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K. Stormé
DeLarverie was born 'way down yonder' in New Orleans, Louisiana.
It was incredibly not long after the end of World War I (One) on
Christmas Eve, December 24 of 1920 -- ironically and prophetically, the
year that American women won the
right to vote in America! To quote Stormé: "I've
been fighting for the Gay community ever since!" Stormé
has a silvery baritone
voice with a jazz-oriented sound. In the 1940s, Stormé was
a
solo performer with a three-piece band. Stormé is probably
best known for being part of the legendary Jewel Box Revue, a nationally popular
"drag" performance group which toured America -- not always under the
best of accommodations or circumstances. The Jewel Box Revue ensemble was composed of two dozen males dressed beautifully and seductively as females and one biological female dressed very gentlemanly and convincingly as a man: Stormé! It's a role he does persuasively on stage and off. During the 1950s and the 1960s, Stormé was the Jewel Box's only male impersonator. He did so as a fine gentleman. The entertaining uniqueness was that the entire talented troupe were in gender-bender roles -- all except one! The "J.B." was a forerunner to the Broadway musical of the mid-1980s, "La Cage aux Folles". Unlike the latter, the J.B. confronted acceptance, joyousness, praise and fulfillment on one side but segregation, prejudice, scorn and sadness on the other side of the coin. Stormé DeLarverie initially got involved with the STONEWALL Veterans' Association ("S.V.A.") when it happenstancely began spiritually the very first night of the Stonewall Rebellion, Friday, June 27th, 1969 at The STONEWALL Club in Greenwich Village, New York City. Stormé had just returned to Manhattan onvce again from entertainment touring with the famous Jewel Box Revue. The S.V.A. officially formed exactly two weeks later on Friday, July 11th of that exciting year 1969. Storme was there! * Excerpt on Storme on Display in the New York Public Library After the Stonewall Rebellion, Storme DeLarveriecontinued his role as a self-appointed guardian of the community in the G.L.B.T. movement. For many years, he worked as a butch bouncer -- in all male attire, tough talk and guy attitude -- at lesbian bars in New York City, including Rubyfruit's, the Cubby Hole and Henrietta Hudson. Storme was a founding member and official of the STONEWALL Rebellion Veterans Association (S.V.A.), holding the offices of Chief of Security, Ambassador and Vice President. In 2000, he received the "Gay Lifetime Achievement Award" from Senior Action in a Gay Environment ("SAGE"). DeLarverie was well known as a regular leading the annual New York City Gay Pride Parade with the Stonewall Veterans and in the historic, big, blue 1969 convertible known as the “Stonewall Car,” which he called 'Storme’s baby'." Excerpt from article written by Candace Frederick * King Storme photographed in "S/W-30" riding with the STONEWALL V.A. in NYC Gay Pride Parade See King Storme DeLarverie proudly riding in a STONEWALL Veterans' Association convertible in the "New York City 30th Annual Gay Pride Parade" in June of 1999. Storme is wearing his well-known rainbow parade helmet. This is a rare occasion when Storme rode in a car, for the special 30th anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall Uprising, instead of leading the parade by walking with Willson Henderson, Dave West, Leigh McManus, Ramon Bellido, Electra O'Mara and other Stonewall veterans who preferred to walk rather than ride in one of the SVA's flotilla of convertibles. * King Storme D on Prospect Park Stage for
