By day, Dextra DeNovo hovers over a computer, hammering out contracts, trademark agreements and other legal processes. But once evening rolls around, Denovo launches into an hour-and-a-half hair and makeup session before heading off to the next drag queen performance.
“During the day I do my thing on the laptop and at night I shut it off and turn into a Glamazon," re-capped DeNovo.
For the last couple years, DeNovo has followed such a routine, contrasting the role of a corporate lawyer with that of a drag performer, donning sparkly outfits to strut around lip synching to high energy songs at everyplace from nightclubs to corporate parties to street fairs.
Dextra DeNovo – the performer’s stage name as she keeps her birth name private – had been a fan of drag for a long time but never thought she could pull it off and had no experience with makeup. But like so many who found their calling in the downtime of the pandemic, the Alameda resident turned idle time into a time of transformation.
“I went through a pretty nasty divorce during the pandemic and that kinda lit the fire under my butt,” DeNovo said. “I’m like, ‘This is what we need to do. You need to go for things and challenge yourself and do it.’”
The makeup turned out to be the biggest hurdle in this life makeover. DeNovo turned to YouTube videos to figure out how to apply blush and eyeliner. She figured out eyelashes made the biggest impact. She began assembling an array of wigs which line a shelf in the kitchen above where Denovo set up a makeup station. A Singer sewing machine sat nearby, evidence DeNovo makes her own costumes.
It’s somewhat of a contrast that within DeNovo’s Alameda apartment the corporate lawyer and the drag queen co-exist within a single space and person. DeNovo said she had discussed her desire to perform in drag with her co-workers and bosses at the tech firm where she’s employed.
“My current employers are really supportive,” DeNovo said. “As soon as I was like, ‘Oh, I’m interested in doing drag,' they were, ‘Oh my gosh,’ so excited for me.”
The law gig has even led to some drag gigs. She performed for the LGBT Bar Association in San Francisco and the International Association of Privacy Professionals in Washington D.C.
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In a further melding of law and drag, DeNovo also started a podcast with another gay attorney about entertainment law called Reading is Fundamental.
“You really just need to be 100% authentically you,” DeNovo said. “I’m a lawyer. I’m a drag queen. Might as well just be open about it.”
But the current attacks across the country on drag queens and trans people have motivated DeNovo to seek the limelight even more. She’s scared and disheartened by not only attacks but also the number of state’s currently considering legislation to ban public drag performances. The rage has made it into her performances and fuels her energy.
“I think it’s important for us to be as visible as possible and to share our stories as much as possible because I think the more that goes around the more the stigma goes away," DeNovo said.
And taking on stigmas is a central theme of DeNovo’s life these days. With Pride Month descended on the Bay Area, her performance calendar is full and she is making good on her goal of raising her visibility — and maybe even further pairing her two careers.
“If I get a large platform, I want to be the next Judge Judy in drag,” she laughed. “Wow amazing is that, and who else is qualified?”
