Tavernier resident builds thriving drag scene in the Upper Keys

JD Reinbott, a Tavernier resident who performs as Double Dietrich, has turned a one-off idea into a drag circuit that is pulling audiences, money and business to the Upper Keys. What began with a November 2025 event at The Catch grew into regular brunches, bingo nights and fundraiser-style shows that now give Monroe County residents a reason to stay local for drag entertainment instead of driving to Key West.

Reinbott said the first event drew more than 100 people when he expected only a couple dozen friends, and it raised more than $2,000 for a fundraiser. That response became the model for what followed. He has worked with local venues to keep the programming moving, and the result is a scene that now has recognizable dates, regular performers and a growing audience in Tavernier and nearby communities.

The next Drag Bingo was set for Florida Keys Brewing Co. on April 18, while Visit Florida Keys listed a new “Drag Me to the Keys: Saturday Drag Brunch” at Crooked Palm Cabana in Tavernier for the same day. The brunch listing said doors opened at 11 a.m., the show started at noon, the event ran until 3 p.m., and admission was $15 for guests 18 and older. That kind of scheduling shows the business side of the scene is no longer improvised. It is becoming a recurring part of the Upper Keys entertainment calendar.

Reinbott, a marine biologist from New Jersey who also works as a digital strategist for Overseas Media Group, said the response has been “amazing.” He has lived in the Florida Keys since 2018 and said he did not want to give up on building a visible queer community in the Upper Keys. Before he performed publicly, he hosted a house party called Dragapalooza, and he later took the Double Dietrich persona onto stages in Wilton Manors before bringing it back home.

The Upper Keys shows have also drawn support from performers including Scarlit Fatale, Brandy B, Kennedy Waldorf, Ariesela, Barbie-Rose Dixon and Maeve Saint-Couture. Their presence has helped give the events a wider draw, while local businesses benefit from food and drink sales, ticket revenue and the kind of repeat foot traffic that can make niche entertainment commercially viable.

The growth comes against a much longer Key West drag tradition. Key West adopted One Human Family as its official philosophy in 2000, and Monroe County later followed. The city’s Queen Mother drag pageant has been running for 38 years, and the 2024 pageant raised thousands of dollars for Metropolitan Community Church’s Cooking With Love program and the One Human Family foundation. The Conch Republic Drag Race on Duval Street remains part of the annual Conch Republic Independence Celebration, which marks the Florida Keys’ 1982 mock secession.

Reinbott’s Upper Keys circuit suggests that drag is no longer confined to the southern end of the county. In Tavernier, it has become a small-business story as much as a cultural one, with venues, performers and audiences proving that there is room for new nightlife beyond Key West.