Brooklyn Gay Pride Rally in 2002 * Storme DeLarverie at Brooklyn Gay Parade line-up with 1969 "Stonewall Car" [Photo by S.V.A. founder Willson L. Henderson] The classic and famous blue 1969 "Stonewall Car" traditionally leads all of the Gay Pride paardes in all five boroughs of New York City -- Manhattan, The Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island. This is the only vehicle impoinded at the first night -- or any night -- of the historic Stonewall Rebellion. Since the owner of the auto was apprehended at the scene, two undercover New York City Poilice Department ("NYCPD") cops from the Sixth Precinct were oredered to drive the car away to the police precinct to avoid it getting damaged. Storme DeLarverie was an eyewitness to all of that as he was right there! The out-standing and beautiful car -- a part of G.L.B.T. history is now owned by the National STONEWALL Rebellion Veterans Association! . * * * * * =Storme on Stonewall= "It was a rebellion, it was an uprising, it was a civil rights disobedience -- it wasn't no damn riot", declared Stormé at a public and videographed SVA-sponsored "Stonewall Symposium", referring to the historic 1969 Stonewall Rebellion. Stormé was a part of the uprising on the very first night, Friday, June 27th. "The cops were parading patrons out of the front door of The Stonewall at about two o' clock in the morning. I saw this one boy being taken out by three cops, only one in uniform. Three to one! I told my pals, 'I know him! That's Willson, my friend Sonia Jane's friend.' Willson briefly broke loose but they grabbed the back of his jacket and pulled him right down on the cement street. One of them did a drop kick on him. Another cop senselessly hit him from the back. Right after that, a cop said to me: 'Move faggot', thinking that I was a Gay guy. I said, 'I will not! And, don't you dare touch me." With that, the cop shoved me and I instinctively punched him right in his face. He bled! He was then dropping to the ground -- not me!"Stormé is known, too, for adapting memorable sayings and witty warnings. For example, if someone says or asks something that Stormé perceives as insulting to his intelligence or not too smart, he'll say, "I didn't fall off of the back of a turnip truck". A favorite song of Stormé's, "It Ain't Easy Being Green", is also a favorite expression. Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender people can easily relate to that song simply substituting 'green' with 'Gay'. And that's exactly Stormé's point: "It ain't easy being Gay". Sho 'nuff, y'all! Relating to age, or not relating to it, King Stormé rightly says, while inimitably mixing maxims: "Age ain't nothing but a number -- if you don't mind it, it don't matter". Overall, reviewing life and his philosophy of himself, Stormé tells it like it is (another song): "What you see is what you get". Allright! |
Over
the many years, Stormé
DeLarverie has electedly served as Chief-of-Security, S.V.A. Ambassador
and in
1998 to 2000 as elected Vice-President of
the STONEWALL Rebellion Veterans Association
("S.V.A."). He has
always done so supportively, reliably and
enthusiastically. Most people know Storme through the S.V.A. from
its public conferences and forums and leading the Pride parades
(see below). In the Imperial
QUEENS & Kings of Greater
New
York ("IQKNY"), the sister group to the S.V.A., Stormé
has won election many times from IQKNY's
transgender
membership and friends the title of "Imperial King". Thus, he
earned his popular nickname "King Stormé"!
At the urging of Stormé's longtime pal,
Williamson, and others, Stormé received a "Gay Lifetime
Achievement Award" from Senior Action
in a Gay Environment
("SAGE")
in 2000. Stormé is
well-known, too, as a 'regular' leading the annual New York City Gay
Pride Parade
with the Stonewall veterans and "Stormé's baby", the
historic blue 1969 convertible aka the "Stonewall Car".
That's the famous car that was parked regularly outside The
Stonewall Club including the first night of the Stonewall Rebellion on
June 27, 1969 -- the day of Judy Garland's funeral right here in
Manhattan!
