drag queen

File:Drag queens argentinas 1995 crop.jpg advertising a nightclub, 1995]]

{{main|Drag (entertainment)}}

The term drag may date as far back as the Elizabethan era in England,{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=Routledge International Encyclopedia of Queer Culture |editor-last1=Gerstner |editor-first1=David A. |title=Drag |last1=Baroni |first1=Monica |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=851qoMjA3icC&pg=PA191 |date=2012 |orig-year=1st pub. 2006 |publisher=Routledge |location=New York |isbn=978-1-136-76181-2 |oclc=815980386 |pages=191 |access-date=27 April 2018 }} whereas the first recorded use of drag in this context is from 1870.{{cite book |editor1=María de los Ángeles Gómez González |editor2=J. Lachlan Mackenzie |editor3=Elsa M. González Álvarez Tan|author1=Felix Rodriguez Gonzales |title=Languages and Cultures in Contrast and Comparison |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2Sk6AAAAQBAJ |series=Pragmatics & beyond new series v 175 |date=26 June 2008 |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing Company |location=Philadelphia |page=231 |chapter=The feminine stereotype in gay characterization: A look at English and Spanish |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2Sk6AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA221 |isbn=978-90-272-9052-6 |oclc=860469091 |access-date=29 April 2017 }} There are several other possible origins.{{cite web |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=drag |title=Drag |website=Online Etymology Dictionary |access-date=March 9, 2021}}{{cite journal |url=https://www.academia.edu/49043126 |title=William Dorsey Swann |first=Channing Gerard |last=Joseph |journal=African American National Biography |date=20 May 2021 |publisher=Oxford African American Studies Center |access-date=26 May 2021 |archive-date=2 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210902155525/https://www.academia.edu/49043126 |url-status=live }}

Traditionally, drag involves cross-dressing and transforming ones sex through the use of makeup and other costume devices.{{cite web|url=https://transequality.org/sites/default/files/docs/resources/Understanding-Drag-April-2017.pdf|title=Understanding Drag|publisher=National Center for Transgender Equity|access-date=24 March 2023|archive-date=24 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230324165207/https://transequality.org/sites/default/files/docs/resources/Understanding-Drag-April-2017.pdf|url-status=live}}{{Cite journal |last=Mansbridge |first=Joanna |title=Fantasies of Exposure: Belly Dancing, the Veil, and the Drag of History |url=https://www.academia.edu/24315485 |journal=Journal of Popular Culture |date=January 2016 |volume=49 |pages=29–56 |doi=10.1111/jpcu.12381 |access-date=24 March 2023 |archive-date=10 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230410130335/https://www.academia.edu/24315485 |url-status=live |hdl=11693/37441 |hdl-access=free }} However, under newer conceptions of drag, conceivably performing an exaggerated and heightened form of one's own gender could be considered a drag performance.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jdwrBgAAQBAJ&dq=definition+drag&pg=PA30|title=Queering the Popular Pitch|year=2013|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=9781136093708|pages=29–30|editor-first=Jennifer|editor-last= Rycenga|editor-first2= Sheila|editor-last2=Whiteley}}

{{main|Female impersonation}}

The term female impersonation refers to a type of theatrical performance where a man dresses in women's clothing for the sole purpose of entertaining an audience. The term female impersonator is sometimes used interchangeably with drag queen, although they are not the same. For example, in 1972, Esther Newton described a female impersonator as a "professional drag queen". She considered the term female impersonator to be the one that was (then) widely understood by heterosexual audiences. However, feminist and queer studies scholar Sarah French defined a clear separation between these two terms. She defined drag as an art form associated with queer identity whereas female impersonation comes from a wide a range of gender identity paradigms, including heteronormativity. Additionally, many drag artists view drag as a lived form of self-expression or creativity, and perceive drag as something that is not limited to the stage or to performance. In contrast, female impersonation is specifically limited to performance and may or may not involve an LGBTQI point of view.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gvKqDgAAQBAJ&dq=%22female+impersonator%22+%22drag+queen%22&pg=PA94|title=Staging Queer Feminism|page=94|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK|isbn=9781137465436|first=Sarah |last=French|date=13 April 2017 }}

