This year’s Coney Island Mermaid Parade is going to be hot and steamy — and not just because of the sweltering temperatures.
The annual fishy fete has announced they are crowning a porn star as this year’s Queen Mermaid — which is a first for the quirky and beloved Brooklyn event in its nearly 50-year history.
Blue movie actress Queenie — whose career accomplishments include an Adult Video News Award for Best Orgy — says she couldn’t be happier to be the first of her profession to be leading the parade.
“I’m honored to be the first. Obviously, it’s so important to have representation of sex workers. I know that porn stars are the most public of that, but I’m proud to be able to represent the pornstar/sex worker girly community in such a iconic and storied New York institution,” Queenie told The Post Thursday at her Bed-Stuy home.
Queenie, who shed her given name years ago, was asked to be this year’s Mermaid Queen last week, and will serve beside this year’s King Neptune, Eugene Hütz, who is the frontman of the Gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello.
The adult film actress accepted the honor without any hesitation, noting the “really iconic list of legends” who preceded her, which includes Queens Queen Latifah and Carol Razdiwill, and even the de Blasio kids.
She’ll storm the parade float Saturday in an elaborate crown and dress made by friends, with vibes she described as: “shipwrecked seawench mermaid gladiatrix princess.”
It wasn’t until The Post told her she would be the first ever mattress actress to serve as the festivities’ royalty that Queenie realized her presence would signify much more than fun.
“That’s what New York is all about: the people who are misfits and come from wherever the f–k they’re from all over the world, and they come here because they can be weird here and find other weird people and be creative and have this unbridled sense of curiosity and play. I feel like the Mermaid Parade really embodies that,” she said.
Despite the parade’s long history of being a progressive and open place, Queenie felt unsuprised that it took 43 years for a pornstar to serve as the festival’s monarch.
“It’s a really stigmatized industry and really insular and really kept apart from other industries,” she explained.
“But I also think it’s really cool that I’m the first at this time now where a lot of our rights are coming under attack. Especially towards the adult community, it’s become such a target of like freedom of expression and speech. So many states now are cracking down on porn,” she continued, referencing the dozens of states that have blocked X-rated sites like Pornhub in recent months.
Queenie made her foray into the adult film industry back in 2022 after enjoying a decade in the New York City underground music scene as a club kid and part of her band “Sateen.”
“I always see everything that I do as an extension of my creative self and doing adult films was something I was curious about,” Queenie said, adding that she was invested in 1980s-era Italian erotica films like that of Giovanni “Tinto” Brass, and had dreams of becoming a modern day “Tinto Brass girl.”
“It all stems from the curiosity and if I’m afraid of doing something, it’s like a challenge to myself to do it and to explore it. So in that way, I consider it to be part of my artistic self. It’s a performance art. And it’s also a job.”
Since then, Queenie has racked up numerous awards in the porn industry and for her music.
In 2024, she was named Best New Starlet and Best Music by the XMAs Awards and Adult Video News Awards, respectively.
This year, she defended her Best Music crown, while also racking up the title for Best Orgy.
Plus, her experience in the adult film industry is giving her plenty of inspiration for her continuing music career — her newest single, “Downfalling,” slated to be released next week, details the hate and shame lobbed in her direction, including from the very same people who view her videos.
“It’s a drum and bass track with lots of fun harmonies and stuff about being a porn star. It’s about getting weird DMs and wanting to push men down stairs,” she teased.
The new song will mark a turn from Queenie’s previous disco-house sound to fall under the pop umbrella and live in the same playlists that feature fellow former club kid Charli XCX, she said.
Her legendary history in the club scene is exactly why the parade organizers picked her for the royal gig. Her sex work was more of a plus.
“She’s a very well-known underground act as far as first band Sateen — so filled with color,” Adam Rinn, Coney Island USA’s new Artistic Director, told The Post.
“At the end of the day, being sex worker positive — we as an organization, we have no problem with that. We have absolutely no regrets. We’re very excited about it.”
Queenie appeared unworried about potential naysayers who might wag their fingers at her trailblazing appearance, imploring them instead to “be a bit more open-minded and try to embrace everyone.”
“This is a parade where freedom is the main centerpiece of why everyone is there. I have done my research and I know that there’s a lot of nudity already there. So I feel like if you’re bringing your kids to the Mermaid parade, you already know that,” Queenie said.
“Sex workers are people and artists and plumbers and so many things. It’s a job that a lot of people have for part of their lives, and sometimes it’s a whole career. I would also ask them to open their mind a little bit and have a little bit more compassion.”
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