"Saint Judy" was an immortal fave of Storme! Since the
formation of the S.V.A. in July of
1969, Stormé, a founding member, rarely misses
the monthly S.V.A. meeting held on the last Saturday of
every
month -- including Storme's birthday month, December! See
another photo of Stormé -- with his "baby" the car --
showing Storme laying across the 1969 "Stonewall Car" trunk at the bottom of this file. The only year Storme rode in the Parade with SVA: "SW-30" in 1999 [Photo by Electra O'Mara] |
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=2008 Gay Pride Events=
On Saturday, May 31st, Storme presented a special
advisory report regarding upoming NYC Gay Pride events at the
meeting of the.STONEWALL Rebellion Veterans Association. Storme
also will be speaking about the 1969 Stonewal Rebellion at the
"S.V.A. 39th Annual Conference & Stonewall Veterans Reunion" on Saturday, June 28th @ 4:15 p.m. The annual occasion is annually televised
by New York 1 T.V. News for a Gay Pride television segment. For "Stonewall
Sunday", King Storme will be leading the New York City Gay Pride Parade
with the S.V.A. and Storme's 'baby blue', the blue 1969 "Stonewall
Car". For the SVA 's anniversary party and benefit at The
STONEWALL Club on Tuesday, July 1st, Storme is one of the SVA-ers
in the host trio. Storme introduces some of the
super
"Songs of The Original STONEWALL Club" collaborated by Storme's longtime Stonewall pal
Willson Henderson.
FYI, they met in 1966 at the original Stonewall Club on Christopher Street in
Greenwich Village, NY, long before any rebellion! For much more
S.V.A. events 411, visit: www.STONEWALLvets.org/upcomingevents.htm
*
King of The Chelsea Hotel: Storme DeLarverie
The Chelsea Hotel Grand Ballroom will be the scene of a grand evening of art in honor of legendary resident Storme DeLarverie. Stormé Delarverié is a 87-year-old former cross-dressing torch singer, gay rights activist and one of the sweetest people you’ll ever meet.
Legends.typepad.com/Living_with_Legends_H/2008/08/Celebration.html
* * * * *
=Tribute to Storme
DeLarverie=
"Storme with Storme"
[Photo by Rogers Hunt for the
STONEWALL Veterans Assn. Archives]
An artists tribute to Imperial King Storme DeLarverie was
held at a famous artists habitat and where Storme lives:
Chelsea Hotel (a.k.a. Hotel Chelsea). The art
showcase event honors Storme's gender-bendering entertainment
history with the fabulous Jewel Box Renue as a singing female
attired as a male and with the Imperial QUEENS & Kings of Greater New
York as a prominent drag king. The King Storme tribute
happened on Thursday, August 21, 2008, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. in
the ballroom of the Chelsea Hotel at 222 West 23 Street in Chelsea, New
York. Storme lives at The Chelsea for about three decades.
The entire SRO event was introduced and hosted by Storme's
longtime friend/comrade and S.V.A. director Willson Henderson.
He was accompanied by his smiley assistant and
Storme's godson:
AnDre Christie.
Portraiture artist Anthony Zito has created a dramatic
acrylic-on-canvas portrait of Storme DeLarverie which was unveiled
and presented to Storme at the tribute. For
a portrait view, visit: www.ZitoGallery.com.
For archival info about the event and its sponsor, the
Artists of The Chelsea featuring Susan Olmetti, visit the artistic
website: www.SusanOlmetti.com.
Many of the paintings shown there were on display for
sale at the Storme event, with one, "Mr. Minkel", donated by its
artist Miss Olmetti to the STONEWALL Veterans' Association. Gay
press coverage was provided by Storme's favorite paper, The New York Blade. At the S.V.A.
meeting on August 30th, Storme provided an appreciative and earthy
report of his event.
Storme, AnDre
Christie and Willson after the
tribute at Hotel Chelsea
[Backstage photo by Rogers Hunt]
For more 411 and pix on Storme's longtime pal and fellow S/W-vet Willson Henderson, see:
www.STONEWALLvets.org/WillsonHenderson.htm
* * * * *
Storme DeLarverie
tribute story in the New
York Observer
www.Observer.com/2008/Stonewall-Rebellion-Veteran-honored-Chelsea
Storme DeLarverie
with godson AnDre Christie
[Photo at Hotel Chelsea by Ruthybird]
For more info on and photos of AnDre M. Christie,
visit:
www.STONEWALLvets.org/AnDreChristie.htm
* * * * *
=S.V.A. Annual Conference &
Reunion=
King
Storme DeLarverie will be on
the
dais of the STONEWALL
Rebellion Veterans Association's "S.V.A. Annual
Conference & Stonewall Veterans Reunion". Celebrating the
40th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion, Storme is one of the 40
special speakers symbolic of the 40 years! Besides
talking about the significance of the
S.V.A., Storme is speaking on his longtime starring role in
the famous Jewel Box Revue.
