Alabama drag queen is suspended chief justice’s nightmare
Roy Moore, left, Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, spoke during an April 27 news conference at the Judicial Building in Montgomery, Ala. Moore has called out Ambrosia Starling, right, twice by name in recent days while defending himself against civil charges of violating judicial canons with his opposition to same-sex marriage. That’s just fine with Starling. “If it takes a drag queen to remind you that liberty and justice is for all, here I am,” said Starling. (Mickey Welsh & Albert Cesare/The Montgomery Advertiser via AP)
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. » Wearing big hair, loads of makeup and high heels, small-town drag queen Ambrosia Starling is the new worst nightmare of suspended Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore.
Moore has called out Starling twice by name in recent days while defending himself against allegations of violating judicial canons with his opposition to same-sex marriage. During a news conference and in a written statement, Moore cited the cross-dressing entertainer as a reason he’s at risk of losing his job for the second time since 2003.
That’s fine with Starling, who helped lead an anti-Moore rally on the steps of the Alabama Supreme Court building in January. Opponents that day filled out more than 40 complaints against Moore, who already was the subject of other complaints and now faces removal from office if convicted of violating judicial ethics.
“If it takes a drag queen to remind you that liberty and justice is for all, here I am,” Starling said today between sips of coffee.
Moore contends the effort to oust him is unfounded and politically motivated.
Born and raised in the southeast Alabama city of Dothan, Starling is a gay man who dresses up like a woman to perform drag shows. Most days, the 43-year-old Starling dresses like a male and goes to a regular job, referring to himself as “he.”
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But the entertainer prefers the pronoun “she” when dressed as Ambrosia Starling, a stage name for drag shows. Fearful of losing his day job or endangering others in a Deep South state where many gays still fear violence or discrimination, Starling agreed to an interview on the condition that only the stage name was used.
“I have a 71-year-old mother who lives with me that I have to worry about,” Starling said. “Her well-being and safety is No. 1 for me.”
Starling wore her drag outfit to that demonstration against Moore outside the Supreme Court five months ago. In a long blue dress and light-colored coat, Starling referred to Moore as a bigot and asked crowd members to submit complaints against Moore to the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission, which accused the Republican Moore of wrongdoing on Friday, resulting in his suspension.
The complaint filed by the Judicial Inquiry Commission accuses Moore of willfully failing to respect the authority of federal court decisions that cleared the way for gay marriage, which Moore opposes on the basis of faith and the law. He issued an administrative order to state probate judges in January that said state laws against gay marriage remained in place months after the U.S. Supreme Court effectively legalized gay marriage nationwide.
An attorney for Moore, Mat Staver, said Moore issued the order because probate judges were asking questions about how to proceed. Staver said Moore will file a response within 30 days asking the Alabama Court of the Judiciary to dismiss charges against him.
Moore has been tossed once before from the office of chief justice. Thirteen years ago he refused to abide by a federal judge’s order to remove a Ten Commandments monument Moore had erected in the rotunda of the state judicial building, resulting in judicial ethics charges and his removal by the Court of Judiciary.
During a news conference last week in that same rotunda, Moore said Starling and similar people would have been classified as having a “mental disorder” just a few years ago. Moore also accused Starling of performing a “mock wedding” in violation of a state court order against same-sex marriage, a claim Starling dismissed as untrue.
Describing himself as a churchgoing Christian who lives a normal life when not dressed in drag, Starling said he doesn’t mind being singled out by Moore. Many more lesbians, gays, bi-sexual and transgender people also oppose Moore’s tactics, Starling said, it’s just that not everyone can speak out.
“I’ll take the hit for the entire LGBT community if it gets the message across,” Starling said.
16 responses to “Alabama drag queen is suspended chief justice’s nightmare”
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Halluciface.
thank God we don’t live in ‘bama
So does Starling use the Ladies Room?
It looks as though urinals will need to be installed in the women’s restrooms.
A self-described drag queen churchgoing Christian…hmmm. One can be one or the other but not both.
Gotta challenge that one. If God’s church was for the perfect among us, who’d be there?
hawaiikone – in one sense you are certainly correct as the church is indeed a place for sinners. However, this does not give an excuse for people to continue in their sins rather than repent of them. So for this person to identify himself as being both a drag queen and a churchgoing Christian is a contradiction in terms. One cannot claim to be a follower of Christ and yet remain disobedient. “A woman shall not wear a man’s garment, nor shall a man put on a woman’s cloak, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 22:5).
Oh, better put away the pants ladies. Morality check going on!
What to me is pivotal is Christ’s admonition to the woman at the well, after He’d reminded all those standing in judgement that they themselves were sinners, He then told the woman to “go and sin no more”. I have no idea of the journey this individual is on, and whether or not he/she is listening to Jesus, but I do know between Christ, the bible, and the fellowship of believers, the best chance exists for a repentant heart.
May I inquire of you hawaiikone? You wrote “I have no idea of the journey this individual is on, and whether or not he/she is listening to Jesus….” This man dresses as drag queen for stage shows and advocates for transgender rights. Is it not obvious that he is not listening to Jesus? If he is listening, he certainly is not following Jesus is he? Is he manifesting a repentant heart by “going and sinning no more?” It is quite obvious that he is not repentant which of course is his prerogative but he shouldn’t claim to be a Christian at the same time. That is sheer hypocrisy.
Please understand, I know where you’re coming from, and with regard to flaunting a transgender lifestyle, I agree it is not condusive to the concepts of following Christ. Additionally, I’m unfamiliar with this person’s walk with the Lord, and what kind of support, if any, he’s receiving from his home church. For all we know, this “church” might celebrate his actions, as there’s no shortage of worldly churches to chose from these days. I do however, stand on Christ’s ongoing mission, which was to seek the lost, and bring them to Himself. Were this man part of my life, I’d continue to encourage him to seek God’s guidance, and gradually transition away from his own. As believers we have a choice, and it involves either encouraging or condemning. I feel our responsibility should focus more on encouraging while leaving the condemnation to Jesus. You sound like a fellow believer, and it’s not my intention to build a wall between us, but to simply clarify my perspective on relating to others that offer challenges to our beliefs.
Thanks for your response and clarification hawaiikone. Yes I agree with much of what you have stated. To put it in my words, I would say that we condemn the sin and encourage the sinner. After all, we are supposed to encourage and edify one another in keeping with Gal 6:1-2. However, after a period of time if someone still refuses to repent then there are also consequences as detailed in Mt 18:15-17.
d_bullfighter and hawaiikone, God will judge Ambrosia.
Sorry what is the issue …?We need more bathrooms ? what bathroom does see choose ? gotta be how she dresses…or else how does any one know /enforce ? or is the issue is born a man dress a man ???please explain
Seriously? How did you manage to get through life all these years? A 3 year old can probably explain this to you.
“If it takes a drag queen to remind you that liberty and justice is for all, here I am,”
Best line I’ve heard all year.