History of IDKE
IDKE is years in the making and still going strong. Here, let's explore the beginnings of this amazing conference (if you're thinking radioactive spiders or mad scientists - think again!) and find out more about the governing board for this conference. If you are interested in finding out more about the IDKE board or steering committee, or have interest in becoming a host city, please go to http://www.idke.info/home.html for more information.
History In Brief*
The First International Drag King Extravaganza (IDKE) took place on October 15-17, 1999 in Columbus, Ohio, and was founded by Julie Applegate (Jake), Shani Scott (Maxwell), Sile Singleton (Luster/Lustivious de la Virgion) and Donna Troka (dj love), in conjunction with H.I.S. Kings, Fast Friday Productions, the Kings Court, and many other Columbus community members. It was a first-of-its-kind event in that it was a collaborative, non-competitive gathering of drag kings, their fans, and the people who studied, photographed and filmed them.
In October 17-19, 2003, its fifth year, IDKE realized its true potential as a traveling annual conference with its move to Minneapolis, Minnesota where it was produced and hosted by FTM Productions. IDKE 6 took place in Chicago, Illinois from October 14-17, 2004, and was hosted by The Chicago Kings. IDKE became truly "international" in its seventh year, when it traveled to Winnipeg, Canada from October 20-23, 2005 where it was hosted by the Gender Play Cabaret. Without a doubt, IDKE has grown to be a huge national and international event. To date, participants have hailed from such countries as the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, England, Germany, Sweden, and Ireland.
The fact that IDKE has begun traveling as the drag king community continues to grow has demanded two important things: an IDKE Steering Board & an evolution in focus for the events. The IDKE Steering Board was established in 2001 to identify a host city for IDKE 5 (2003). Along with the tasks of soliciting proposals from host cities and choosing the city best suited and prepared to host IDKE, the Steering Board also provides support and guidance to host cities. For more information, go to: www.idke.info.
And while IDKE was a gender-based event that was originally created in 1999 to focus on drag king culture, our king community has grown over the years. In 2001, a Bio-Queen Manifesto (that was presented to the community during the Saturday afternoon conference) requested that IDKE become more inclusive of all gendered performances. This movement continued for three years and a request to expand the focus of IDKE was again presented and discussed during the Town Hall Session at IDKE Chicago in 2004. A vote was taken at the end of the discussion, and as a result of that vote, the event’s name was changed to the International Drag KingCommunity Extravaganza (still abbreviated as IDKE). Finally in 2005, IDKE evolved to become a more all-encompassing gender arena where all forms of gender expression are welcomed and nurtured. In 2006, the IDKESC voted to rename itself the International Drag KingCommunity Extravaganza Board and began the process of applying for nonprofit status.
*quoted from http://www.idke.info/bylaws.html; accessed 29 December 2009. |