Confirmed public officials include
U.S. Congressmember Yvette Clarke,
NYC Councilmembers Bill De
Blasio, John "J-Lu" Liu
and Rosie Mendez plus Council
candidates Yetta
Kurland, Ken Diamondstone
and Margaret Chin.
The yearly
event in 2009 happens on Saturday, June 27th from 4:15 p.m. to 7
p.m. at the New York City GLBT Community
Center in Manhattan. Folks will be greeted by Storme's cute
godson AnDre Christie.
Look for Storme during intermission and
the
finale dancing to the "Songs of The Stonewall Club"!
Willson and Storme with future NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio
[grainy but happy photo by Rogers A. Hunt]
* * * * *
=Storme
Co-Hosts S.V.A. Party=
STONEWALL Veterans' Association's
40th Anniversary Party
Monday, June 29th, 2009
The STONEWALL Club
Stonewall Storme with Stonewall Veterans
at The STONEWALL
Club with Stonewall Songs
inside and the 1969 Stonewall
Car outside on
Stonewall Weekend! That's all very Stonewall!
Storme's hot godson AnDre Christie will be at the door!
53 Christopher Street
Greenwich Village, New York
6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
with original Stonewall jukebox music
"Songs of The
STONEWALL Club"
* * * * *
SVA's Halloween Party at the NYC Gay
Center
Shown above are Willson Henderson (S.V.A. Director in orange
Halloween shirt), AnDre M. Christie (S.V.A. Office Manager), King
Storme (S.V.A. Ambassador) and character actress Ruthybird
Campbell (S.V.A. Recording
Secretary) in the lobby of the New York City GLBT Centre in
Manhattan on October 31st, 2009 -- Halloween!
[Photo by Rogers Hunt]
* * * * *
Storme's Birthday Cake Party
on
Saturday, December 26th, 2009 @ 6 p.m.
after the S.V.A. monthly
meeting at the Manhattan GLBT Community Centre in Manhattan, NY.
Storme's proud godson AnDre
Christie drove Storme in his car both ways!!
We know that Storme's real friends are gonna turn out
for
this -- his 89th!
* * * * *
Storme's 2010 Stormy Housing Crisis Story
See the story by Matti Nestel at the "DNA 411" website at:
Stonewall Veteran Storme forced out of shuttering St. Vincent's Hospital in Greenwich Village
* * * * *
"A Post-Pride Interview with
Stonewall Veteran Storme DeLarverie"
by Grace Chu (who attended 2010 "S.V.A.
41st Conference & Reunion") for
AfterEllen.org
When Grace Chu asked S.V.A. founder Willson Henderson about "What pronoun to
use for Storme", he precisely explained: "If it looks like a HE
and
talks like a HE and walks like a HE and acts like a HE and,
particularly,
dresses like a HE... then it's posilutely a HE! Storme has
publicly lamented
for decades that one of the psychotic problems of the GLBTQRS
community is that it cannot even agree on what to call itself! My
mother and Storme have met many times over the decades, including
shows, dinners and forums, and my mother always described
Storme as 'a perfect gentleman'! Storme is equally fond of 'Lady
Mom'!"
www.AfterEllen.com/People/2010/7/Storme-DeLarverie
* * * * *
Storme carefully atop the big trunk of the famous "Stonewall Car"
in 1996
[Photo by Debbie Fierro]
The signicant picture above is the S.V.A. quad arriving in
the classic and iconic 1969 convertible known as the "Stonewall
Car"
for a special SVA co-sponsored event for New York City judge and
Surrogate Court candidate Karen S. Burstein, who is openly-Gay.
