{"id":14189,"date":"2019-11-04T18:17:09","date_gmt":"2019-11-04T18:17:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/11\/04\/libertee-belle-navy-vet-and-activist-drag-queen-dies\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T18:37:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T18:37:26","slug":"libertee-belle-navy-vet-and-activist-drag-queen-dies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/2019\/11\/04\/libertee-belle-navy-vet-and-activist-drag-queen-dies\/","title":{"rendered":"Libertee Belle, Navy vet and activist drag queen, dies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">BIRMINGHAM, Ala. \u2014 A drag queen who was an early advocate of <a href=\"https:\/\/gaycenter.org\/about\/lgbtq\/\" target=_blank>LGBTQ <\/a>rights in Alabama has died.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The performer known as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wrbl.com\/news\/early-advocate-of-lgbtq-rights-in-alabama-passes-away\/\" target=_blank>Libertee Belle<\/a> was among the organizers of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CentralAlabamaPrideInc\/\" target=_blank>Central Alabama Pride <\/a>in the 1980s and served as grand marshal of Birmingham\u2019s gay pride parade at least once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She often performed at shows to benefit gay rights organizations and was among the highest-profile members of the state&#8217;s LGBTQ community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The activist was born Ronald Norman Simoneau Jr. His sister, Debi Simoneau, says he was 61.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Simoneau says the Navy veteran first performed in drag in Massachusetts and later got active in the gay community in Alabama.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Simoneau was found dead in his apartment on Oct. 24. A cause of death hasn\u2019t been released.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His sister says a memorial service is being planned for November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>Navy Times editor\u2019s note: <\/b>Because it appeared that Navy service was important to Simoneau, we reached out to the National Archives to get the military records. Simoneau enlisted in the Navy on Oct. 23, 1975, in Manchester, New Hampshire, and served until April 7, 1977, departing the sea service as a mess management specialist seaman apprentice \u2014 what today would be called a<a href=\"https:\/\/www.navy.mil\/submit\/display.asp?story_id=12134\" target=_blank> culinary specialist<\/a>. After graduating from Great Lakes in 1975, Simoneau trained in San Diego and then was posted to Naval Air Station North Island. In 1995, the Associated Press wrote about \u201cThe Alabama Forum&#8221; \u2014 which <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.lib.ua.edu\/blogs\/alabamaforum\/\" target=_blank>shuttered in 2002<\/a> after a 25-year run \u2014 and Libertee Belle\u2019s campy \u201cUnder the Barstool\u201d column about Birmingham\u2019s gay nightlife. As for organizations such as Central Alabama Pride, they helped to spearhead the legal, cultural and political changes that led to the military ending its bans on openly gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer and transgender personnel. Libertee\u2019s sister Deborah has announced that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/2283262775135014\/\" target=_blank>a memorial service will be held on Nov. 22<\/a>, with more details to follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/off-duty\/military-culture\/2018\/08\/30\/sailor-by-day-performer-by-night-meet-the-navys-drag-queen-harpy-daniels\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"173\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/180829-navy-drag-queen-1-ew-1121a_b86f6d276871d403186d4c957eee0d73.fit-2000w.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Sailor by day, performer by night \u2014 meet the Navy\u2019s drag queen, \u2018Harpy Daniels\u2019<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Years before he became a yeoman 3rd class, Joshua Kelley was entertaining raucous crowds under his drag name.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<div id=\"fb-root\"><\/div>\n<script async=\"1\" defer=\"1\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\" src=\"https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js#xfbml=1&amp;version=v14.0\" nonce=\"RYXeSCuY\"><\/script><div class=\"fb-post\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/photo.php?fbid=10220257668090320&amp;set=gm.2293104627484162&amp;type=3&amp;theater&amp;ifg=1\" data-width=\"552\"><blockquote cite=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/photo.php?fbid=10220257668090320&amp;set=gm.2293104627484162&amp;type=3\" class=\"fb-xfbml-parse-ignore\"><p>Libertee Belle among other represenatives from Alabama at the March on Washington&#8230;<\/p>Posted by <a href=\"#\" role=\"button\">Kevin Green<\/a> on&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/photo.php?fbid=10220257668090320&amp;set=gm.2293104627484162&amp;type=3\">Friday, November 1, 2019<\/a><\/blockquote><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The performer was born Ronald Norman Simoneau Jr.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":32720,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":12,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["salute-veterans","military-honor"],"primary_category":"salute-veterans"}}},"categories":[101,23,89,10,12,26,6458],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1355],"class_list":["post-14189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-middle-column","category-military-honor","category-news","category-newsletters","category-salute-veterans"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"IU2TRIHCWNFH5G4O7SONVLDEME","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/2019\/11\/04\/libertee-belle-navy-vet-and-activist-drag-queen-dies\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Libertee Belle, Navy vet and activist drag queen, dies - Navy Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The performer was born Ronald Norman Simoneau Jr.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Libertee Belle, Navy vet and activist drag queen, dies\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The performer was born Ronald Norman Simoneau Jr.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/2019\/11\/04\/libertee-belle-navy-vet-and-activist-drag-queen-dies\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Navy Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-11-04T18:17:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T18:37:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"The Associated Press\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"The Associated Press\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/04\\\/libertee-belle-navy-vet-and-activist-drag-queen-dies\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/04\\\/libertee-belle-navy-vet-and-activist-drag-queen-dies\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"Libertee Belle, Navy vet and activist drag queen, dies\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2019-11-04T18:17:09+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T18:37:26+00:00\",\n\t            \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/04\\\/libertee-belle-navy-vet-and-activist-drag-queen-dies\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"wordCount\": 330,\n\t            \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/04\\\/libertee-belle-navy-vet-and-activist-drag-queen-dies\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/m6201110109190326arjpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"articleSection\": [\n\t                \"Daily News Roundup\",\n\t                \"Home\",\n\t                \"Middle Column\",\n\t                \"Military Honor\",\n\t                \"News\",\n\t                \"Newsletters\",\n\t                \"Salute to Veterans\"\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t                    \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/04\\\/libertee-belle-navy-vet-and-activist-drag-queen-dies\\\/#respond\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/04\\\/libertee-belle-navy-vet-and-activist-drag-queen-dies\\\/\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/04\\\/libertee-belle-navy-vet-and-activist-drag-queen-dies\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Libertee Belle, Navy vet and activist drag queen, dies - Navy Times\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#website\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"primaryImageOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/04\\\/libertee-belle-navy-vet-and-activist-drag-queen-dies\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/04\\\/libertee-belle-navy-vet-and-activist-drag-queen-dies\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/m6201110109190326arjpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2019-11-04T18:17:09+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T18:37:26+00:00\",\n\t            \"description\": \"The performer was born Ronald Norman Simoneau Jr.