Female impersonation can be traced back at least as far as ancient Greece. There was little to no gender equity then and women held a lower social status. This meant male actors would play female roles during theatrical performances.{{Cite web|last=Gewertz|first=Ken|date=17 July 2003|title=When men were men (and women, too)|url=https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2003/07/when-men-were-men-and-women-too/|access-date=10 February 2022|website=The Harvard Gazette|archive-date=11 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220211052711/https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2003/07/when-men-were-men-and-women-too/|url-status=live}} This tradition continued for centuries but began to be less prevalent as motion pictures became popular. During the era of vaudeville it was considered immodest for women to appear on stage. Due to that circumstance, some men became famous as "female impersonators", the most notable being Julian Eltinge. At the peak of his career he was one of the most sought after and highest paid actors in the world.{{Cite web|last=Goodman|first=Elyssa|date=6 April 2018|title=Drag Herstory: This Drag Queen Was Once the Highest Paid Actor in the World|url=https://www.them.us/story/julian-eltinge-drag-queen-history|access-date=10 February 2022|website=them.|archive-date=11 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220211051829/https://www.them.us/story/julian-eltinge-drag-queen-history|url-status=live}} Andrew Tribble was another early female impersonator who gained fame on Broadway and in Black Vaudeville.{{cite web |title=Tribble, Andrew A. |url=https://nkaa.uky.edu/nkaa/items/show/59 |website=Notable Kentucky African Americans Database |publisher=University of Kentucky |access-date=3 February 2024}}

In the twentieth century some gender impersonators, both female and male, in the United States became highly successful performing artists in non-LGBTQ nightclubs and theaters. There was a concerted effort by these working female and male impersonators in America, to separate the art of gender impersonation from queer identity with an overt representation of working gender impersonators as heterosexual. Some of the performers were in fact cisgender heterosexual men and women, but others were closeted LGBTQI individuals due to the politics and social environment of the period. It was criminal in many American cities to be homosexual, or for LGBTQI people to congregate, and it was therefore necessary for female and male impersonators to distance themselves from identifying as queer publicly in order to avoid criminal charges and loss of career. The need to hide and dissociate from queer identity was prevalent among gender impersonators working in non-LGBTQ nightclubs before heteronormative audiences as late as the 1970s.{{cite book|chapter=Chapters 4 & 5|title=Glitter and Concrete: A Cultural History of Drag in New York City|first=Elyssa Maxx|last= Goodman|year=2023|publisher=Hanover Square Press|isbn=9780369733016}}

Female impersonation has been and continues to be illegal in some places, which inspired the drag queen José Sarria to hand out labels to his friends reading, "I am a boy", so they could not be accused of female impersonation.{{cite web|url=http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/sarria_j.html |title=>> social sciences >> Sarria, José |publisher=glbtq |date=12 December 1923 |access-date=1 March 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203005833/http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/sarria_j.html |archive-date=3 December 2013 }} American drag queen RuPaul once said, "I do not impersonate females! How many women do you know who wear seven-inch heels, four-foot wigs, and skintight dresses?" He also said, "I don't dress like a woman; I dress like a drag queen!"Susan Corso (15 April 2009). [https://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-susan-corso/drag-queen-theology_b_175120.html Drag Queen Theology.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100724195405/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-susan-corso/drag-queen-theology_b_175120.html|date=24 July 2010}} Retrieved: 1 April 2018.

The meaning of the term drag queen has changed across time. The term first emerged in New York City in the 1950s, and initially had two meanings. The first meaning referred to an amateur performer who did not make a living in drag but may have participated in amateur public performances such as those held at a drag ball or a drag pageant. This was meant to draw a line differentiating amateurs performing in drag for fun from professional female impersonators who made a living performing in drag.

The second original meaning of drag queen was applied to men who chose to wear women's clothing on the streets, an act which was at that time illegal in New York City. Of this latter type two additional slang terms were applied: square drag queens which meant "boys who looked like girls but who you knew were boys" and street queens who were queer male sex workers, often homeless, that dressed as women. This second use of the term was also layered with transphobic subtext and the term drag queen was again meant to protect the professional female impersonator by allowing them to dissociate themselves from both aspects of queer culture and from sex workers in order to maintain respectability among the predominantly heteronormative audiences who employed them. This understanding of the term drag queen persisted through the 1960s.{{cite book|chapter=Chapter 5: 1960-1969|title=Glitter and Concrete: A Cultural History of Drag in New York City|first=Elyssa Maxx|last=Goodman|year=2023|publisher=Hanover Square Press}}

