Shine bright like a Diamond

I first met iconic Atlanta drag performer Diamond Lil sometime in the early 90s at some bar. I have no recollection of the time or place, but Diamond Lil – or Lil, as I always called her – was unforgettable. Lil was decidedly not your usual drag queen. She had a big voice and she knew how to belt a tune. She oozed Southern charm mixed with biting, sometimes self-effacing, humor.

Born Phillip Forrester in 1935 in Savannah, Lil became a regular performer on the Atlanta drag scene in the 1960s. Unlike other female impersonators, Diamond Lil didn’t just lip-synch to songs, but sang and wrote her own music. Nicknamed the “Queen of the Jukeboxes,” her humorous songs were heard around the southeast and she was an influence on fellow drag performers RuPaul and Lady Bunny. She released a number of albums, including “Silver Grill Blues” (named after the now defunct diner). Not only did Lil perform at most of Atlanta’s gay bars and cabarets over the last 40-plus years, but she often popped up to perform at Manuel’s Tavern ¬– usually to a full house. She was also a noted activist for LGBT rights, once famously singing Tammy Wynette’s “Stand By Your Man” on the campus of the University of Georgia during a 1972 rally.

The first time I met Lil without her wig, was at the old INtown office on West Peachtree Street. A man in a dapper suit appeared at my office door and said, “Why, hello, Collin.” The mellifluous voice sounded familiar, but I must have had the most quizzical look on my face, because Lil sauntered over to my desk, and said, “Don’t you recognize me? It’s Lil.” Then he winked. Of course it was Lil.

INtown published some of Lil’s funny little essays about life in the Virginia-Highland neighborhood where she made her home and funny anecdotes from her days in drag. Be sure to check out atlantaintownpaper.com to read a couple of them during the month of September.

The last time I saw Lil was during lunch at the Radial Café earlier this year. I’d heard she’d been ill, but she was as charming and quickwitted as ever. She died on Aug. 9 at age 80 after a bout with cancer. A lady always knows when to leave.

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