Lady Bunny is drag royalty. If someone had to declare a queen of all drag queens, Bunny would be up there! Blame it longevity. Blame it on the wigs. Blame it on her organizational skills (She created Wigstock, hello!) or her outspoken activist tendancies. Maybe it's because she's a world-class DJ. But no doubt... She is a queen on top!

Bunny circulates in all circles, DJing at skanky downtown clubs or a glamorous Fashion Week shindig, hobnobbing with uber-celebs, or with taxi drivers on the West Side Highway. The Lady gets around; she's a legend.

As the esteemed QueenMother website records it, Bunny was raised in Chattanooga and first "up in drag" professionally in Atlanta's fertile bar scene with friends Flloyd, Lahoma Van Zandt and RuPaul" back in the day. She hit NYC in the late 80s and the rest is, well... herstory!

We chatted up Bunny for a Q&A to get her take on National Drag History Month, and she had much to say. (The dear does go on...). After the jump enjoy the lengthy, legendary interview. And if you're in Atlanta this month, see her show!

Bunny onstage at Wigstock.

What does National Drag History Month mean to you personally?

It means that I can dust off my oldest dresses and wigs and wear the raggedy-ass f**kers proudly. Instead of just dusting them off and wearing them as I normally do. Now I have an excuse. I'm being "historical" as opposed to just plain busted.

How do you plan to celebrate?

Well, this recession makes elaborate parties a little tough, but maybe I'll see if I can get my fellow lodgers to chip in so that we can get the cable turned on at the homeless shelter and watch LOGO while slurping our gruel! Thanks Bush!

Can you tell us about what you recall about seeing drag for the first time? When was it? Who was it?

Yes, I'll never forget it. It was Lypsinka's first farewell performance in 1982! Actually, it was at Chattanooga, Tennessee's Go-Go Club where all of the resident dragoons had subtitles like Adrian Sanchez, "The Look and Feel of Real", Tasha Khan, "Chattanooga's Own Bubbling Brown Sugar" and Candy Carrington, "The Illusion of Confusion". I thought they were goddesses--I'd never seen anyone wearing sequins and false eyelashes before! Unlike many queens I know, my mom wasn't a glamorpuss who inspired me with her high fashion wardrobe. We're talking Keds with pantyhose, okay? Though in later years, I did manage to coax her into wearing one of my wigs! Meet Lady Becky!

Bunny's mom!

What drag queen has had the most influence on you and your career?

As a teen I hung out with college students who turned me onto Divine in John Water's films. I thought she was so brilliant that I never re-watched any of her films because I didn't want to be tempted to copy her and recite, as my friends would, the lines from her films. And that was before I even knew that I was going to have a career dressing up! (Now I rip other queens off freely.)

In high school I was mesmerized by disco's high priestess Sylvester, not only for his sensational music, but because I once read an interview in which he said that he'd wear any article of clothing which appealed to him, be it male or female. And then in college I gagged when I found the Female Impersonator's Handbook by Pudgy Roberts in a thrift store. It contained oodles of pictures of the queens from the 60's like Ricky Renee. Their bouffants, heavy lashes and liquid liner had a lasting effect on my own look.

What drag queen deserves a "lifetime achievement" award? Michael Jackson--and we'd better hurry since she's claiming to be deathly ill. Seriously? I don't think that Dame Edna considers herself part of the drag community because she's a character created by a straight actor, Barry Humphries. But she's completely hysterical and the only drag I know of who packs huge theaters worldwide. The drag on Little Britain is also some of the funniest sh*t I've ever seen.

Who do you think is or was the fiercest drag queen ever?

As far as traditional lip-synch goes, NYC's H.R.H. Princess Diandra is electrifying, once and If you ever get her onto the stage. She's kinda like the Grace Jones of the drag world in that respect. With stand-up, Jackie Beat is untouchable. Seattle's Dina Martina is also a very demented new frontrunner.

