DeAnn Gatto on winning the Mr. South Bend male impersonator competition

DeAnn Gatto worked as a bouncer at the Seahorse, a center of queer culture in South Bend for decades. It was there that she befriended some legendary male impersonation performers. They encouraged DeAnn, teaching her the art and skill of impersonation and the differences between that and drag performance.One day, DeAnn was pushed to enter the Mr. South Bend competition, a title that showed to her, and to everyone, that she could be the reigning champion of male impersonators.In this episode of “South Bend’s Own Words,” DeAnn shares her experiences bouncing at the Seahorse and befriending its owner, Gloria Frankel. Many experiences were great. Some were pretty disgusting. Despite the Seahorse’s place in local LGBTQ+ history, it was a bar, after all. But DeAnn’s years in this storied place in South Bend’s queer history were special to her, to her fellow male impersonators, and to those who saw her pour countless hours (and wardrobe dollars) into her performances. This episode was produced by Caleb Matz from the Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts at IU South Bend, and by George Garner from the Civil Rights Heritage Center. Full transcript of this episode available here.Want to learn more about South Bend’s history? View the photographs and documents that helped create it. Visit Michiana Memory at http://michianamemory.sjcpl.org/.Title music, “History Repeats,” from Josh Woodward, used via CC-BY-4.0-DEED. Visit his website at https://www.joshwoodward.com.