The Reigning Legacy of Drag
By Zoe Schulz, myGwork
To some, drag queens may seem like an over the top, comical form of entertainment, but to many, it is an art form that represents hope and belonging. We live in a world where drag queens sell out arenas while touring the world and acquiring millions of followers on social media. To the first queens that pioneered the art form from the shadows of society, this may seem like an impossible eutopia. However, this added attention comes at a price, we’ve also seen queens cancelled before they’ve even had their TV debut, famous hosts stumble on their words when it comes to including the trans community and a fandom rife with racism. With all eyes suddenly on drag, there is a responsibility to make sure it is inclusive for everyone, especially as a craft that was spearheaded by those in our community who still remain most vulnerable; people of colour and the trans community. The legacy of drag is an important pillar of queer culture, but is it time to address its integrity?
You may be surprised to hear that drag has its origins from the theatre, as far back as Shakespearean times. Back then, women were not allowed to take part in theatrical productions, so the male actors would play the female roles. The term ‘drag’ came from this, as the actors would describe the way that their dresses ‘dragged’ along the floor. It wasn’t until the 20th century that this was no longer just for the theatre, and solo drag performances were born. These ‘female impersonation’ acts began to spring up across American culture and combined comedy, music and dance to an all-encompassing night of entertainment. By the 1920’s the term drag was commonly associated with gay culture with A.J. Rosanoff’s 1927 Manual of Psychiatry defining drag as “an outfit of female dress worn by a homosexual” or as an actual event, “a social gathering of homosexuals at which some are in female dress.” Bending gender roles wasn’t just for men, with the term ‘Drag King’ popping up around this time to describe women performers dressed as men. As these acts rose in numbers, the world saw its first drag stars, including Rae Bourbon who could be found performing in underground speakeasies throughout the 1930’s. All of this happened within a setting that criminalised LGBTQ+ behaviour and cracked down on gay bars. In a time that drove queer people underground, drag became a way for them to feel free.
Drag Queen Rae Bourbon
Although drag remained illegal, it was an art form that began to flourish. Police regularly raided bars associated to homosexual behaviour, yet in the 1960’s a bar called Stonewall in Greenwhich Village began to become a haven for LGBTQ+ culture and the art of drag. Then in 1969, this bar saw an uprising that sparked a movement that took LGBTQ+ culture from the shadows to the main stage. At the centre of this movement, was a queen known as Flawless Sabrina, a prolific activist whose work would influence generations to come. She began to organise beauty pageants for drag queens, creating a new strand of queens whose focus was not to make you laugh, but to awe you with beauty. Flawless Sabrina was arrested several times and even appeared in drag on talk shows, which was shocking for the time.
Flawless Sabrina
At the same time, LGBTQ+ people of colour, feeling unwelcome in white queer spaces, began to create their own safe havens amongst a backdrop of homophobia, transphobia and racism. The birth of drag “ball” culture began in uptown Manhattan in the 1970’s. These offered more than just entertainment, but community and support in a time that could otherwise be relentless and cruel. Here, queens would walk in categories, competing for prizes and prestige. Performances would mix dancing, catwalk and spoken word and participants would be judged on all this alongside their outfits and persona. Queens would compete in ‘Houses’, which were more than just teams but chosen families. Homelessness was common, with young LGBTQ+ people frequently kicked out of their homes. There was very little in place by society to support these youth, so Houses filled this need and created community. The House Mother would be responsible for their chosen family and all would compete together in the balls. Many of these communities were living in poverty and times were hard, but balls let them express themselves. They were a moment where creativity ran free from the restraints of the outside world, creating art forms that are now important parts of history. This includes Vogueing, brought into the mainstream by Madonna in 1999 and still used as a form of expression and dance across the world today.
Paris is Burning, 1990
A scene from the drag ball culture in Harlem in the late 1970s
The 1990’s slowly saw drag brought into mainstream culture. It was then that RuPaul Charles’ career began to flourish, a queen that would change history. RuPaul made a name for himself in New York City, becoming a local celebrity, but it was his first single in 1993, “Supermodel (You Better Work)”, that sparked his nationwide success. The song worked better than anyone could have hoped for and RuPaul was set for stardom. From there, he became the first drag queen to represent a major cosmetic brand, with MAC Cosmetics and had his own talk show, The RuPaul Show. In 2009 the first ever season of RuPaul’s Drag Race aired, and the rest is herstory.
