Alex De Vore
The aptly-named Giving Tree Forest at DeVargas Center (564 N Guadalupe St., (505) 982-2655), where you can learn more about donating to the Northern New Mexico Toy Drive.
Drag performer Marie Antoinette Du Barry (aka Paul Valdez) seems fidgety when we meet for an early evening coffee at DeVargas Center to talk about their projects. Granted, it’s the end of the day and exhaustion can lead to tricky emotions, especially with the sun going down so early these days. Still, it becomes clear within moments that Du Barry is likely a perfectionist. One would have to be to perform at their level—we’re talking nearly a dozen titles, including Miss Santa Fe Pride, Miss New Mexico Gay Rodeo Association and Ambassador of Hope with the Santa Fe Fire Department. Santa Fe and the surrounding areas can boast a fairly robust drag scene, all things considered; Du Barry has remained one of the more well-known among their ranks.
“I’m not trying to be arrogant or brag,” they say, “but being Santa Femous comes with scrutiny.”
You can say that again. Still, it’s a lot in life that they likely wouldn’t trade, and Du Barry has cheerfully taken on much during their disparate reigns. They have a penchant for monarchy it seems, at least the more glamorous aspects; they make their own dresses, including a number currently on display at DeVaragas Center as part of the Northern New Mexico Toy Drive organized by Los Alamos-based Exit Realty. That’s why we’ve met at the mall, and the dress, by the way, is tres chic. You’ll find it standing within what is known as the Giving Tree Forest in the center of the mall—a number of Christmas trees decorated by local organizations helping the toy drive raise money and awareness; it’s part of the Fire Department’s display. I like that. But more on the drive in a sec.
Du Barry says they were “born here all my life,” that they care what happens to Santa Fe’s youths, particularly around this time of the year. Growing up here isn’t so easy for anyone, especially queer youths, and that’s at least in part why they’ve written an original fairy tale based on the classics and aimed specifically at what they call “LGBTQ-infinity people.” It’s why they’ve continued to work with the Northern New Mexico Toy Drive for over a decade.
“Sometimes it’s not so easy,” they explain, “but it means a lot to me.”
We start by discussing the book, a nearly finished tale dubbed The Marquis Incognito: The Story of the Little Cinderboy of New Mexico. Du Barry grew up enamored with Cinderella—especially the stories it inspired, like Drew Barrymore’s 1998 cinematic retelling, Ever After. Du Barry’s version, however, encompasses a much broader timeline, dating back to the time of Queen Elizabeth and phasing between past and present, fairy lore, New Mexico-isms and a healthy dose of queer culture. Du Barry pulls from their own Chicano and Indigenous roots (Picuris Pueblo, though they’re quick to point out they weren’t raised in Indigenous tradition and don’t speak for Native folks), they take inspiration from the darkness of European writers like Hans Christian Andersen. In short, Du Barry’s fairy tale finds the young Cinderboy falling for a Scottish earl visiting New Mexico, and with the help of a fairy grandmother, wears fabulous outfits, learns a thing or two about love and himself and (sorry, spoilers) comes away happy.
“Kindness, though, is the ultimate moral to the story,” Du Barry says. “The idea for me in writing this fairytale was that it was for people...who have been denied our histories and our ways of telling stories in the ways we want and need. I want to be the badass who makes this story available to every queer child—or straight child—so they can know that even if they’re ‘different,’ they’re loved.”
Courtesy Madame Dubarry
We’re now in the final stages of that project, Du Barry says, with an estimated physical and audio release come February. Once completed, it will become available through the Santa Fe Fire Department, an organization Du Barry has worked with for years. Their father was a firefighter before he died, Du Barry explains. They know better than most what goes into the job. And by the way? Kudos to the local department for working with and celebrating queer folks and drag performers. Such steps have certainly seemed effective in the department’s efforts with the aforementioned Northern New Mexico Toy Drive—a godsend not only for youths in the community facing a less than thrilling holiday season, but for people who want to do something nice and aren’t so psyched on the Salvation Army’s anti-LGBTQ leanings (Google it, it’s sad).
Here’s how it works for people in Santa Fe: Visit the DeVargas Center between now and late December, grab a tag from the tree, which lays out Christmas gift requests from local disadvantaged youths, and then drop the unwrapped gift or gifts at any of the partnering dropoff locations such as Tina’s Ink, New Mexico Bank & Trust, Meow Wolf, The Candyman and many others (find a full list of locations at exittoydrive.com, where you can also donate directly).
“It goes back to kindness—it’s not an obligation, but I feel like I must leave a legacy of kindness. I’ve felt like it’s a spiritual, sacred calling, a value my grandmother taught me,” Du Barry says. “My dad was a forest firefighter, that’s why I have an affinity for firefighters. And when he was dying a couple years ago, he said he didn’t want flowers. ‘Don’t waste the money,’ he said, ‘just have everybody bring toys to the toy drive.’ He even helped after his death. I don’t care if they remember my name; maybe that there was just this weirdo queen who was trying to help.”
Gift donations for the Northern New Mexico Toy Drive don’t have an official cutoff date and will be accepted right up until Christmas. Monetary donations are always welcomed.
