Mark Boucher
Peter Gherardi
Peter Gherardi, a psychiatrist, and Mark Boucher, a lead patient service representative, retired in December 2023 from Outer Cape Health Services in Provincetown. I spoke with them about their experiences doing drag together.
Mark Boucher: The first time that I saw my husband in drag was during a Halloween party last year. We bought Peter a beautiful sequin dress with flats and a lovely little bob wig. I did his makeup, which I overdid, actually. He looked a little garish, but I thought he was lovely.
Peter Gherardi: My husband happens to be very much of an extrovert. Since we’ve been living in Provincetown, he’s been really into dressing in drag and has developed a persona that allows him to be even more flamboyant than his baseline over-the-top self. When I see him in drag, a part of me is wondering, what’s he going to do next? How far is he going to take this?
Mark: It was interesting to see my partner, who had never done drag before in his life, get really into it and accent and show off his feminine side. His voice changed, his gait, his gaze, his whole body morphed into something different. It was really lovely to see. As gay male partners, there’s a lot of masculinity around our intimacy, of course. When we had the opportunity to dress in drag and be photographed in our garden, it almost felt as if we were two women gazing at each other and allowing, or feeling, each other’s feminine qualities come through. It was very sweet. It was really sweet.
