In Betty’s Corner
A look behind Cascadia’s most inclusive publication
Story by Ella Banken
Before 2006, you could get fired for loving who you wanted to in the state of Washington. If your employer saw you walking into Bellingham’s known gay bar, you would be at risk of losing your job.
So, everyone went in the back. If you came in through the front door, you weren’t from Bellingham.
Or, you were Betty Desire.
Betty has been performing as a drag queen in Bellingham for nearly 25 years.
“When I ended up coming out, I didn’t want to go in the back door any longer,” she laughed, thinking about how many years have passed.
Rumors Cabaret was a place for camaraderie and hub of support. The walls were plastered with flyers from the bar to the bathrooms, detailing information about events, activities and resources. Rumors was the place — the only place — to spread the news.
Over the years, Rumors has become a popular destination for more than just the queer community. It’s the only gay club in Bellingham, but it’s not such an exclusive environment anymore — which isn’t a bad thing, Betty assures — but it’s not the same communication space that it used to be.
Thus, The Betty Pages were born.
“My theory was that exposure to gay people and to drag queens is like a vaccine to bigotry.”
Originally, the publication served the same purpose as Rumors’ poster-covered walls, except you didn’t need to sneak in the back door to read it.
The first two editions of The Betty Pages were printed on standard letter paper at Office Depot. Betty printed 300 copies of those first issues, and thought that she would end up keeping most herself. Betty never imagined she would distribute them all.
Clearly she underestimated Bellingham’s appetite.
Today, The Betty Pages can be found at 115 locations, in three different counties, and she’s printed 3,000 copies each month for the past 17 years.
Or at least, she thinks it’s been 17 years.
“More than 15, it might be 18 years,” she paused, then laughed and said, “You know, you get to be 65, and everything just sort of gets muddled!”
Self-proclaimed as, “Cascadia’s most inclusive alternative-lifestyle tabloid,” The Betty Pages covers Indian cinema reviews, political musings, recipes for cannabis infused desserts, vacation highlights, boudoir photography, horoscopes, kink exploration, current events, queer resources and more. It’s a treasure trove of information.
“I never expected The Betty Pages to … is ‘grow’ the right word?” Betty said. “I didn’t expect it to be what it is today. It’s a lot more than I thought it would be.”
The Betty Pages is a lifeline. The whimsical, sexy, hilarious and caring pages connect readers to resources, information and community.
This purpose can be loosely attributed to Betty’s experience with Christianity. Before coming out as gay, and before Betty Desire graced the stage, she did everything she could to avoid that reality. In the 70s, she trained as a pastor in the Pentacostal faith, because they said they could “heal” her.
“It really didn’t take,” she laughed mischievously, after a pause.
That chapter of her life is behind her, but she says it continues to influence her approach to The Betty Pages.
Every reader that finds help within the pages motivates her to help more. LGBTQ+ organizations are always displayed in the back of each issue. A suicide helpline is listed, free meals and food banks are advertised. COVID-19 health and safety guidelines are the most recent additions to the publication.
“We try to have articles that might be able to be helpful to the reader. You know, something that might say, ‘oh, that might work in my life,’” she said.
Every edition is prefaced with Betty’s Corner, penned by Miss Betty Desire herself. Whatever is on her mind is what inks the page. In May 2013, Betty talked about discrimination in businesses and Ski-to-Sea. In January 2016, she discussed marriage equality and the birth of her granddaughter.
There’s not really a magic formula — besides a healthy dose of THC — for producing each issue, Betty says. It usually just falls into place.
“I sit down in front of the computer and write what comes to me. And most of the time it’s okay!” she said.
The Betty Pages are not only there for the community, but the community is there for Betty. A decade ago, Betty delivered all the copies each month herself. She would linger and chat at each stop. Through her web of connections, The Betty Pages was first printed by the Bellingham Herald (not counting the initial Office Depot copies) until the Herald outsourced their printing in 2018.
Now, she has a network of support. She has enlisted a few kind volunteers to help with distribution. She has writers based all over the world, from India to Sweden. Naomi Steele, graphic designer for The Betty Pages, is one of Betty’s many loyalists.
