In Remembrance of a Drag Icon

I can’t think about a Santa Barbara pride festival without thinking about my partner, Faris, who was more commonly known as Feltaan in the LGBTQ+ spaces in Santa Barbara. As we celebrate our pride, I want us to remember pride isn’t the same for everyone. That was something Feltaan advocated for and a lot of their performances centered around their own struggle with feeling proud and out as a gay man and drag performer within the Middle Eastern community.

Faris found his people and true community finally after 30 years. He found the place where he felt the most free and accepted, and then shared his most vulnerable side with our community because our community showed up. We showed up and always made him feel accepted and loved for who he truly was.

Pride is different for all of us, how we express our own pride and how we take it in. Faris/Feltaan was a performer, and an advocate every day for those who didn’t quite understand themselves yet, and he spoke for the minorities always.

He had so much heart to give every day, whether it was working to improve the community for Santa Barbara through his day job as a civil engineer within the city Public Works department, working on our roads and bike lanes, or through his advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community and especially the LGBTQ+ community of color. He made it his life to fight for what he believed in, even after never being fully supported, until he found our amazing community in Santa Barbara.

As we celebrate another pride in S.B. this year, I’d love everyone to think of how amazing it is in such a small community that we can always come together and support each other. Tell everyone and anyone you love that you love them and support them, because you never know how much someone may need to hear that.

Send some extra love to our fallen queen and advocate. This community meant everything to him and I know he’s still there cheering you all on. May he always rest in peace, and I know the drag shows he’s doing up there are sickening.

Happy Pride Santa Barbara Community. You truly are a special place. Faris/Feltaan will never leave you. Stay true to yourself, stay sickening, and always fight with your heart and soul for what you believe in, no matter what anyone thinks.

Please find here the lovely piece written by DJ Darla Bea.