Poison Waters

Career Poison Waters has performed at Darcelle XV Showplace (pictured) since the 1990s.

Poison Waters has been a drag performer, emcee, and community activist since 1988. She is a hostess at Portland's Darcelle XV Showplace and worked with Darcelle XV at the drag venue since the early 1990s. She has also performed in drag shows and gay pride events in Beaverton, Bend, Hillsboro, and Salem.

Poison Waters has modeled in drag pageants and was crowned as Empress of Portland's Imperial Sovereign Rose Court in 2001. On stage, she was part of the cast of Darcelle Showplace XV's musical Pageant in 2017, and she played Mother Ginger in Oregon Ballet Theatre's production of George Balanchine's The Nutcracker. She has emceed events, such as the trade show Sexapalooza in Portland in 2012, and hosted drag brunch at Darcelle Showplace XV and Stag PDX. She has also read books about diversity and inclusivity to children at libraries, including Multnomah County Library's "Drag Queen Storytimes" series in 2018. In 2019, she and other drag artists performed at Smith Memorial Student Union to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots; the event was organized by Portland State University and Portland Community College. She performed at a Juneteenth block party in 2020.

Poison Waters has supported many organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union, CAP Northwest (formerly Cascade AIDS Project), and Habitat for Humanity.

In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Poison Waters was a host for Vashon, Washington's online pride festivities. She was also recruited to be Oregon's "drag ambassador" by Drag Out the Vote, a nonpartisan national organization "aiming to educate, register, and turn out voters, while maximizing fun and some glorious looks in the process". In 2021, Poison Waters encouraged people to wear face masks on public transportation as part of TriMet's public service campaign. She also hosted a youth fashion show fundraiser in Portland, in which she modeled upcycled new designs with other local drag performers. During the city's annual Pride Festival, which was mostly held online because of the pandemic, Poison Waters provided entertainment as part of a film screening benefitting LGBTQ veterans. Additionally, she performed at a socially distanced outdoor entertainment venue at Zidell Yards. In Hillsboro, she appeared at an outdoor pride concert as well as "Pride Storytime" for children at a local community center. She also hosted drag bingo, fundraisers, and corporate events via Zoom. In 2021, Cook taught a course at Portland Community College called "Histories of Drag Performance in Portland". She emceed the inaugural Pride Lake Oswego at Millennium Plaza Park in 2024 and the subsequent event in 2025.

Recognition Poison Waters has been described as "iconic", and in 2021, Portland Monthly writers called her "a shining jewel in our city". According to the Oregon Queer History Collective, which named her a "queer hero" in 2013, Poison Waters has also been recognized by CAP Northwest, the Coalition for AIDS, the Imperial Sovereign Rose Court, the Oregon Bears, and Pride Northwest for her "steadfast work within the HIV/AIDS community".