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Just Out,
June 4, 2004
by Meg Daly
Maryanne Cassera may well be the most sought-after lesbian in Portland. When she dons her drag king persona, Johnny Mozzarella, the girls go as wild as if a lesbian Elvis had just swiveled her hips for the very first time.
Johnny has that androgynous je ne sais quoi that makes women swoon. He's a smooth operator, a ladies man, raunchy without being rabid and, as Cassera likes to say, "kinda cheesy." (Pun intended.)
"It was important to me to stay away from the hard, hypersexualized kind of drag king," says Cassera, commenting on how she devised Johnny. "I wanted something fun."
The 31-year-old Oregon native is gleefully surprised by Johnny's success. She made him up last Halloween, all slicked back hair and little black soul patch. By stroke of fate, she was able to join Portland's drag king troupe, DK PDX, that same month.
Cassera says the troupe's spirit is "fun and community-oriented." They playfully mock masculinity and throw lesbian twists into old heterosexual roles. Also, she says doing drag allows her to "toy with the notion of how a lesbian is 'supposed' to be."
A health unit coordinator at Oregon Health & Science University and nursing student by day, Cassera leads a sort of double life. But she likes it that way. Nursing, a traditionally female career, allows her to express her caring side. Doing drag lets her be the performer she's been since childhood, when her family dubbed her "Mary-ham."
Cassera came out as a lesbian when she was 19 at Portland State University. She says she had many important mentors at that time who made coming out comfortable. Now she wants to play that role for other young queer women. And if that means being a bit of a celebrity, well, she's not complaining.
Being a star inspires all manner of subversive, junior high antics on behalf of her fans. Some have scribbled "Johnny Mozzarella is hot" on bathroom stalls and manufactured "I [heart] Johnny Mozzarella" T-shirts, and one fan is writing a song about her favorite cheese ball.
A lesser king might crumble under all the attention. Not Mozzarella, who purrs, "I'm enjoying the ride."
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