Cindy MacDougall
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Dec 01/99) - A tall young woman with long black hair and enormous brown eyes wowed the crowd with her lip-synch act during the AIDS Yellowknife fund-raising gala, held at the Cave Saturday.

Only thing is, this young lady isn't a lady at all. She's a man. And he dressed head-to-toe diva to help AIDS Yellowknife raise money for AIDS education.

"I'm doing it just because it rocks. It's all about me," said the performer, who preferred not to reveal her real identity.

"And it's an opportunity to help a great cause."

"The hardest part of being dressed like this? The shoes. My feet are killing me," she said.

The gala was AIDS Yellowknife's first, said organizer Naomi Griffore, and was held during National AIDS Awareness Week.

Tickets sales for the intimate evening netted $550.

"We did this basically to just make people think of the issue of HIV and AIDS," Griffore said.

"It's not just a fund-raiser."

"We're very happy with the little surprise (of so much money)," she said.

Lisa Tesar, manager of the Cave, said she was happy to donate the space for the event.

"Working in a public industry, I've come to realize people's naiveness on AIDS," Tesar said.

"There's no cure, and it's still around. We need to bring awareness in a comfortable environment."

The first performer wasn't the only entertainment during the gala.

Another drag queen and two drag kings called The Duo -- two women who bore a remarkable resemblance to the Blues Brothers -- strutted their stuff on stage to music.

"Somebody asked us to be in a drag show for AIDS Awareness," said Heather Chang, one half of The Duo. "I said yes, because I'll do anything."

Erin Russell, Chang's lip-synching partner, said the show was fun, but finding an outfit was difficult.

"We had to find something that would cover our chests," she said, laughing.

A version of the dating game was also held, although Griffore said it was difficult to find volunteers for that.