Driving the car is blondish Willson Henderson, founder and director of the legendary STONEWALL
Rebellion Veterans' Association. Seated next to the judge is her longtime
and lovely girlfriend Marion Lee. Positioned across the trunk --
just for this photo -- is King Storme DeLarverie who refers to the
famous Gay history car as his 'baby'. Note: This is not a
parade photo; it is on Hudson Street in front of Rubyfruit's Gay
Restaurant in Greenwich Village, NYC.
* * * * *
Klassic King Storme DeLarverie
Klassic
King Storme in his fave "The Color Purple"
[Photo provided by the Storme DeLarverie Archive]
* * * * *
In life, only
the STONEWALL Veterans' Association ever gave Storme DeLarverie
a business card
and the S.V.A. provided it decade after decade after decade after
decade!
The happiness and pride that this brought to King Storme would be hard
to put into words.
However, Storme said it best with facial tears of joy and declaring:
"I really am somebody!"
* * * * *
Storme Tribute on WNYC Radio + in their Newsletter
Interview of
Willson Henderson regarding the demise of King Storme!
This story is on WNYC Radio +
WNYC Internet by Tracie Hunte.
There's a helpful, hi-lighted link to the S.V.A. in the story.
Williamson Henderson Interview re: S.V.A. Storme DeLarverie:
*
Storme's Life Surveyed by Bend Magazine
This
story rightly references Storme's obvious, longtime and visible involvement with the
STONEWALL
Rebellion Veterans Association. In fact, Storme was an S.V.A. official!
www.BendBulletin.com/home/2123602-151/Storme-DeLarverie-was-one-of-the-Gay-rights
*
'Wake' for StormeGreenwich
Village Funeral Home
199 Bleecker
Street
off Avenue of
the Americas
Manhattan, New
York
on
Thursday, May 29, 2014
from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Coordinators
Lisa Cannistraci and Michelle
Zalopany,
who were both the openly-Gay legal guardians of Storme.
"Sleaza", as she is known due to her sic slander and sleaze,
is the former attention-soaking phony who ignored Storme 10
years, after rudely firing Storme a few times from Henrietta's Bar!
In contrast, positive assistance for Storme's 'Wake' was proudly and
pleasantly provided with positive assistance from 'Rainbow Dee' Johnson
"Proclamation" for Storme from N.Y.C. Public Advocate Letitia James
Speakers at the
service include Willson Henderson representing S.V.A.,
Cathy Marino-Thomas representing Gay Marriage Equality
and
Rev. Magora Kennedy the longtime Stonewall
veterans chaplain.
*
Official Tribute to King
Storme
DeLarverie
at the STONEWALL V.A. 45th Conference
Saturday, June 21st, 2014 at 5 p.m.
Stonewall veterans and friends of Storme attended the "S.V.A. 45th Conference & Stonewall Veterans Reunion" on Saturday, June 21st, 2014, with photos and/or spoken remembrances of SVA's charter member and official Storme DeLarverie! In the true spirit of Storme, everyone was welcome! Several New York City public officials who attended, presented their tributes to Storme, who they virtually all knew exclusively via the STONEWALL Rebellion Veterans Association, in their speeches on the 45th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising.
Storme
Post-Humous Bandwagon Updates:
Shamefully, uphonious Lisa "Sleaza" Cannistraci failed to
show up for Storme's Tribute!
