LOCAL HERO Paulee Mekdeci Keene Pride Organizer Works to Bring Understanding to Region About LGBTQIA+ Community

Paulee Mekdeci was a child in the early 1990s when he first saw a gay man talking about living with HIV/AIDS on a reality television show. &emsp;&emsp;"Seeing gay people (on TV) then — I came from a small town (where) the stigma was so heavy," he says, referring to Pedro Zamora, a character on MTV's "The Real World" who later lost his life to the virus. &emsp;&emsp;The experience of watching someone like himself sharing the same feelings about his life set him on his own path. &emsp;&emsp;Today, that's one piece of the pie that is Mekdeci's lifelong dedication to educating about and creating community for LGBTQIA+ populations. &emsp;&emsp;As a teenager living in Massachusetts, Mekdeci was a victim of severe bullying in high school. &emsp;&emsp;"I didn't know my gender identity; we weren't talking about it," he says. "There were not these wonderful exploratory terms. Everything was thrown into one box — I called it 'the big pink box.' People could see this thing about me that I didn't understand, and I was told it was bad. It took a toll on my mental health, and I already had issues with that." &emsp;&emsp;Feeling he had to hold onto a secret about his identity and the daily harassment he received led to him attempting to take his own life when he was only 16. &emsp;&emsp;"I realized in my 20s it's really, really important to help youth realize they are OK for being who they are and they don't need to listen to (derogatory language) — that there is a community for them." &emsp;&emsp;His experience was a launchpad in pursuing his life's passion. &emsp;&emsp;As a board member of Keene Pride and the organization's youth committee, Mekdeci believes more safe spaces and events like Keene Pride are sorely needed. &emsp;&emsp;"To get to be a part of this and know Keene Pride is building this and is a resource for youth in this community, this is amazing, and I'm really proud of that," he notes. &emsp;&emsp;The Keene Pride board was created in January 2022 to begin planning the Keene Pride Week's activities this September, which included film screenings, director talks, a pride makeup prom, live music, a youth open mic, and a day-long festival. &emsp;&emsp;"We wanted it to be a resource for the community," says Mekdeci. &emsp;&emsp;The newly-formed organization hosted events all year long (including Drag Brunch events at Fireworks restaurant in downtown Keene and youth open mic events at Brewbakers — part of Nova Arts), with several more in the works. &emsp;&emsp;Mekdeci, a gender-fluid drag queen and actor, created his drag character (Miss Ginger Soulless) 20 years ago when he was 18 when a local theater company needed an actor to fulfill several different roles. He recently served as emcee of a Madonna tribute show at the Colonial Theatre during Keene Pride Week. &emsp;&emsp;When he moved to Brattleboro 17 years ago, he met the Ladies of the Rainbow, a drag queen troupe performing in and around the Brattleboro and Keene area for several decades. The origin of the troupe dates back to the 1990s when they called a queer nightclub — known as the Rainbow Cattle Co. in Dummerston, Vermont — their home. After the club closed its doors, the group went on to perform shows in Vermont and New Hampshire for nonprofits, including the AIDS Project of Southern Vermont, the Brattleboro Museum, the Windham County Heat Fund and (formerly) AIDS Services for the Monadnock Region. &emsp;&emsp;"They aligned with my love of local charities," says Mekdeci, who has performed with the troupe for the past eight years doing "rural drag" at VFW halls and Moose lodges in Brattleboro, Keene and the surrounding areas. &emsp;&emsp;He's also done many solo gigs, including taking part in Drag Queen Storytimes, where he goes to local libraries and events and reads progressive children's books to kids while in drag; and he serves on the board of The AIDS Project of Southern Vermont. &emsp;&emsp;"I didn't have any of these groups (growing up)," he notes. "It's scary to see (young people) still facing the things I faced. The difference is now they have a community." &emsp;&emsp;Mekdeci's husband, Patrick Brown, is also a board member of Keene Pride and operates his own business, Brown Computer Solutions (with locations in Keene and Brattleboro). &emsp;&emsp;"Patrick's business aligns with helping the communities in which he does business," says Mekdeci of his husband. The couple and Brown Computer Solutions staff have collectively done extensive volunteer work for various charities. &emsp;&emsp;"We've done walks for Susan G. Komen for the Cure; we've made custom T-shirts for the AIDS Project of Southern Vermont," he says. "We like putting together a community within a community and feeling united as a team." &emsp;&emsp;One of the highlights of their work was receiving a handwritten note from the governor of New Hampshire at the time thanking them for their efforts in getting marriage equality passed. &emsp;&emsp;The icing on the cake was seeing LGBTQIA+ couples being married on Central Square at the Keene Pride festival in September and watching parents encouraging their children to come up to the drag performers asking to have their photo taken with them. &emsp;&emsp;"The kids tipped us," says Mekdeci. "I think about what (that experience) would have done for me as a kid. It's about acceptance." &emsp;&emsp;Mekdeci is currently co-producing and co-directing a film with Keene Pride board member and filmmaker Laina Barakat about rural drag queens. &emsp;&emsp;"It's about what it's like to work in these small towns," he says. "We're here renting VFW halls but selling out 250 seats and helping charities." &emsp;&emsp;He's also part of a group starting a queer entertainment company featuring local drag queens, including himself, and bringing in larger acts to rural areas: film, comedy, music, theater, et cetera. &emsp;&emsp;Mekdeci now realizes how being involved with Keene Pride has changed his life, and he's just getting started. &emsp;&emsp;"I wanted to help build a community, and I didn't realize how much I needed it," he says. "These people are my chosen family."