Doris Fish made her presence known in the 1978 San Francisco Gay Freedom Day parade, a pivotal year for the gay rights movement as the community organized and fought back the notorious Briggs initiative under the leadership of Harvey Milk. Drag queens were quite controversial as gay and lesbian assimilationists argued the sent a bad message to the mainstream world. Letters to the editor in the gay press encouraged drag be banned at the parade. Doris Fish marching down the street on stilts in every color of the rainbow was certainly a defiant rebuttal. Doris was a vigorous advocate for drag as an art form and her drag was a step forward from the more familiar female impersonator or Imperial Court drag. There are a number of photos from this parade of gay men outrageously frolicking in women’s clothes, but none with the kind of commitment and thought Doris exhibited.
Doris was in Australia in June 1979, returning in July, according the Craig Seligman’s book. This photo by Crawford Wayne Barton of Doris Fish on the grass at San Francisco Gay Freedom Day celebration must be from the 1980 parade, as she is wearing a t-shirt printed with her drawing of the Sluts A Go-Go (formed in late 1979). A letter quoted in the book talks about Doris jumping in the Civic Center fountain at the end of the day. “I did lots of rude gestures for the straight tourists and families–Busy giving gays a bad name.” This was filmed by Martin Ryter for Click TV but the footage is so far unavailable.
The Artists United In Drag parade contingent in 1981 was an informal affair. The queens had not registered and simply joined the parade carrying cardboard signs and representing for drag artistry.
