New Zealand’,”
Carmen joined Abe Saffron's Les Girls in the 1950s and was a popular performer there during the 60's and 70s.

not all tears

 She was way ahead of her time and when she stood for mayor of her home town Wellington in the 1970s she advocated for gay and indigenous rights, legalised prostitution and abortion. Along the way she met Frank Sinatra's granddaughter Deana who became a pal.


As the mourners formed a guard of honour, commandeering the street and stopping traffic, Carmen's bright red casket slowly disappeared from view in a white hearse for her final trip to Rookwood to a rousing cheer and a soloist singing her favorite song Le Vie En Rose.