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Flawless Shade
Photograph of a person on a stage
Flawless Shade performing at CC Slaughters in Portland, Oregon, 2022
Born
Tajh Jordan
NationalityAmerican
Other namesTajh Patterson
Occupations
TelevisionPainted with Raven

Flawless Shade is the stage name of Tajh Jordan (sometimes Tajh Patterson),[1][2] an American drag performer and make-up artist based in Portland, Oregon. A former Miss Gay Oregon, Flawless Shade has been featured in campaigns by Adidas, GLAAD, and Top Level Design.

Jordan competed under their real name on the subscription-based streaming service WOW Presents Plus's competition series Painted with Raven. They also appeared in and co-produced the music video for "Fear", the lead single on Logic's 2024 album Ultra 85.

Career

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Tajh Jordan is a make-up artist based in Portland, Oregon,[3] who performs in drag as Flawless Shade. Jordan began developing the drag persona in 2014.[4] In 2016, Flawless Shade was the first drag competitor in the Stoli Key West Cocktail Classic, an annual bartending contest featuring fifteen LGBT bartenders from North America, in which she placed third.[5] As of 2017–2018, at Portland's Century Bar, Flawless Shade hosted a twice-weekly bingo event "Flawless Bingo", which served as a fundraiser for organizations including Cascade AIDS Project.[6][7]

Photograph of a person entertaining a crowd
Flawless performing at CC Slaughters, Portland, Oregon, 2022

Flawless Shade hosted drag shows at CC Slaughters, karaoke at Capitol Bar, and trivia at Victoria Bar as of 2019. She also hosted bingo at "Thursgays", a monthly LGBTQ meetup at the arcade-game and pinball venue Quarterworld.[8] She is one of six young queer influencers who featured in Adidas's 2019 gay pride advertising campaign[9][10] and was named Miss Gay Oregon 2020,[11] one of few Black winners of that pageant title to date. During her reign, Flawless Shade felt discriminated against, resulting in her resignation and reinstatement. According to Andrew Jankowski of Portland Mercury, complaints from her and others prompted the International Sovereign Rose Court "to examine its own inclusivity efforts".[1]

Photograph of someone on a stage entertaining a crowd
Flawless Shade performing in 2022

In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Flawless Shade curated the Portland Pride event "Support Your Queer Black Entertainers", a series of video testimonials featuring local Black queer performers that raised $2,000 for the featured entertainers.[11][12] She also participated in Portland Pride's event "Introvert: Digital Drag Show", which was described as a "night of socially distant drag".[13] Flawless Shade was featured in The Library, a web series featuring queer Portlanders that was presented by Logan Lynn and Top Level Design for the top-level domain name .gay.[14] She represented Oregon in GLAAD's video, which featured drag queens from all 50 states and Washington, D.C., and sought to mobilize voters in the 2020 U.S. presidential election.[15][16] Flawless Shade hosted and performed at Botanist House's drag show as of 2021.[17][18] She also co-hosted a tea dance for Portland Pride and performed at Seattle's PrideFest in 2021.[19][20] She performed at the defunct Sissy Bar in 2023.[21]

Under their real name, Jordan competed on the first season of Painted with Raven, subscription-based streaming service WOW Presents Plus's cosmetics competition series featuring Raven that debuted in late 2021.[3] Jordan was a runner-up, and said they received death threats when the show aired.[4] In 2024, Jordan appeared in and out of drag in the music video for "Fear", the lead single on Logic's studio album Ultra 85. Jordan co-produced the video, the final shot of which shows them "reclining on a chair, staring out a nighttime window after a high-energy show".[4]

Personal life

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Jordan is Black and queer.[11] They live in Portland and have described themself as a "Black gay genderfluid person who is a drag queen".[12] In 2017, Jordan called police and filmed a man who was harassing patrons at Scandals, a gay bar in Portland.[22][23]

As of 2021, Flawless Shade is a member of House of Shade.[20]

