Good (Man)ners: The Imperial Sovereign Queen City Court of the Buckeye Empire’s Brooklyn Steele-Tate
Good (Man)ners is devoted to male-identifying dudes who share our belief that when you uplift women, you uplift everyone. Read on to hear from Cincinnatians who take allyship to heart.
We got the chance to chat with Michael Cottrell a.k.a. Brooklyn Steele-Tate, drag queen and community activist. Michael has seemingly endless energy. He performs as Brooklyn at Below Zero Lounge a couple times a week, is the president of the Cincinnati Pride Parade Board of Directors and the Gay Chamber of Commerce, and is an active member of Imperial Sovereign Queen City Court of the Buckeye Empire (I.S.Q.C.C.B.E.), which has raised over $1.3 million for charities across Cincinnati. Oh yeah, and he has a regular 9-to-5 gig working for a mobile medical company – and he thinks you can do it all, too.
Interview by Michaela Rawsthorn. Photography by Nicole Mayes.
What do we need to know to understand Michael?
I was born in Texas. My mom has always lived in Ohio. I lived with my grandparents, but when I was sophomore in high school I moved to Ohio. I grew up in a religious home. I went to Bible college, all that. I almost got married twice to women. But, I always felt different than what I was portraying.
I was 28 when I came out. I’m 47 now.
It was almost 20 years ago when I moved to Cincinnati to be part of the organization I.S.Q.C.C.B.E. I moved to be part of that organization, but it was really a chance to start anew and get away from family members who didn't agree with what I was doing.
You look at people, say on social media, or wherever, and you don't know everything they've gone through just to make it through the day.
I've always been independent. I didn't need anybody to do this or that for me. Once I left high school, I never relied on my parents for anything. I dealt with the issues of my family not supporting me for while, but here I am today.
I work a full-time job besides the cabaret. I do this on the weekends. I do a lot of charity work, which is great. I love it.
The I.S.Q.C.C.B.E. will support almost any organization that is a 501(c)3. We do cat adoption agencies. We do Planned Parenthood. We do L.G.T.B.Q.+ issues. We do a lot of stuff for kids. We'll do brunches, jello shots, raffles, bingo nights, or just regular shows to raise money.
We got something important wrong when we reached out about this interview, since Brooklyn was the nominee. Can you explain the assumption we made and how others can avoid it?
You assumed Brooklyn was a woman. I get that a lot. People see the name Brooklyn or see a picture and it's not really clear. It happens more often than not. For me, it doesn't matter. I am always very forthright in saying, "Just so you are aware, I am a drag queen, not a woman." I’m never trying to portray that role.
I don't really think you can change anything about how you approach the situation. You can't proactively try to figure it out – unless you specifically ask for pronouns. I always use “he, him, his.” In the drag world, we call ourselves women. I might go, "I feel like a woman tonight." It's meant to be funny. But if someone doesn't know, I always clarify that I am a man or use those pronouns.
A drag queen is somebody who likes to torture themselves, I swear. For me, it's just entertainment. It's a chance to do something different. I got started doing charity work, initially. I never wanted to be a woman. I never wanted to make people think I was a woman.
I know there is a plight on women that we can stand up for, as men, and we can advocate for change. When men join groups for women, it makes the issues more mainstream. It makes change more plausible, too. It's important that when we do join groups for women that they know we are there to help their cause, not take over.
I've gone to the Women's March the last couple of years. These women are powerful. They are making changes in the world. I don't go there to say, "This is what you guys need to be doing." Instead, whatever you guys are doing, we are going to stand behind it and support it. We are going to say, "Yes, we stand behind our women."
You also do a lot of personal activism, like working with the Cincinnati Pride Parade.
I’ve been the president of the board for Pride for eight years now. There's also an organization called the Gay Chamber of Commerce. It's not super active anymore, but I'm the president of that, too. We put out a booklet called “The Listings” every year. It's a bunch of L.G.B.T.Q.+ and allied businesses. They advertise with us and we put them in the booklet. We sponsor events for other people who may not be a 501(c)3 but need money to get something started.
I'm also the secretary this year for I.S.Q.C.C.B.E. We’re 100% volunteer. We do all these shows throughout the year to raise money. We’re in our 28th year. So far we've raised over $1.3 Million for charities. Most of it stays locally in Cincinnati. Caracole is one of our main recipients, as are PFLAG and GLSEN. We also support a sobriety group called GLAST. Most of these rely heavily on volunteers, so we raise funds to make sure they can sustain their work.
But Pride is a big part of what we do. Pride is always just a great time. We have a lot of big celebrities coming in again this year. We always have the Rupal Girls. Last year we had Ty Herndon, Peppermint, Nina West…
It's grown over the last 10 years. About 185,000 people show up. It's never as big as New York but it's still wonderful, especially for our kids.
