Ambush Magazine is pleased to announce Debbie With a D will reign as King Cake Queen XXXI over the Krewe of Queenateenas. Debbie With a D will reign as The People’s Queen.
Originally from Baltimore, Debbie With a D moved to New Orleans in 2011. She recalls, “The first time I visited New Orleans was in 2010 to help move my (at that time) ex-boyfriend to New Orleans. We were still friends and I volunteered to drive his moving truck with him from Baltimore to New Orleans. We planned that I would stay a week to see the city … and we fell in love. I moved down myself a year later. We were married in 2019.”
Debbie’s road to New Orleans is a compelling one. Growing up, Debbie With a D was homeschooled. His father was the pastor of an Assemblies of God megachurch and did not react well when his son came out as gay while pursuing a degree in Mass Communication from Towson University in Baltimore. When threatened with being sent to a “pray the gay away” conversion therapy camp, he chose to leave home, recalling “it didn’t feel safe to be at home.”
Debbie with a D was homeless for two years, living in a car and couch surfing with friends. Eventually he got a job at a coffee shop, where he met his future husband. After coming out, he began learning about gay culture & history, and was particularly struck with the story and implications of the AIDS epidemic. This sparked an interest in public health.
While in New Orleans, Debbie With a D earned a Masters Degree in public health. From 2011 to 2013, he volunteered at CrescentCare until he was hired as HIV Prevention Manager, a job he held until 2022. For the last three years she has worked full-time as “public health drag queen.”
Relatively speaking, Debbie With a D is still fairly new to drag. The first time she did drag was for the Krewe of Armeinius ball in 2017, a beginning which came full circle last year when she reigned as Queen Armeinius LV. She recalls of her start, “I was rough. Ha!”
When asked about drag influences on her career, she stated, “I’ve learned many drag things from many fabulous queens. Laveau Contraire helped me a lot when I first got my start. If you want a drag house to follow, look for Haus Contraire! I work with them frequently and they are an incredibly talented house. I also was in Cycle 8 of the Drag Workshop put on by Vinsantos. And I would be REMISS if I didn’t give a shout out to Poppy Tooker, she may not have taught me drag but she taught me how to brunch and be fabulous, and put me on the back cover of her book Drag Queen Brunch, which really opened so many doors for me early in my career.”
Debbie With a D has not ventured into the Pageant Circuit, but she has won a number of awards: the Mardi Gras Bourbon St. Awards in 2020 and 2022 in the Best Drag Category, “New Orleans #1 Drag Queen” in Gambit’s “Best Of New Orleans” edition in 2024 and 2025, and Entertainer of the Year at the Gay Appreciation Awards in 2025.
When asked about her name, she said, “I loved Anne of Green Gables growing up and the heroine always said her name was ‘Anne with an E’. That and I love a double entendre.”
Currently, Debbie With a D has a regular show at Oz New Orleans every Tuesday night, which is a talent competition. She says, “That show is so much fun because of the diverse talent and wide spectrum of style of performers that comes out. Usually it’s drag queens, but also kings, live vocalists, comedians, and burlesque performers too. Tuesdays are my new Fridays. Kozmik and Roslynn Aphrodite-Alexander have helped me from the beginning with that show and we regularly have the talents of Ya’Rai Alexander, LadyFran, Vantasia Divine, Emonie, Camilla St. Charles, Bunni, Bozeaux LeFou, Ritchi Aphrodite, Qween Quan, Nicki Nicolai, Barbie, Captain Dawl, Muffy and Jay Bee Vanderbilt. (I appreciate documentation and queer history so I love giving shoutouts to the entertainers around me who are really hustling to keep queer nightlife in New Orleans vibrant).”
In addition to her regular Tuesday gig, Debbie With a D also works with Saint John to host Sunday brunches regularly. She also does weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, corporate events, and other private events. She can be reached at DebbieWithaDBooking@gmail.com
Debbie With a D will make her first public appearance as King Cake Queen-elect at the Rue Royale Revelers’ annual Twelfth Night Party on January 6 when the Captain of the Queenateenas and the outgoing and incoming King Cake Queens call upon the Captain and Grand Reveler of the Rue Royale Revelers in a meeting of the two royal courts. The official coronation of the King Cake Queen will take place the week before Mardi Gras at a private coronation party.
The Krewe of Queenateenas grew out of a Mardi Gras bead toss from the fabled “Ambush Mansion” balcony initiated by Rip and Marsha Naquin-Delain in 1987. The following year, Rip and Marsha narrowed down the guest list. Their good friend Jay Loomis, who would eventually reign as King Cake Queen II, dubbed the group “The Krewe of Queenateenas.” The first King Cake Queen was selected in 1994 and has been an annual feature of gay Carnival since then.
List of King Cake Queens:
1994 I (Name stricken from the record by co-captain Rip Naquin)
1995 II Jay Loomis: Jewel of the Nile
1996 III Smurf Murphy: The Rainbow Queen
1997 IV Reba Douglas: Pearl of the Sea
1998 V Elizabeth “Liz” Simms: The She Devil
1999 VI Christine Cheridon: Czarina
2000 VII Stephanie Williams: Goddess 2000
2001 VIII Phyllis Denmark: The Peacock Queen
2002 IX Lisa Beaumann: The Freedom Queen
2003 X Teryl-Lynn Foxx: The Voodoo Queen
2004 XI (Name stricken from the record by co-captain Rip Naquin): The Dragon Queen
2005 XII Savanna DeLorean: The Amazon Queen
2006 XIII Raven Kennedy: The Diamond Queen
2007 XIV Princesse Stephaney: The Fantasy Queen
2008 XV Marsha Naquin-Delaine: The Fleur de Lis Queen
2009 XVI Tami Tarmac: The Grandee Queen
2010 XVII Opal Masters: The Parisian Queen
2011 XVIII Rona Conners: The Chrysanthemum Queen
2012 XIX Nicole DuBois: The Samba Queen
2013 XX Dusty Debris: The Platinum Queen
2014 XXI Barbara Ella: The Borghese Queen
2015 XXII Aubrey Synclaire: Queen of the Opera
2016 XXII Aubrey Synclaire: Queen of the Opera, Act Two
2017 XXIII Monica Synclaire-Kennedy: The Pride Queen
2018 XXIV Solitaire
2019 XXV Tiffany Alexander: The Silver Anniversary Queen
2020 XXVI Felicia Phillips: The Ruby Queen
2021 XXVI Felicia Phillips: The Covid Queen
2022 XXVII Regina Adams: The Amethyst Queen
2023 XXVIII Bootsie DeVille: Queen of the Neon Labyrinth
2024 XXIX George “Rita George” Roth: The Classic Queen
2025 XXX Athena Jewelle: The Phoenix Queen
2026 XXXI Debbie with a D: The People’s Queen
