Brodie Trinket is a star. Wearing an outfit made of paper rainbow butterflies, she prances around the stage while an announcer tells the audience that Trinket loves “cookies, herding bad boys, and nipping their butts.” When asked for a comment, she simply pants. Trinket, by the way, is a poodle. Not everyone is a fan of Trinket’s colorful butterfly getup, however. “What a showboat,” a tattooed punk says to her friend as she cracks open a PBR. “Give me some fishnets.” The competition is truly fierce at Capitol Hill PrideFest’s Doggie Drag Contest. Apparently, people even have opinions on how dogs should pull off a Madonna impersonation.
The event is emceed by Seattle Times columnist Nicole Brodeur and judged by five drag queens, two of whom say very little but look very pretty. The other three queens (DonnaTella Howe, Fraya Love, and Londyn Bradshaw) have plenty to say. “I think this dog is kinkier than all the puppies in this community,” says DonnaTella Howe, referring to George, a scraggly dog whose drag inspiration is “50 Shades of Gay.” (George’s special talent is “looking like Bernie Sanders.”) Brodeur is not pleased by Howe’s pup-play reference, and she repeatedly reminds the queens that this is a “family-friendly event.” The 5-year-old next to me, however, does not seem phased by the references to Grindr and kinky sex.
