Justice For The World’s Oldest Drag King, El Daña
El Daña has been shaking her hips and stealing fans’ hearts since she turned 21 in 1965, and more than 60 years later, she still wants to give even more to her adoring public.
Fresno local Elsie Saldaña, widely known by her drag king moniker El Daña, describes her drag as her “outlet.” “That’s my therapy. That’s my happiness, and that’s my fulfillment, even though it’s just for a moment,” she tells GO.
Growing up in the Raisin Capital of the World and working the land with her family of farmers, young Saldaña would come home after a long day of manual labor, in need of an escape. She’d turn on the radio and find her happy place in the crooning of Frank Sinatra, the dulcet tones of Vic Damone, and the genre-bending magic of Bobby Darin.
“I would turn on the radio and just pretend that I was them,” she says.
Once Elsie turned 21, she went straight to the only gay bar in Fresno, The Red Robin, and asked to audition as a male impersonator. She landed her first performance lip-syncing to Ritchie Valens’ “La Bamba.” The audience ate it up.
“Everybody loved it,” she recalls.
After her debut, she secured regular performances at the bar, where she immediately became a fan favorite, as she was the only male impersonator in the area at the time.
“I felt good about that because I was the only one and everybody approved of my performance. It was mostly gay men. You didn’t see very many lesbians out at that time, so that’s how I got started. It just came natural to me that way,” she recounts.
She later went on to perform at another gay bar in the area, The Girl of the Golden West, starring in local productions of My Fair Lady, Show Boat, and Cabaret, among others, where she nearly always landed the male lead. Her time onstage became Saldaña’s safe haven. By day, she was still tending the land, working as a machine operator, or homemaking; the spotlight at night gave her a brief but much-needed respite.
Fast-forward nearly two decades, and Saldaña moved to Visalia. This small town, about 45 minutes south of Fresno, allowed her to be closer to her mother. During her time there, she started the Imperial Sequoia Empire, a branch of the charitable LGBTQ+ organization the Imperial Court System, as its founding emperor in 1980. She would go on to claim this title twice more.
With AIDS ravaging the country in the ’80s, this institution was a lifeline for the LGBTQ+ community. Imperial Court chapters nationwide hosted events including drag shows and balls to raise money for those in need.
“I would like everybody to remember I did all I could to help raise funds for the AIDS epidemic at the time. I try to give as much as I can. I just hope people remember the good things that I did in helping out the community,” she says.
Since then, Saldaña has racked up several accolades and titles to boot as El Daña. Under her (rhinestone-encrusted) belt, she holds honors like the Harvey Milk Community Leader Award, an OUT100 recognition, and a Guinness World Record for being the world’s oldest performing drag king. Her decades-long commitment to drag and activism has inspired generations of performers across California and beyond, opening doors for other kings and queens who followed and helping create a safer, more vibrant space for the LGBTQ+ community.
Despite her many accolades, photo ops, performances, and endless philanthropy, she still has to live off Social Security and housekeeping gigs to make ends meet. “I’m not a lazy person, and I’m not about to give up, so I have to work until I drop dead,” she says. And yet she is, understandably, tired, and if she’s going to be putting her effort into something, she wants it to be performing. “It’s getting very difficult now to be so physical, and if I got to be physical, I’d rather dance,” she says.
Even though fellow drag performers and audience members alike praise her magnetic stage presence and charisma, she still struggles to get booked. While she underscores that she doesn’t want to sound “selfish” for wanting more bookings, after spending more than 60 years entertaining crowds and helping shape queer history, it’s difficult to imagine that desire as selfish. If anything, it feels overdue.
“Everybody’s praising me and everything, but they won’t book me, so I don’t understand. I feel everybody wants a piece of me, but I’m not getting anything to benefit me.”
El Daña is continuing to perform, and she shares updates about her gigs on Instagram.
But as a community, we have an opportunity to give back to a queer elder who poured her energy and love into it when they needed her most. If you can, book her. If you can’t, tell your local gay bars about her. Read up on her.
As a queer elder, the community owes so much of its freedoms to her generation’s bravery. She has one very clear message for younger LGBTQ+ folks today:
“My generation paved the way for them to have their freedom. They need to move forward in a positive way and keep paving the way wider than what it is today, and get educated and know what the elders went through, so they don’t make the same mistakes.”