Yet, months later, Sleaza slandered and libeled the S.V.A.
director and Storme's genuine and
consistent friend of a half-century! Sleaza stupidly lied
claiming that the legendary S.V.A.
was a "one-man band serving only one". Wtf? With a board of a dozen and executive
committee of two dozen plus a sytfaff! That's 'one'? What did
Sleaza consider Storme --
and the other 100-plus Stonewall veterans who are typically praised and
not trashed by a
jealous liar?! Another lesbian hypocrite who failed to show or even send a cost-free
(she's
very cheap) Erin Drinkwater aka
Errorin Drinkpoison, the
job-hopping phony who wrote
a two-page story about Storme (in a Brooklyn group's newsletter) and maliciously failed
to
mention the legendary S.V.A. STONEWALL Rebellion Veterans' Association --of which
Storme was a charter official since 1969! The hateful Sleaza, a dubious member of the local
Manhattan Community Bored #2, is also shamefully known for voting against the annual
"Stonewall Streetfair" which benefits the non-profit S.V.A. Sleaza did this while Storme was
alive and well, while Storme was allegedly in
Sleaza's legal care and since Storme's passing!
Note: Among Miss Drinkpoison's many former employers were nasty hater "The Phat Man"
Natler -- who Storme loathed -- talking about duplicitous and self-serving
slanderers!
*
"STONEWALL-50" - 2019*
To make a memorial donation to the S.V.A. in Storme's name:
STONEWALL Veterans' Association*
SVA's Webfile on FaceBook:
https://www.FaceBook.com/SVANYC
*
K. Storme DeLarverie is interred at
Maple Grove Cemetery in Kew Gardens, Queens, NYC
www.MapleGrove.com
STONEWALL Veterans' Association: 'Go Fund Us'!
As The Beatles's number one song message clearly conveys: "H.E.L.P." -- we need some bodies!
There are many reasons why you should "H-E-L-P" the non-profit STONEWALL Rebellion
Veterans Association ("S.V.A.") during this extremely difficult health sickening and killer epidemic!
There are obvious dire economic consequences it has caused for educatational non-profit groups!
The Gay boys and the Gay girls and their bisexual and straight pals at the original STONEWALL
Club started the brave resistance and the historic uprising! The rented store did not ignite it!
Therefore, the most important is preserving the real history of the actual participants in the
launching of the modern G.L.B.T. rights movement known as the 1969 Stonewall Rebellion!
People like Storme DLarverie, Willson L. Henderson, Sonia Jane Attkiss, Terri Van Dyke, 'Papa'
Jean Devente, Dave West, Electra O'Mara, Bert Coffman, Cristina Hayworth and Ray McCaffrey!
In other words, respect and support the people as represented exclusively for a half-century
by the voluntary, non-profit National STONEWALL Rebellion Veterans Association --
not the rented, self-serving, for-profit, tourist trap, non-Gay owned "Stonewall" storefront
which shamefuilly and selfishly has failed to provide any support or relief to the S.V.A.!
The 'Go Fund Us' site includes a rarified slideshow of fascinating vintage photographs of
members of the STONEWALL Veterans' Association, all of whom were victims of the
anti-Gay New York City Police Department raids on the original STONEWALL Club or the
historic five-night 1969 Stonewall Rebellion! As an authentic treat, you will hear background
music of a #1 girl group song from the original STONEWALL Bar & Dance Club Jukebox!
5 June
2021
Gay Pride Month
*
24th December
2020
Storme's Centennial Birthday!
*
Remembering Storme at would-be 99!
24th December/Xmas Eve
2019
*
24 December
2018
Storme's Memorial Birthday
(In 2018, Storme would have been 98!)
*
24th December
2017
Storme's Memorial 97th Birthdate!
*
24 December 2016
Storme's 96th Memorial
Birthday!
31 May (Saturday)
@ 5 p.m. (EST)
2014
Special
commemoration of King Storme
DeLarverie with
testimonials at the SVA's
monthly meeting
at the New York G.L.B.T. Community Centre
*
Remembering the SVA's
King Storme DeLarverie
Sunrise: 24 December 1920 * Sunset: 24 May 2014
*
S.V.A.
Hospitality Committee -- headed up by Willson H., AnDre
Christie and Mendy Seltza -- visited King Storme in Brooklyn, NYC
at the C.A.G.S. nursing home until just days before Storme's demise!
Special God's blessings to the CABS's humanitarian Lena Sebastian.
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