Juanita MORE! & Mr. David Glamamore
Arts & Activism Award
Juanita MORE! is a denizen of the limelight. The laudable hostess has blitzed San Francisco for more than three decades with high glamour, drag irreverence, and danceable beats illuminating the city. MORE! continues to be a heaping dollop of generosity and a sprinkle of nerve. She inspires those around her to make positive differences in their lives and communities, doing it all with timeless elegance and an innovative spirit. Most recently, Juanita celebrated 30 years of drag with an exhibit at The San Francisco Arts Commission Main Gallery. Miss MORE! also holds the title of Absolute Empress 56 of the Imperial Council of San Francisco –– one of the oldest non-profit organizations globally.
To date, MORE! has helped raise over 1 million dollars for local charities — GBLT Historical Society & Archives, Our Trans Youth, Q Foundation, Queer Lifespace, Transgender Law Center, and more. In addition, MORE! tirelessly fundraises for organizations in San Francisco that are adamant about helping communities in the seven-by-seven thrive, all while shining light and offering support to those who’ve been overlooked for far too long.
MORE! embodies what it means to be a conduit of connection. MORE!’ brings the people together to fundraise, celebrate community, and demand social change around San Francisco and elsewhere. Her culinary expressions are an extension of what mothers have been doing in their kitchens for generations — which, states, is sharing “loads of love.”
Mr. David Glamamore is a legendary New York City fashion designer and drag performer. He has been renowned for creating couture gowns, costumes, and high fashion garments for drag queens, trans performers, burlesque dancers, and other residents of the queer nightlife.
Globally known, with decades of notoriety, his collections in San Francisco have been shown in The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Union Square, Saks Fifth Avenue, Levi Strauss & Co., the Jewish Community Centre, SF Pride's mainstage, SF City Hall, and many times at the DeYoung Museum.
His 2016 retrospective at the DeYoung, "Mr. David 24 Years of MORE," showcased over 300 garments from Juanita MORE! 's collection of over 100 LGBTQ+AI San Francisco personalities, including several Imperial Court Empresses, and earned an award from the governor of California. The crowd was the largest in DeYoung nightlife cultural events history and was so big that the fire department momentarily stopped the show for safety control.
In April of 2021, he was elected Emperor of the Imperial Council of San Francisco, Inc., and now carries the title of Emperor XLIX After Norton • Mr. David Glamamore.
Most recently, he produced a vinyl record album in sync with his weekly performance club, Pillows. Against all odds, this avant-garde drag club has taken over San Francisco's premiere leather bar, Powerhouse, every Monday night for eight years. Part dance party, part anything-goes variety show, Pillows has fostered a diverse community of up-and-coming performers, including several musical acts, now featured on our first compilation album, The SoMa Sound Vol.1! Consisting of twenty-one original tracks from nineteen local queer artists.
His life, both on stage and behind, has been one of service: to protect queers, allies, and queer spaces, to promote drag, to teach the youth, and to clothe those who make San Francisco's unique nightlife community colorful, exciting and as wild and free as it can be.