In 1971, an article in Lee Brewster's Drag Queens magazine described a drag queen as a "homosexual transvestite" who is hyperfeminine, flamboyant, and militant.{{cite magazine |editor1-last=Brewster |editor1-first=Lee G. |editor2-last=Gybbons |editor2-first=Kay |editor3-last=McAllister |editor3-first=Laura |date=1971 |title=Drag Queen vs. Transvestite |magazine=Drag Queens: A Magazine About the Transvestite |volume=1 |issue=1 |publisher=Queens Publications |publication-place=New York, NY |pages=11–12 |url=https://archive.org/details/drag11unse/page/10/mode/2up}}{{cite magazine |editor1-last=Brewster |editor1-first=Lee G. |editor2-last=Gybbons |editor2-first=Kay |editor3-last=McAllister |editor3-first=Laura |date=1971 |title=Drag Queen vs. Transvestite |magazine=Drag: A Magazine About the Transvestite |volume=1 |issue=4 |publisher=Queens Publications |publication-place=New York, NY |pages=29–30 |url=https://archive.org/details/drag14unse/page/28/mode/2up}} Drag queens were further described as having an attitude of superiority, and commonly courted by heterosexual men who would "not ordinarily participate in homosexual relationships". While the term drag queen implied "homosexual transvestite", the term drag carried no such connotations.{{cite magazine |editor-last=Brewster |editor1-first=Lee G. |editor2-last=Gybbons |editor2-first=Kay |editor3-last=McAllister |editor3-first=Laura |date=1971 |title=Editorial: Drag |magazine=Drag: A Magazine About the Transvestite |volume=2 |issue=6 |publisher=Queens Publications |publication-place=New York, NY |page=4 |url=https://archive.org/details/drag00leeg_0/page/4/mode/2up}}

In the 1970s, drag queen was continually defined as a "homosexual transvestite".{{cite book |last=Newton |first=Esther |title=Mother Camp: Female Impersonators in America |year=1972 |location=Chicago, IL |publisher=The University of Chicago Press |page=3 |isbn=9780226577609 }} Drag was parsed as changing one's clothes to those of a different sex, while queen was said to refer to a homosexual man.

For much of history, drag queens were men, but in more modern times, cisgender and trans women, as well as non-binary people, also perform as drag queens.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/mar/08/rupaul-drag-race-transgender-performers-diversity |title=Who can be a drag queen? RuPaul's trans comments fuel calls for inclusion |last=Levin |first=Sam |newspaper=The Guardian |date=8 March 2018 |access-date=7 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920040747/https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/mar/08/rupaul-drag-race-transgender-performers-diversity |archive-date=20 September 2018 |url-status=live }}{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2018/03/09/im-a-trans-woman-and-a-drag-queen-despite-what-rupaul-says-you-can-be-both/ |title=I'm a trans woman and a drag queen. Despite what RuPaul says, you can be both |last=Beverly Hillz |first=Monica |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=9 March 2018 |access-date=7 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180917105336/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2018/03/09/im-a-trans-woman-and-a-drag-queen-despite-what-rupaul-says-you-can-be-both/ |archive-date=17 September 2018 |url-status=live }}{{cite magazine |url=https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/a19184923/peppermint-trans-drag-inclusion/ |title=Peppermint Is Taking on a New Fight for the Trans Community |last=Kirkland |first=Justin |magazine=Esquire |date=22 March 2018 |access-date=7 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180425004115/https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/a19184923/peppermint-trans-drag-inclusion/ |archive-date=25 April 2018 |url-status=live }}{{cite news |url=https://www.kqed.org/pop/108023/meet-the-trans-non-binary-and-bio-queens-who-deserve-a-spot-on-rupauls-drag-race-u-k |title=Meet the Trans, Non-Binary and Bio Queens Who Deserve a Spot on 'RuPaul's Drag Race U.K.' |last=Alexandra |first=Rae |date=9 January 2019 |access-date=15 November 2019 |website=kqed.org |publisher=KQED |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191115083920/https://www.kqed.org/pop/108023/meet-the-trans-non-binary-and-bio-queens-who-deserve-a-spot-on-rupauls-drag-race-u-k |archive-date=15 November 2019 |url-status=live}} In a 2018 article, Psychology Today stated that drag queens are "most typically gay cisgender men (though there are many drag queens of varying sexual orientations and gender identities)".{{cite news |url=https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/all-things-lgbtq/201801/the-psychology-drag |title=The Psychology of Drag |last=O'Brien |first=Jennifer |date=30 January 2018 |access-date=15 November 2019 |magazine=Psychology Today |publisher=John Thomas}}

