TEXAS – Kohl Faulker is a native Texan, talented hairdresser, and an icon in Texas’ LGBT community, but not for his talents as a self-proclaimed Master Hair Sculptor & Colorist Extraordinaire. 

He’s known across Texas and beyond as Tasha Kohl, the drag persona he’s perfected for the last 41 years.

The first time Faulker put on a wig and make-up under the name Tasha Kohl was for a small audience at “a little dive” in Fort Worth called Aub’s Disco Steakhouse Mexican Food and Show Bar.

“With a name like that, you can’t make this stuff up,” he said.

He was a 21-year-old closeted gay man in his junior year of college at the University of Texas at Arlington when he realized Tasha had power.

Tasha Kohl dressed as Cher in dressing room before performance. (Spectrum News 1)

Years later, the persona would out Faulker to his family after a picture of him as Tasha was published in a newspaper article.

“The article was titled ‘Gender Pretenders’ in big bold letters with a big picture of me as Tasha, with my name underneath. I didn’t know the journalist was going to publish my name in the article!” said Faulker.

Tasha had already been performing for years and had earned the distinguished title of Miss Gay America 1984 when Faulker’s parents saw the article.

His secret was out and Tasha Kohl has been a bold part of his life ever since. 

In her early years, Tasha was immersed in the glitz and glam of Houston, where Sunday-night drag shows at The Copa nightclub were considered the epicenter of the 1980s drag explosion in Texas.

Kelexis Davenport, Tasha Kohl, & Ra'Jah D Ohara in dressing room before performance. (Spectrum News 1)

There she performed as one of The Fabulous Four, a popular weekly quartet that was a major influence in the world of female impersonation.

“I’d like to think we helped pave the way for drag to be main stream the way it is today,” Faulker said.

The Fabulous Four was a prestigious group of performers that consisted of Miss Gay America winners Hot Chocolate (‘80), Tasha Kohl (‘84), and Naomi Sims (‘85) along with Donna Day. 

Now 65, Faulker says after four decades of life with Tasha, many titles and awards, and “way too many performances to count,” Tasha still makes him nervous.  

“Every time I’m getting ready and I’m putting on my costume for my first number you’ll see me flip out.  I have the Donny Osmond syndrome, because it takes everything to not throw up, and it’s so crazy to me. I know I’m never going to go onstage unprepared, it’s not like it's something I haven't done a hundred times before.” he said. 

Kohl Faulkner transforming into his alter ego, Tasha Kohl. (Spectrum News 1)

In March, when salons closed due to COVID-19, Faulker lost his steady income as a hairdresser along with the money he makes performing as Tasha.  

After months away from the state, Tasha returned October 25 when she performed for a $75 admittance Drag Brunch alongside Dallas Drag Queens Kelexis Davenport and Ra'Jah D Ohara.

Faulker chose to open the show with a crowd favorite: his Cher impersonation.

“I love Cher, and I feel like we’re kindred spirits. 'cause it’s like I’ve lasted in the gay community about as long as she’s last in the regular world,” he said.  

Before March, Faulker was performing as Tasha regularly, but it’s been more than six months since he’s squeezed into her tights. He was happy to have the help from one of his best friends and Tasha’s personal costume designer, David B. Phillips.

“He’s just perfect, and I love him,” said Phillips.

David B. Phillips helps Kohl Faulker put on a wig ahead of a performance. (Spectrum News 1)

He’s the owner of Dallas business Curtains 2 Costumes and has helped some of Faulker’s most lavish costume ideas become a reality.

“He comes to me and says ‘Ok, we need to make this, this, and this,’ and I’ve quit saying I can’t do it because we’ve done things, I never thought we could do,” said Phillips.  

In years past, October has always been a busy month because of Halloween themed performances. Faulker says this year is very different for him as a performer with most of Dallas’ gay bars still closed.

When asked to headline the Drag Brunch, he jumped on the opportunity hoping the booking served as a sign that the entertainment business was returning to some sort of normality.

“Girl, COVID is a Drag, and I’m going to drag to COVID,” said Faulker as Tasha while preparing for the show.

As Tasha shook off pre-show jitters with her fellow queens, she says she’s thankful to be practicing her most treasured art form for the first time in a long time.