Photography: Prisma Compositional
Video: Paradox Productions
Interview: Paul Hofman
Being asked to be an ambassador came as a huge surprise to drag queen Victoria False. The diva’s calendar is now filling up at lightning speed. Pride Amsterdam conducted an in-depth interview with this ‘grandmother of the drag queens’. “Without a past there is no future. That’s why the older gay generation is so important.”
Unmade-up, Ger Poels walks into the café-restaurant just a stone’s throw from the capital’s gay scene. He is the alter ego of Victoria False.
Bette Midler
The ice breaks quickly once he starts talking about his life, career and loves. About the start of her career: “I was just sixteen when I began performing in travesty. Soon after I formed the duo Paradise Blossoms with a friend. We performed in all the drag shows. It was amazing.” As Bloody Bette, a lifelike impersonation of the popular singer Bette Midler, he enjoyed great success. “People went wild. Before long I was performing in Berlin, London and Paris. What wonderful years.”
Paris
Love later took him to Switzerland where he studied at a private secretarial school. The shy Limburg boy learned to speak French flawlessly. Laughing: “At that school I was the first and only man.” The relationship ended, however, and the many nightclubs of Paris beckoned. By day he worked in a private clinic where well-known French figures such as Simone Signoret and Mitterrand were regulars. Ger had to work very hard. The doctor only paid for the school and the metro. He looks meaningful when I ask what the doctor actually did there. “It was a kind of addiction clinic.”
On a sunny day he met an accordion player on the street, painted like a Pierrot. For half a year they performed together, dancing and singing. Because he looked very androgynous as a boy, a black dress, a little wig and some lipstick were enough to perform with Maurice at the venues Maurice had been frequenting for years. He had a wonderful time with Maurice and could also enjoy Paris at the same time. As Bette he wore lots of makeup; in Paris he wore none at all.
Scores
He was just 24 when he returned to the Netherlands. “Indeed it was love again. This time it brought me to Amsterdam. He took singing lessons here for five years as a tenor, but during an audition for the conservatory it quickly became clear he was a bass-baritone. “I didn’t want to change my technique, start over, and I didn’t have the discipline the profession demands. I preferred dancing at the Roxy to studying scores.” Through his vocal studies Ger developed deep respect for classical singers. “It’s a demanding profession; it’s incredible what you must give up when your instrument is your body.” His voice rings like a bell. “At the start of my vocal training I discovered I was a bass/baritone. But I didn’t have the discipline to continue with singing.” He is a bon vivant, he continues. Going out and parties are closer to his heart.
In the late eighties he met the then-budding Dolly Bellefleur. “At the very beginning Dolly had her own show in the small Anthony Theater on the Red Light District. I was one of her guests in the show. When I think back to that time, what a fantastic period it was.” It was also the period when a disease emerged that hit the gay community hard. “AIDS hit so hard. I lost many friends.” He became too depressed to sing. Nothing came out of my throat anymore. He falls silent for a moment. “I missed my buddies. It still grabs me by the throat.”
More than a voice
He realised he was more than just a voice and followed his heart. Because he speaks French so well, jobs were plentiful. “I went to work at a bank. I did that for more than 25 years.” During those years he consciously hung up his travesty clothes.
Bet
Ten years ago a friend challenged him and bet with Ger that he wouldn’t perform as drag again. He didn’t need asking twice. He took the bet and won. Under the name Victoria he then took to the stage. “I liked the reference to the old Queen Victoria of England. Later the addition False came. It has nothing to do with the Dutch word vals (false). “Everything about my appearance is fake, from breasts to buttocks and from eyelashes to hair. But Victoria is absolutely not a mean woman.” Yet if you make her ridiculous, she’ll give you a hard time back, he assures. “How did I feel when I was back on stage? It was as if I had never taken off my heels. Wow, what a fantastic feeling. What an experience. I always compare it to an addiction.” It’s no surprise he decided to take his dresses out of the wardrobe for good.
The summer of the Gay Games is still vivid in his memory. “It was a summer I will never forget. The city was shaking to its foundations.” Reflecting: “There was so much happiness in Amsterdam. I hope to find that energy again during this Pride. I was so proud that we could walk hand in hand back then. That’s how it should always be.”
Problem
With heart and soul he will serve this year as ambassador for older LGBT people. During Pride he will perform in several nursing homes. “When I see those happy faces, it does me so much good.” Then he raises a point he sees as a national problem. When he performs he hears stories about older people insulting, excluding and gossiping about each other. “That hurts me so much. Often it happens secretly. Gay men and lesbians can have a very hard time. I want to stand up for them.” He adds: “Never sit on God’s throne.”
Barricade
This year’s theme appeals to him greatly. “It’s important that the older generation is not forgotten. They stood on the barricades for us and fought for LGBT rights. That must never be forgotten. They endured hard times. You know, I became terribly angry when the Nashville Statement became known? We really must be careful that history does not repeat itself.” He sees it as his task as ambassador to build a bridge between two generations. “Young people today can enjoy the freedom that the generation before them fought so hard for. Everyone should reflect on that sometimes.”
He pauses for a moment and then says: “I am proud of who I am. I have always taken my freedom by doing what I wanted. I never cared what others thought. Now I will fight for the pink elderly. Because excluding is never allowed — not then, not now, and not in the future.” Pride Amsterdam and older people could not wish for a more passionate advocate. “Life is simply love”
“EXCLUDING IS NEVER ALLOWED — NOT THEN, NOT NOW, AND NOT IN THE FUTURE”
“I NEVER CARED WHAT OTHERS THOUGHT”
“THE HISTORY OF INTOLERANCE AND DISCRIMINATION MUST NEVER REPEAT ITSELF”
“VOLUNTEERING IS NOT OPTIONAL”
Pride ambassador since 2019