Examples of trans-feminine drag queens, sometimes called trans queens,{{cite web |url=https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/3/6/17085244/rupaul-trans-women-drag-queens-interview-controversy |title=How RuPaul's comments on trans women led to a Drag Race revolt – and a rare apology |last=Framke |first=Caroline |publisher=Vox |date=7 March 2018 |access-date=7 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180802040933/https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/3/6/17085244/rupaul-trans-women-drag-queens-interview-controversy |archive-date=2 August 2018 |url-status=live }} include Monica Beverly Hillz and Peppermint. Cisgender female drag queens are sometimes called faux queens or bioqueens, though critics of this practice assert that faux carries the connotation that the drag is fake, and that the use of bioqueen exclusively for cisgender females is a misnomer since trans-feminine queens exhibit gynomorphic features.{{cite thesis|type=PhD|last=Coull|first=Jamie Lee|date=2015|title=Faux Queens: an exploration of gender, sexuality and queerness in cis-female drag queen performance|publisher=Curtin University}}{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/jul/10/workin-it-how-female-drag-queens-are-causing-a-scene |title=Workin' it! How female drag queens are causing a scene |last=Nicholson |first=Rebecca |newspaper=The Guardian |date=10 July 2017 |access-date=7 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180807193146/https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/jul/10/workin-it-how-female-drag-queens-are-causing-a-scene |archive-date=7 August 2018 |url-status=live }}

Drag queens' counterparts are drag kings: performers, usually women, who dress in exaggeratedly masculine clothing. Examples of drag kings include Landon Cider. Trans men who dress like drag kings are sometimes termed trans kings.

File:Khookha McQueer autoportrait 5.jpg, Tunisian drag queen]]

Some drag queens may prefer to be referred to as "she" while in drag and desire to stay completely in character.{{cite web |url=https://transequality.org/issues/resources/understanding-drag |title=Understanding Drag |author= |date=28 April 2017 |website=transequality.org |publisher=National Center for Transgender Equality |access-date=13 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180310044748/https://transequality.org/issues/resources/understanding-drag |archive-date=10 March 2018 |url-status=live }} Other drag performers are indifferent to which pronoun is used to refer to them. RuPaul has said, "You can call me he. You can call me she. You can call me Regis and Kathie Lee; I don't care! Just so long as you call me."{{citation|author=RuPaul|title=Lettin' It All Hang Out: An Autobiography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mq-HAAAAIAAJ|publisher=Hyperion Books|date=June 1995|page=139|isbn=9780786881659|author-link=RuPaul}}

Drag queens are sometimes called transvestites, although that term also has many other connotations than the term drag queen and is not much favored by many drag queens themselves.Ford, Zack. "[https://thinkprogress.org/the-quiet-clash-between-transgender-women-and-drag-queens-297a9da4c5f6/ The Quiet Clash Between Transgender Women And Drag Queens] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170909234311/https://thinkprogress.org/the-quiet-clash-between-transgender-women-and-drag-queens-297a9da4c5f6/ |date=2017-09-09 }}." ThinkProgress, 25 June 2014. Web. 9 September 2017. The term tranny, an abbreviation of the term transvestite, has been adopted by some drag performers, notably RuPaul,{{cite web |last=Spargo |first=Chris |date=15 January 2012 |title=NEW: RuPaul's 'Tranny' Conroversy |url=http://www.newnownext.com/rupaul-tranny-lance-bass-drag-race/01/2012/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004213445/http://www.newnownext.com/rupaul-tranny-lance-bass-drag-race/01/2012/ |archive-date=4 October 2013 |access-date=6 October 2013 |publisher=NewNowNext}} and the gay male community{{cite web |last=Musto |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Musto |date=12 November 2010 |title=Is "Tranny" So Bad? |url=http://blogs.villagevoice.com/dailymusto/2010/11/is_tranny_so_ba.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004221132/http://blogs.villagevoice.com/dailymusto/2010/11/is_tranny_so_ba.php |archive-date=4 October 2013 |access-date=6 October 2013 |publisher=Blogs.villagevoice.com}} in the United States, but it is considered offensive to most transgender and transsexual people.{{cite web |url=http://www.bilerico.com/2008/09/is_tranny_offensive.php |title=Is 'Tranny' Offensive? |work=Bilerico Report / LGBTQ Nation |publisher=The Bilerico Project |date=9 September 2008 |access-date=6 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004213214/http://www.bilerico.com/2008/09/is_tranny_offensive.php |archive-date=4 October 2013 |url-status=live }}