Each month, Naomi crafts the newest cover of The Betty Pages. Rainbows and marijuana leaves are favorite decorative details, and occasionally the positive messages like “Stop Hate” and “We’re all screwed 2016!” will adorn the cover.
Naomi and Betty are the last line of defense for errors or typos, but if something slips through, they can laugh it off.
“I want to say that over the last few years we have gotten a bit more political but we haven’t lost the entertainment and informational aspect completely,” Naomi said. “We both just feel like it’s really important to make sure people are informed and aware, especially nowadays.”
The very purpose of the Betty Desire persona is to start conversation and inspire empathy. In the days when the back door of Rumors was the main entrance, Betty would walk from her apartment to the bar through downtown, in full Betty glory, with a curly wig, dress and sensible shoes, making several pit-stops along the way. She would stop at bars to have a drink and a chat with other bar-goers, and let everyone get to know Betty.
The cocktails and conversation weren’t only for fun. Betty had a mission, and a theory.
“My theory was that exposure to gay people and to drag queens is like a vaccine to bigotry,” Betty said.
For over 25 years, Betty has been injecting the Bellingham community with her vaccine, and according to her, people are responding well to the medication. She has found that most bars in Bellingham are now gay friendly, and she really believes that Betty’s work is to thank.
“Betty, in her soul, is a mother hen. If you don’t have a place to sleep, you can always go to Betty’s house. If you need something to eat, she wants to take care of everyone,” Rian Greer, owner of Rumors said.
“Through the articles and the advertisements [in The Betty Pages] she’s able to provide those resources, not to just people she knows, but to anyone who’s able to pick up The Betty Pages,” Rian said.
Rian started working at Rumors as a bartender in 2003. He’s gotten to know Betty and her pages well over the years, as Rumors grew alongside it.
Looking back on the one year anniversary of The Betty Pages, Rian remembers stumbling back into Rumors one afternoon after an all night shift with his fellow bartenders, followed by some sunrise drinks, and coming across Betty.
She was compiling the anniversary issue, and decided to feature the strapping young bartenders who fell right into her lap.
The photo that ran? Six stark naked people posing in front of the bar, with liquor bottles tastefully arranged in front of their “unprintables”, as Rian put it.
The image still hangs above the bar at Rumors, 16 years later.
Now, as the owner of the bar, Rian admits it’s a little embarrassing when customers recognize him in the photo. But it’s not going anywhere.
“Betty’s poured a lot of heart and soul into it,” Rian said of The Betty Pages. “I’m really proud of her for keeping it up this long.”
As she’s gotten older, The Betty Pages has remained a constant outlet for Betty to speak her mind and have her voice heard. Make no mistake — Betty doesn’t let her age stop her from getting involved.
“It’s an absolute labor of love. I don’t regret one second of it. I really don’t. I’ve had people come up to me and say something they read in the Betty pages touched them and helped them… That makes it worth it.”
Whether it’s performing at retirement homes, fulfilling her role as “cookie lady” at free meal events, or participating in protests, Betty always spreads positivity and fun. But, The Betty Pages project gives her the opportunity to continue her work at home.
Organizing content, coordinating advertisers, writing a column, distributing the publication…it’s a lot of work. But for Betty, it’s worth it.
“It’s an absolute labor of love. I don’t regret one second of it. I really don’t,” Betty said. “I’ve had people come up to me and say something they read in the Betty pages touched them and helped them… That makes it worth it.”
Publication of The Betty Pages was also temporarily suspended when the majority of distribution points were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Betty, that was the closest they have ever come to shutting down.
While Betty’s support team has grown over the years, she is the lifeblood of the pages. It’s her, on paper. Without Betty, something similar could exist, but the Betty Pages couldn’t continue without Betty Desire.
Despite weathering a pandemic and dealing with something as trivial as age, The Betty Pages are going to stick around for a while.
Who knows, we may live to see The Betty Pages expand its coverage east and south — a dream of Betty’s — way before the pages ever stop printing.
“I’m 65 now, I have a good, maybe 10 years before the body starts to deteriorate beyond recognition,” Betty said with a serious chuckle. “Yeah, I don’t envision retiring.”