Today, we have seen 11 seasons of Drag Race, including 2 All-Star versions. The Emmy winning show has had three spinoffs, and led to the creation of RuPaul’s DragCon, which now tours the world. We’ve seen a UK and Thailand version of the show aired and over 140 queens walk the runway. It is a show that changed the game for drag, taking it from the corners of society and into mainstream media. Drag is now a multimillion-dollar business, with stars that have become household names and a cornerstone of queer culture. On the surface it may seem like a superficial beauty pageant, but conversations on the show go much deeper than that. In the workroom topics about coming out, discrimination and loneliness are discussed, conversations that LGBTQ+ people across the world can relate to. We’ve seen queens of all races and sizes given a platform and opportunity to speak their truth. Roxxxy Andrews broke our hearts when she cried on stage admitting she was abandoned by her mother as a young child and Peppermint stole our hearts when she transitioned in the public eye after competing on the show. Fans of the show still haven’t forgotten the moment drag queen Bonet K. Trinity opened up about her experiences as a person of colour living with HIV, a topic rarely discussed on any television show. These are problems that LGBTQ+ people are often faced with, but seldom see represented in the media. To have an award-winning television series candidly bring up these issues is revolutionary.
RuPaul, cast and crew accept the Outstanding Reality-Competition Program for 'RuPaul's Drag Race' onstage during the 70th Emmy Awards, 2018
However, the TV show isn’t always the shining light we want it to be. We are currently 2 episodes into season 12 and have already seen a scandal blow-up and a queen disqualified. Before she had even had her TV debut, Sherry Pie has had several accusations of sexual misconduct. The queen has since publicly apologised and been disqualified from the finale, yet is it now too late to take someone that should not be a role model, out of the spotlight?
This is not the first scandal we’ve seen, with accusations of transphobia and racism springing up. Trans drag queens have been pivotal in the art of drag from the very beginning and have pioneered the LGBTQ+ movement. On top of that, we have seen several trans drag queens on the show, which is what made it even more surprising when RuPual stated in an interview in 2018 that he “probably” wouldn’t let transgender queens compete. As someone who spent their career breaking down traditional ideas of gender, this exclusionary view seems paradoxical. Rightly so, drag queens and fans everywhere were outraged. Not only was the comment offensive and transphobic but presents RuPaul as the ultimate decisionmaker on who is or is not allowed to take part in drag. Although, he has had a massive impact on the industry, he did not create drag and does not get to police who is welcome to partake. Willam, a queen famously kicked off on the show for sneaking their husband into their room during production, spoke for a lot of angry queens when they commented “We work with trans women every night side by side, and for them to be denied the opportunities because of someone’s narrow-minded view on what they call ‘drag’ is f****d.” RuPaul has since apologised and the following All Stars season featured Gia Gunn, an iconic trans queen. Since then though, the show has dramatically lacked trans representation and in a world where the trans community needs allies more than ever, the comments have left a sour taste in our mouth.
Accusations of racism have also made headlines, not directed at RuPaul himself, but the fandom of his empire. As pointed out by Season 8 winner, Bob the Drag Queen, almost of all of the queens who are most successful after the show “fall into the thin white category”. The prevalence of racism from the shows fans is not novel and we’ve commonly seen black queens who have sent white queens home, receive floods of racism from the public. Kennedy Davenport on season 7 was one example of this, after she sent Katya home in a lip sync, she was faced with a tidal wave of racist abuse online. The Vixen, then continued this conversation after the rough time she had on season 10, bringing up the issue of racism among fans and the fact that race affects everything, from how the scenes are edited and cut, to who builds the biggest fanbase after the show. Yet, RuPaul has remained silent on the issue. Journalist John Brammer, explained “No one is doubting RuPaul's accomplishments in bringing drag to the mainstream. What’s in question is if he’s too set in his ways to make the adjustments necessary to give vocal Black queens on his show the support they need to help reshape a fandom that is becoming increasingly more toxic.” This is a production that puts queens on a public platform to millions of people, with black contestants commonly facing racial abuse – does the show have a responsibility to speak out against toxic fans?
The UK version of the show has been no exception to criticism, with many comments about how the cast lacked diversity. As a platform that now reaches people across the world and has catapulted into mainstream society, it is important that it remains open to criticism. As an art form that was created to uplift and free queer people from the everyday struggle of a society that didn’t accept them, we cannot let it turn into a medium that excludes and marginalises. Drag is a beautiful way of breaking down the heteronormative shackles of our society and a way of finding belonging for many LGBTQ+ people today. Just keep in mind, if you support the queens on RuPaul’s Drag race, make sure you're supporting your local drag queens too.