Many drag performers refer to themselves as drag artists, as opposed to drag queens, as some contemporary forms of drag have become nonbinary.{{cite web |last1=Knauf |first1=Ana Sofia |title=Person of Interest: Arson Nicki |url=https://www.thestranger.com/features/2017/02/01/24834816/person-of-interest |website=The Stranger |publisher=Tim Keck |access-date=1 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180701030804/https://www.thestranger.com/features/2017/02/01/24834816/person-of-interest |archive-date=1 July 2018 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |last1=Lam |first1=Teresa |title=Getting to Know Non-Binary Drag Artist Rose Butch |url=https://hypebae.com/2018/6/rose-butch-non-binary-drag-performer-lgbtq-pride-month-vancouver-canada-interview |website=Hypebae |date=30 June 2018 |access-date=1 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180701083100/https://hypebae.com/2018/6/rose-butch-non-binary-drag-performer-lgbtq-pride-month-vancouver-canada-interview |archive-date=1 July 2018 |url-status=live }} In Brazil, androgynous drag performers are sometimes called drag queer, as a form of gender neutrality.{{Cite news |date=December 2018 |title=Esta página criou um guia ilustrado de nomenclaturas LGBTI pra ninguém mais se confundir |url=https://www.hypeness.com.br/2018/12/esta-pagina-criou-um-guia-ilustrado-de-nomenclaturas-lgbti-pra-ninguem-mais-se-confundir/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220228193451/https://www.hypeness.com.br/2018/12/esta-pagina-criou-um-guia-ilustrado-de-nomenclaturas-lgbti-pra-ninguem-mais-se-confundir/ |archive-date=2022-02-28 |work=Hypeness}}{{Cite journal |last=Santos |first=David Ceccon dos |date=2017 |title=Drag-queer Alma Negrot : o corpo como montagem artística |url=https://lume.ufrgs.br/handle/10183/202438 |journal=UFRGS |hdl=10183/202438 |access-date=2021-08-12}}{{Cite web |title=Buscando trabalho artístico, drag queer brasileira posa pra Vogue: "Não quero ser cosplay de mulher" – Pheeno |url=https://pheeno.com.br/2019/05/buscando-trabalho-artistico-drag-queer-brasileira-posa-pra-vogue-nao-quero-ser-cosplay-de-mulher/ |access-date=2021-08-13 |website=pheeno.com.br|date=23 May 2019 }}

Among drag queens and their contacts today, there is an ongoing debate about whether transgender drag queens are actually considered "drag queens". Some argue that, because a drag queen is defined as a man portraying a woman, transgender women cannot be drag queens. Drag kings are women who assume a masculine aesthetic, but this is not always the case, because there are also biokings, bioqueens, and female queens, which are people who perform their own biological sex through a heightened or exaggerated gender presentation.{{Cite book|doi=10.4324/9780203057094|title=The Drag Queen Anthology|year=2013|last1=Underwood|first1=Lisa|isbn=9780203057094}}{{Cite web|url=https://academic.eb.com/?target=%2Flevels%2Fcollegiate%2Farticle%2Fdrag-queen%2F627517|title=Britannica Academic|website=academic.eb.com|access-date=5 December 2018|archive-date=22 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922085318/https://academic.eb.com/?target=%2Flevels%2Fcollegiate%2Farticle%2Fdrag-queen%2F627517|url-status=live}}{{Cite journal|last1=Barnett|first1=Joshua Trey|last2=Johnson|first2=Corey W.|date=November 2013|title=We Are All Royalty|journal=Journal of Leisure Research|volume=45|issue=5|pages=677–694|doi=10.18666/jlr-2013-v45-i5-4369|bibcode=2013JLeiR..45..677B |s2cid=143305970|issn=0022-2216}}

