The runaway success of Logo TV's RuPaul's Drag Race has brought the subculture of drag performance into the spotlight, creating a global platform for the fabulous personalities who can blur gender lines into a fine and ferocious powder, polish their faces with it and then command a stage. The year before the show debuted in 2009, Puerto Rican transplant Nina Flowers had moved to Colorado and immediately began shaking up the Denver scene — where the "classic" style of drag, a pageant-based look, had endured for decades — by busting through the norms of drag and recreating it with a true artist's brush. So it seemed like kismet that Flowers was cast on that first season of Drag Race (the only Denver contestant so far), and the blooming of both Flowers and America's newest obsession laid the groundwork for Denver's drag community to take its art to the next level. See also: 100 Colorado Creatives — Keith Garcia

Denver's history with drag is as long and wavy as a new lace front wig. After the Stonewall riots of 1969, a national wave of gay bars became safe zones for the LGBTQ community, places where its members could commiserate and enjoy performances by poets and musicians. And drag performers, of course, who paid tribute to the female music idols of the time by donning make-up, dresses and heels, then lip-synching the hell out of a Top 40 hit — all because it was their God-given right to do so. Denver bars like the Door, with its side-entrance space the Back Door at Broadway and Colfax, began to feature entire drag revues and even pageants to show off the newest beauties. Drag soon became a way for many to express themselves: Some men wanted to explore their desire to transition between genders, while others simply were ready to sing out as gay men.

In 1973 the Imperial Court of the Rocky Mountain Empire was founded as a nonprofit that could hold functions celebrating drag and also raise funds to strengthen the LGBTQ community; the Court began electing an Emperor and Empress every year to lead those efforts. A few stores, including the now-38-year-old Studio Lites on Broadway, opened as an alternative to the women's section of department stores for performers who needed just the right wig or large-size heel; at these shops they met a staff of encouraging friends skilled with a brush, a shoehorn and an eye for how to shape a sequined gown on a male form. Through the '80s and '90s, performers with now almost-household names — Montaldo, Sommers, Peters, Edwards, Sexton — kept the stage lights burning. And then RuPaul turned up the spotlight across the country.

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Where there were once only a few places to catch a drag show in the area, the local scene has come to resemble the Vegas strip today, with a performance almost every night of the week. Charlie's hosts Denver Divas every Sunday and Felony's Cellblock every second Saturday of the month; Hamburger Mary's hosts Dreamgirls, the longest-running revue in the city, every Friday, along with scores of other drag shows. There are also performances Wednesday nights at El Potrero and Thursdays at Broadways. And the Drag Race-centric revolution has truly exploded at Tracks, with its Drag Nation (formerly Drama Drag) — an extravaganza held the last Friday of every month that pulls out all the stops, with guest drag artists, massive stage theatrics and a troupe of backup dancers — now one of the most talked-about shows in the country.

The variety of performers at those venues runs the gamut, covering every man (and woman) you see every day: waiters, makeup artists, retail clerks, social workers and actors, all with varying levels of experience. Some have been in the game for a decade or more, some are still wiping the green makeup from behind their ears — but they all do it for the love of the scene. Says Victoria Sexton, "I want to see where my drag can take me that can bridge the gap of the gay and straight worlds." Janessa Befierce recalls a gig late last year that perfectly represented a world where gender can be looked at as a talent to play like a song: "I was booked to work the holiday party for the wives of the Denver Broncos with some of my best friends. That was an unforgettable moment."

My personal interest in drag was reawakened one snowy night in 2008 while watching the fabled Vivid show at Charlie's, the first Denver drag performance I'd seen in many years; I fell in love with the electricity. Those talented performers inspired me to create a documentary this year, and to tell their stories and share a lesson or two I've learned from their gumption. The drag community is huge and growing all the time, and it was tough to narrow my favorite performers down to the following dozen divas (presented alphabetically, because "no T, no shade, mama"). These top twelve movers and shakers of the past year blend a variety of styles and attitudes to reflect both the history of Colorado's drag community and the promise of its ever-evolving future. As Nina Flowers exclaims at the finale of every Drag Nation show, "This is the top of the nation!" Keep reading for Denver's top twelve drag performers.

Bootzy Edwards Collins A prince in the relatively small world of drag kings, where women don't let men have all the fun of swapping genders and pay tribute to the male form by strapping down their feminine assets and injecting their personalities with a healthy dose of machismo, Bootzy Edwards Collins (aka Bo Richardson) is ready to snatch the crown as a true master of his domain. Doing much more than just adding some swagger to his steps, Bootzy embodies the charm, wit and style of a true fella; you'd be hard-pressed to find a woman or gay man who doesn't get a little overheated by his illusions of Usher, Bruno Mars, Andre 3000, Lil Wayne or, in one fevered performance last year, Ruby Rhod from The Fifth Element. "My biggest influence has been my friends," says Collins. "They have encouraged me to step out my box for several different events. They kick my butt, cuss me out when needed, and pick me up to keep on keeping on."