Filmography

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Television

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Jankowski, Andrew (June 30, 2020). "Portland's Oldest LGBTQ+ Nonprofit Responds to Allegations of Racism and Insensitive Language". Portland Mercury. Archived from the original on 2020-10-12. Retrieved 2022-05-31.
  2. ^ "The Stoli Key West Cocktail Classic Recipe Book" (PDF). Stoli. 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 31, 2022. Retrieved May 31, 2022 – via Out.
  3. ^ a b Nguyen, Nikki (December 30, 2021). "Meet Makeup Artist Tajh Jordan from 'Painted with Raven'". The WOW Report. World of Wonder. Archived from the original on December 30, 2021. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
  4. ^ a b c "Rainbow Review: Flawless Shade, "Fear"-less Video Vixen". Willamette Week. 2024-08-07. Archived from the original on 2024-08-21. Retrieved 2024-08-30.
  5. ^ Garner, Glenn (June 17, 2016). "In Key West With the Best LGBT Bartenders in America". Out. ISSN 1062-7928. Archived from the original on June 19, 2016. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
  6. ^ Andrews, Matthew N.; Jankowski, Andrew D. (August 15, 2017). "Off-Campus Events Calendar: Aug. 22–28". Portland State Vanguard. Portland State University. Archived from the original on 2021-03-01. Retrieved 2022-01-11.
  7. ^ Jankowski, Andrew (June 13, 2018). "The Best in LGBTQ+ Nightlife, Bars, Parties, Comedy, and More". Portland Mercury. Archived from the original on September 14, 2020. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
  8. ^ Jankowski, Andrew (June 6, 2019). "An Overview of Portland's LGBTQ+ Nightlife for the Newcomer". Portland Mercury. Archived from the original on June 9, 2019. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
  9. ^ Hughes, Holly Stuart (June 26, 2019). "A Pride Campaign That Features Gay Talent Behind the Camera, Too". Photo District News. ISSN 1045-8158. Archived from the original on June 29, 2019. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
  10. ^ Ilchi, Layla (May 31, 2019). "How Fashion and Beauty Brands Are Giving Back for Pride Month 2019". Women's Wear Daily. Penske Media Corporation. ISSN 0043-7581. Archived from the original on March 3, 2021. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
  11. ^ a b c Tess, Novotny; Frost, Allison (June 25, 2020). "Gresham Fracas – Miss Gay Oregon – "Vanishing" Short Stories". Oregon Public Broadcasting. ISSN 1062-7928. Archived from the original on January 3, 2022. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
  12. ^ a b Smith, Suzette (June 12, 2020). "Where to Stream Portland's Drag Performers for Pride 2020". Portland Mercury. Archived from the original on October 25, 2021. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
  13. ^ Jankowski, Andrew (June 10, 2020). "A Calendar of (Mostly) Digital Events for a Socially Distant Pride". Willamette Week. Archived from the original on August 1, 2021. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
  14. ^ Reed, Conner (November 25, 2020). "Dot Gay Is Here to Queer This (Cyber)Space". Portland Monthly. ISSN 1546-2765. Archived from the original on December 20, 2021. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
  15. ^ Srikanth, Anagha Srikanth (October 21, 2020). "Drag queens feature in the latest bid to get voters to the polls". The Hill. Archived from the original on December 4, 2020. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
  16. ^ Street, Mikelle (October 20, 2020). "Drag Performers Across the Nation Urge You to Vote in New PSA". Out. Archived from the original on July 2, 2021. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
  17. ^ "Drag Brunch returns to Pearl District". KOIN. April 4, 2021. Archived from the original on April 19, 2021. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
  18. ^ Smith, Suzette (April 8, 2021). "Takeout Club: Botanist and Havana Cafe Are Safe Spaces for Drag Brunch and Poke Nachos". Portland Mercury. Archived from the original on April 19, 2021. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
  19. ^ Jankowski, Andrew (June 1, 2021). "A Portland Pride Events Guide". Willamette Week. Archived from the original on June 3, 2021. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
  20. ^ a b Lindsley, Daniel (September 3, 2021). "BeautyBoiz to perform at PrideFest and Supernova". Seattle Gay News. Archived from the original on January 11, 2022. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
  21. ^ Gebel, Meira (June 15, 2023). ""Pride is a protest" for Portland drag queen Flawless Shade". Axios Portland.
  22. ^ Acker, Lizzy (July 27, 2017). "Man harasses patrons outside of Portland gay bar (video)". The Oregonian. Advance Publications. ISSN 8750-1317. Archived from the original on July 18, 2021. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
  23. ^ Jankowski, Andrew D. (July 27, 2017). "Ex-cabbie with homophobic history returns to harass gay bar patrons". Portland State Vanguard. Archived from the original on January 16, 2021. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
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