The past two years we've had a sober zone for people who don't want to drink or who are in recovery. We have mocktails for them so they can enjoy themselves, too. Part of that was a nod to inclusion; part is because GLAST wanted to have something special for their people, too. We always say that we can run Pride, but we don't always know everything that needs to be done to make it the best experience for everyone. A couple of our board members are also on the board for GLAST, so they brought up that we need to do something for their members, as well.
I would have never thought of that. I don't drink either, but I also don't leave the stage. My water and Coke are brought to me. It never occurred to me that people trying to be sober are going around out there around all this alcohol. They may not be strong enough to say, "I don't want to be around it,” or, “I'm not going to drink." It was very much needed. We have a D.J. over in that area, which is near the kids zone. It's also a place where the teenagers can hang out, too. They can drink mocktails – the big foofy drinks that don't have alcohol.
What should someone expect when they come to a cabaret show?
A bunch of drunk bachelorettes! [Laughs.]
It's just a show. You just watch. There's five or six girls; they come out and do three numbers each. We do birthday shots and all that kind of stuff. Then we go home exhausted.
As emcee, I am one of the more boring ones. I don't dance or anything like that. I come out to introduce the show. I do a monologue welcoming everybody and get a feel for who is here. Who is having a birthday? Who is celebrating something? You can always tell the bachelorettes. Then I find a couple people in the crowd to pick on. It's usually first-timers. Sometimes it's a really hot man who is nervous about being there. All night long I engage with the crowd, push the performers along, and make sure the bartenders are highlighted. It's much like a comedy show, just with drag queens. There is a lot of variety.
Last night, we had a divorce. I was so excited. I asked if anyone was celebrating a birthday, anniversary, or divorce. You get one every once in a while. Last night I got a girl who goes, "I'm celebrating a divorce!" So I bring her on stage to talk to her about who she is divorcing and why. That's fun because, well, I think divorces are fun sometimes.
We always say that we can run Pride, but we don't always know everything that needs to be done to make it the best experience for everyone.
So, that's how the shows run. We do them every Friday and Saturday, and we’re actually going to move to two shows every Saturday. We do charity events, as well as karaoke on Thursdays. I don't like doing karaoke or listening to it. [Laughs.] I give credit to people who do, though. D.J. Noble is our karaoke D.J. He runs contests once every other month. All the contestants some out and sing. Everyone votes. The top three come out for the finale. It's good for them, but not for me. No way.
We do special events, as well. Nigel, owner of Below Zero Lounge, opens up the bar to pretty much anybody who needs the space. We hold an event called Prime Timers which is an older population. They come in for a Friday afternoon happy hour.
Have you run into conflict with the two halves of your life, the 9-to-5 and the performer?
I've been working for a mobile medical company for 11 years. When I applied for the job, I told them all the things that I did. They were like, "Oh, that's really cool. How do you do it all?"
I was like, "Well, I do drag a lot."
So they were just like, "Cool. As long as it doesn't affect your day job, we’re okay." I've never had an issue. It's really nice.
Is there anything else that you want people to know?
Every charity I work with has a website. If you are interested in one of them, go check them out. If you want to be a drag queen, or give it a shot, reach out to I.S.Q.C.C.B.E. We'll help you. And we will never say no to people who want us to help raise money for charity.
We actually do two events that teach you how to be a drag queen for a good cause: One is Miss Magical Makeover. It's for anybody who has never done drag before. We set them up with a drag queen to help transform them. They go on to perform a song or whatever to raise money for charity. And they can win a crown like a pageant contest.
We also do one for women, called Miss Drag You Out. We set them up with a drag queen who does hair and makeup for them. You bring whatever clothes you want to wear. All the money goes to Josephine's Clinic, which is an organization under Women of Alabaster that [fights] human trafficking and sex trafficking. Even if they never get off the streets, they need things like underwear, tampons, band-aids, Neosporin, that kind of stuff. Josephine's Clinic will supply them with stuff and do whatever they can to help them.
I 100% believe that you should volunteer for a charity. Really, just get involved in your community.
Tell us about a woman who inspires you.
I know so many wonderful women. Like Charmaine McGuffey, who is running for sheriff. I met Charmaine back in 2016 or 2017. We both won some kind of award for City Council. The stuff she's done to improve the legal system, for women, for people who are on drugs, people who are human trafficked… That's the stuff you don't hear enough about. She's done so many amazing things.
[Editor’s note: Women of Cincy is a non-partisan organization dedicated to giving a voice to change-makers of all beliefs. We encourage our readers to have open minds, make informed decisions, and be engaged in their community.]
Get involved in your community.
But then, there is just the everyday mom who has to work a full-time job while raising kids. Like my friend Ayla Bowling. She's the kind of person who has a kid, a husband, but is trying to do meaningful work in her community. People like her who just make it happen every day because 1. She's a woman, and 2. She just has to make it work… You look at people, say on social media, or wherever, and you don't know everything they've gone through just to make it through the day. To me, that's strong people. That’s who makes our community what it is.
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