\",\n\t            \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/04\\\/libertee-belle-navy-vet-and-activist-drag-queen-dies\\\/#breadcrumb\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/04\\\/libertee-belle-navy-vet-and-activist-drag-queen-dies\\\/\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/04\\\/libertee-belle-navy-vet-and-activist-drag-queen-dies\\\/#primaryimage\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/m6201110109190326arjpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/m6201110109190326arjpg.jpg\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/04\\\/libertee-belle-navy-vet-and-activist-drag-queen-dies\\\/#breadcrumb\",\n\t            \"itemListElement\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 1,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"home\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 2,\n\t                    \"name\": \"News\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"news\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 3,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Libertee Belle, Navy vet and activist drag queen, dies\"\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#website\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Navy Times\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Independent News For Sailors | Navy Times\",\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t                        \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t                    },\n\t                    \"query-input\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t                        \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t                        \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t                    }\n\t                }\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#organization\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Navy Times\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/\",\n\t            \"logo\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/navy-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/navy-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"Navy Times\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"\n\t            }\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\",\n\t            \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"migration\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/author\\\/migration\\\/\"\n\t        }\n\t    ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Libertee Belle, Navy vet and activist drag queen, dies - Navy Times","description":"The performer was born Ronald Norman Simoneau Jr.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Libertee Belle, Navy vet and activist drag queen, dies","og_description":"The performer was born Ronald Norman Simoneau Jr.","og_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/2019\/11\/04\/libertee-belle-navy-vet-and-activist-drag-queen-dies\/","og_site_name":"Navy Times","article_published_time":"2019-11-04T18:17:09+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-08T18:37:26+00:00","author":"The Associated Press","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"The Associated Press","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/2019\/11\/04\/libertee-belle-navy-vet-and-activist-drag-queen-dies\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/2019\/11\/04\/libertee-belle-navy-vet-and-activist-drag-queen-dies\/"},"author":{"name":"migration","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1"},"headline":"Libertee Belle, Navy vet and activist drag queen, dies","datePublished":"2019-11-04T18:17:09+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T18:37:26+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/2019\/11\/04\/libertee-belle-navy-vet-and-activist-drag-queen-dies\/"},"wordCount":330,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/2019\/11\/04\/libertee-belle-navy-vet-and-activist-drag-queen-dies\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/m6201110109190326arjpg.jpg","articleSection":["Daily News Roundup","Home","Middle Column","Military Honor","News","Newsletters","Salute to Veterans"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/2019\/11\/04\/libertee-belle-navy-vet-and-activist-drag-queen-dies\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/2019\/11\/04\/libertee-belle-navy-vet-and-activist-drag-queen-dies\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/2019\/11\/04\/libertee-belle-navy-vet-and-activist-drag-queen-dies\/","name":"Libertee Belle, Navy vet and activist drag queen, dies - Navy Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/2019\/11\/04\/libertee-belle-navy-vet-and-activist-drag-queen-dies\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/2019\/11\/04\/libertee-belle-navy-vet-and-activist-drag-queen-dies\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/m6201110109190326arjpg.jpg","datePublished":"2019-11-04T18:17:09+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T18:37:26+00:00","description":"The performer was born Ronald Norman Simoneau Jr.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/2019\/11\/04\/libertee-belle-navy-vet-and-activist-drag-queen-dies\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/2019\/11\/04\/libertee-belle-navy-vet-and-activist-drag-queen-dies\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/2019\/11\/04\/libertee-belle-navy-vet-and-activist-drag-queen-dies\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/m6201110109190326arjpg.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/m6201110109190326arjpg.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/2019\/11\/04\/libertee-belle-navy-vet-and-activist-drag-queen-dies\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/","ad_zone":"home"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/","ad_zone":"news"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Libertee Belle, Navy vet and activist drag queen, dies"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/","name":"Navy Times","description":"Independent News For Sailors | Navy Times","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#organization","name":"Navy Times","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/navy-logo-white.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/navy-logo-white.png","caption":"Navy Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1","name":"migration","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"migration"},"url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/author\/migration\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Navy Times","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes","push-errors":false,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/m6201110109190326arjpg.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14189"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14189\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":100745,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14189\/revisions\/100745"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14189"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=14189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}