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Kathleen Hanna Is Making a Documentary About Darcelle XV
Fun fact: The riot grrrl punk singer is Walter Cole's second cousin.
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[Find the Mercury's Queer guide in print—available in more than 500 spots citywide!—eds.]
Here’s a fun Portland fact for you to trot out the next time you’re stumped for small talk: the late Walter Cole and Kathleen Hanna are related.
If you’re new ‘round these parts and need a bit of explanation: Hanna is an OG riot grrrl, fronting bands Bikini Kill, Le Tigre, and Julie Ruin, and the author of recent bestselling memoir Rebel Girl. She is second cousins with Cole, who was perhaps better known as Darcelle XV, a Portland icon and the current Guinness Book World Record holder for Oldest Performing Drag Queen. Cole was donning eyelashes and sequins and reigning over Old Town from the stage at the eponymous club for decades until his death at the age of 92, in March 2023.
“I’m totally royalty,” Hanna, says with a laugh, about her famous relative. Hanna, who grew up in Portland long enough to attend Lincoln High School, is now planning to pay homage to Cole. “I’m making a documentary about him currently,” she explained in a phone interview. “I am just trying to get the final funding for it.”
While that Venn diagram of Portland notoriety is exciting for those of us who live here, the name Darcelle XV doesn’t necessarily conjure up a vision of sequins and snark elsewhere. “It’s so funny, because people outside of Portland don’t understand,” says Hanna. “And part of the reason why I want to make this documentary is because it’s like he’s the mayor. He was like the mayor for 50 years.” The documentary is still very much in the development phase, but count us in for buying tickets.
