Back in her old vamping ground
By GREER McDONALD - The Dominion Post
Last updated 05:00 30/05/2009
CRAIG SIMCOX/The Dominion Post
CARMEN: Has retired her drag show, but will perform in
Carmen, the one-time stripper, drag queen and mayoral candidate, is back in
"Do say hello to her for me, would you? I've never met her but she gave me the key to this city and I have it hanging up in my house," she told The Dominion Post yesterday.
Carmen, 74, arrived in
"It's nice that they still ask me at my age. I must still have a bit of sparkle left." She became the group's patron late last year.
Carmen was born in Taumarunui and was known as Trevor Rupe for about the first 20 years of her life, and entered the sex industry after leaving the army in the 1950s.
While she said she has "retired" from her drag queen show, she has
not hung up her sequins just yet and will perform once an Ella Fitzgerald jazz
number while in
"There are a lot of drag queens in
Carmen, who said she does not feel her age because "it's just a
number", said she has fond memories of
When she ran for mayor in 1977, she campaigned for hotel bars to be open till midnight or even 2am; the drinking age to be lowered to 18; prostitution to be made legal; abortion to be decriminalised; homosexual acts to be decriminalised; sex education in schools for 14-year-olds; and nudity on some beaches all of which are now legal.
"Is that right?" she said. "I enjoyed doing the campaign. I had Bob Jones help me. I haven't seen him in years. He's probably better looking than me now."
Carmen's fond memories of Wellington
