Flawless Sabrina
Iconic drag queen Flawless Sabrina, who has died aged 79 Flawless Sabrina archive

Iconic drag queen and transgender rights trailblazer Jack Doroshow, better known as Flawless Sabrina, has passed away at the age of 79. Tributes have flooded in accordingly.

Zackary Drucker, a performance artist and director who counted Sabrina as a close mentor for many years, confirmed the death in an Instagram post late Saturday (18 November) alongside an image of the pair and a personal note.

"Last night after I left the hospital, my best friend and Grandma, Flawless Sabrina / Jack Doroshow, flew away to be with her angels," Drucker wrote.

"My heart is in a million pieces. Grandma Flawless has been my #1 since I was 18, and I will carry her with me until the day that we meet again.

"I love you, Grandma, you will always be my hero. September 10, 1939 - November 18, 2017."

Sabrina was known as "Mother" to many in the LGBTQ community and to this day is cited as an inspirational New York figure. She was perhaps best remembered for her work on The Queen, a documentary from 1968 about her last drag queen pageant.

Even that award-winning piece of work was not without controversy, as Sabrina was arrested multiple times while promoting the movie over the legality of cross-dressing at the time. Still, she persisted with her work and featured in numerous productions over the years.

One person paid tribute under Drucker's post, writing: "A true pioneer and legend. You will be missed Mother! RIP."

Twitter was also full of heartfelt messages to the icon.

"We've sadly lost an American legend. A legend not only in the drag community, but in the whole Gay community," one commenter stated. "Rest in Power, another person wrote.

In a Dazed profile from 2014, Sabrina said: "Life is a learning situation, that's how we walk. I think my grandmother was right, in that you can walk down Madison Avenue with a cow on your head if you do it with confidence.

"Accentuate the positive, illuminate the negative, and don't mess with mystery in between. You're the boss applesauce, believe in yourself without question."

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