What is a drag queen?

• What is a drag queen?
• Drag is an art form that has been around for centuries.
• Every drag performance celebrates the pride of the gender diverse community.

What is a drag queen? Drag is a gender-bending art form in which a person dresses in clothing and makeup intended to exaggerate a specific gender identity.

LGBTQ and ALL states that while many drag queens are gay or queer men, some are transgender and cisgender women.

How was drag born?

Drag has been popular since ancient Greece and was also common in Shakespeare’s time, according to LGBTQ and ALL.

In the 19th century, drag queens began using the platform as performance art, especially in vaudeville shows.

Who was the first known drag queen?

William Dorsey Swann is known as the first male drag queen. In the early 1880s, Swann organized drag dances at his house.

According to The Nation, Swann was a former slave who endured the Civil War, racism, police surveillance, torture behind bars and other injustices before becoming the first activist to lead a queer resistance group.

What is does a drag performance involve?

A drag queen performance consists of a lip-synced musical number featuring iconic diva songs. There is often dancing and comedy as well.

Drag queens perform at a variety of venues from nightclubs to drag brunches.

RuPaul is one of today’s most recognizable drag queens

RuPaul Andre Charles, known artistically as RuPaul, is an American drag queen, television personality, actor, musician, and model who produces, hosts, and judges the television competition RuPaul’s Drag Race.

The 62-year-old star has been honored with 12 Primetime Emmy Awards, three GLAAD Media Awards, one Critics’ Choice Television Award, two Billboard Music Awards and one Tony Award.