George Harris/Hibiscus

#GeorgeHarris/#Hibiscus (September 6, 1949 – May 6, 1982): What most people know of George Harris is the famous photograph of him placing flowers in the guns of the military police force at the #Pentagon in 1967. Few people knew that this same person was Hibiscus, a performer/activist and the founder of #TheCockettes, a psychedelic gay liberation theatre collective in the early 1970s. This group embraced drag in all its forms as a path to spiritual liberation, and they were even defied more traditional forms of drag for the time. While others were used to seeing drag queens who competed in pageants and balls, the Cockettes would wear vintage dresses, make-up, copious amounts of costume jewelry and full beards. They performed mainly in #SanFrancisco, and would create a new take on musical standards. Two performers that were also members of the Cockettes were #Sylvester, the disco queen, and #Divine, well known muse of #JohnWaters. Hibiscus later left the group when they started charging a fee for audiences to see their shows, and created a new group with free performances called #AngelsOfLight. Hibiscus eventually moved to New York City, performing in off-off-Broadway productions and making appearances in soap operas as George Harris. Unfortunately, Hibiscus died of Kaposi’s sarcoma and complications from AIDS in 1982, when HIV/AIDS was still referred to as GRID (Gay Related Immunodeficiency). #PrideMonth #LGBTQIA #LGBTQIAPride #Pride #LegendsOfPride #YouCannotEraseUs