The vocal impressions award goes to Jimmy James, though he no longer does them in full drag. But I'm such a huge fan of drag that so many come to mind: Lypsinka, John Cameron Mitchell as Hedwig, RuPaul, Charles Pierce, Atlanta's Lily White and Charlie Brown, Divine, Flip Wilson, Jamie Foxx as Wanda on In Living Color. And these are just the ones whose names you'd recognize. Or categorize as full-on drag. The androgynous things like Boy George and Leigh Bowery certainly deserve a mention too.

And if you bring transsexuals into the mix, you must include Sweet Pussy Pauline (aka Candy J) Candis Cayne, Amanda Lepore, Amanda Lear, Jayne County, and April Ashley.

What is the most crucial issue facing the drag community these days?

The same crucial issue facing everyone in this country: We must focus on wrenching our country away from crooks before they totally bankrupt us. We just used our voices to demand change and actually voted in a black man named Hussein into the White House, for Chrissakes! Isn't using our power intoxicating? We must stay involved and remember that WE are THEIR bosses. And by the way, I'm running for president in 2012--I'll finally be over the 35-year-old age restriction by then!

Sorry--you mean specifically to drag, right? I perform around the country a lot so I see a lot of traditional lip-synch acts. Queens have always had to synch the hits sometimes just for the tips. A lot of these girls aren't paid a lot and they're up there in expensive gowns and custom made jewelry, so they need the dollars which do roll in whenever they perform a song of the moment (like “Single Ladies”) that everyone's just dying to hear. But that really is caving in to the lowest common denominator. Recreating a music video may require some skill, but very little imagination. And I see this more and more.

In the past, there was always a queen or two in the cast who would pull out a number no one had ever heard and really make it work using her own creativity. That's how I was turned on to phenomenal songs like Patti Labelle's “Over The Rainbow,” Grace Slick's “Seasons,” Melba Moore's “Lean On Me,” Natalie Cole's wild live recording of “Party Lights” and Betty Wright's seismic live version of “Lovin' Is Really My Game.” These songs didn't have to be hits on the radio to thrill audiences for decades. Or a queen might add some new twist on a song to make it comical.

Sadly, a lot of today's drag performers aren't very unique. I performed a New Year's gig at a club where the other local cast members complained that "If it's not on the radio, they don't wanna hear it." Something tells me that this trend might have something to do with the dumbing down of America and our appalling lack of musical sophistication which allows nursery rhyme chants like “Hollaback Girl” and “My Humps” to undeservedly become hits. But you can't blame the audience! Or can you? Maybe that's another article entirely!

Bunny hits Fashion Week with Karl Lagerfeld. Ouch!

What advice would you give for a young, emerging drag queen who’s a little afraid about putting on that wig and stepping out on that stage?

Give in to your worst fears and your stage fright and hide yourself away so that crusty old pigs like me don't have any fresh competition! You will fail. You will fail. You will fail! And then they'll all laugh at you! It's definitely not worth the risk, sister girl.

Why is drag important?

Ask my landlord!

There are some powerful cultural and political slogans and quotes out there. "We shall overcome." "Yes, we can." "Remember the Alamo!" What should be the motto or battle cry for National Drag History Month?

“Yes we can-can?” “Remember the lyrics, Ho?” Or maybe just the time-tested “Break a Nail!” Or how about in the immortal words of St. Louis's Petrina Marie (R.I.P.): "Listen fag, you paid to see me. I would NEVER pay to see YOU!" Of course now that January is Drag History Month and February is Black History Month, I'd love to catch Rupaul as the clock strikes midnight on January 31st and tell her "You're a black drag: face it, bitch--YOU ARE HISTORY! Oh, there's a plum cameo for me on her new LOGO show? I was only kidding!

Want to know where to find Lady Bunny? She will be appearing in Atlanta's hit comedy Veranda at the Ansley Park Playhouse from January 15th-31st and at San Francisco's Rrazz Room in her one-and-a-half "woman" show Definitely Not The Easter Bunny on April 9th, 10th and 11th.

Bunny's outrageous dvd, Rated X: For Xtra-Retarded has been slashed to a recession-friendly $15--including shipping and manhandling. Watch the trailer by clicking HERE. It's the trailer for the dvd, not the one she grew up in!

Bunny's blog at www.LadyBunny.net just won a Glammy Award!

And of course... Bunny's MySpace.