In the 1940s, John Herbert, who sometimes competed in drag pageants, was the victim of an attempted robbery while he was dressed as a woman.[http://www.canadiantheatre.com/dict.pl?term=John%20Herbert John Herbert] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220507080727/https://www.canadiantheatre.com/dict.pl?term=John%20Herbert |date=7 May 2022 }} at the Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia.{{refn|group=nb|One source asserts that the attack occurred in 1947, another is vague on the timing, and The New York Times obituary of Herbert asserts that it occurred during Herbert's teens.[https://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/27/theater/john-herbert-dies-at-75-wrote-of-prison-life.html "John Herbert Dies at 75; Wrote of Prison Life"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221124123526/https://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/27/theater/john-herbert-dies-at-75-wrote-of-prison-life.html |date=24 November 2022 }}. The New York Times, 27 June 2001. The cause of the confusion may be the conflation of this arrest with Herbert's subsequent arrest for gross indecency. He served another sentence for indecency at reformatory in Mimico in 1948.}} His assailants falsely claimed that Herbert had solicited them for sex, and Herbert was accused and convicted of indecency under Canada's same-sex sexual activity law (which was not repealed until 1969).{{Cite web | author=Canadian Heritage |date=2017-10-23 |title=Rights of LGBTI persons |url=https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/rights-lgbti-persons.html |access-date=2022-03-15 |website=www.canada.ca |archive-date=5 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190105205012/https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/rights-lgbti-persons.html |url-status=live }} After being convicted, Herbert served time in a youth reformatory in Guelph, Ontario.{{cite journal|title="That Man's Scope" John Herbert Now|journal=The Body Politic|date=1973|volume=10|pages=12–13, 25|url=https://archive.org/stream/bodypolitic10toro#page/12/mode/2up|access-date=2 August 2016}}{{cite journal|last1=Dickinson|first1=Peter|title=Critically Queenie: The Lessons of Fortune and Men's Eyes|journal=Canadian Journal of Film Studies|date=2002|volume=11|issue=2|pages=19–43|doi=10.3138/cjfs.11.2.19|url=http://www.filmstudies.ca/journal/pdf/cj-film-studies112_Dickinson_queenie.pdf|access-date=10 August 2016|archive-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303221636/http://www.filmstudies.ca/journal/pdf/cj-film-studies112_Dickinson_queenie.pdf|url-status=live}}{{refn|group=nb|One source states that Herbert was imprisoned for six months at Guelph, while another states that he spent four months there.}} Herbert later served another sentence for indecency at reformatory in Mimico. Herbert wrote Fortune and Men's Eyes in 1964 based on his time behind bars.[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5246 John Herbert] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181207192514/https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5246 |date=7 December 2018 }} at The Literary Encyclopedia. He included the character of Queenie as an authorial self-insertion.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023|reason=source does not make the connection that it is in fact a self-insert (even though that would be extremely obvious reading)}}

In 1973, the first Canadian play about and starring a drag queen, Hosanna by Michel Tremblay, was performed at Théâtre de Quat'Sous in Montreal.{{cite book |last1=Tremblay |first1=Michel |translator-last1=Van Burek |translator-first1=John |translator-last2=Glassco |translator-first2=Bill |year=1991 |orig-year=1973 |title=Hosanna |location=Vancouver, BC |publisher=Leméac Éditeur}}

In 1977, the Canadian film Outrageous!, starring drag queen Craig Russell, became one of the first gay-themed films to break out into mainstream theatrical release.

File:Alex Mathew & Maya the drag queen.jpg (right)]]

In September 2018, the Supreme Court of India ruled that the application of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code to consensual homosexual sex between adults was unconstitutional, "irrational, indefensible and manifestly arbitrary".{{cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/sc-decriminalises-homosexuality/article24887363.ece|title=SC decriminalises homosexuality|first=Krishnadas|last=Rajagopal|date=7 September 2018|via=www.thehindu.com|newspaper=The Hindu|access-date=27 March 2020|archive-date=30 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200730035426/https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/sc-decriminalises-homosexuality/article24887363.ece|url-status=live}} Since then, drag culture in India has been growing and becoming the mainstream art culture. The hotel chain of Lalit Groups spaced a franchise of clubs where drag performances are hosted in major cities of India such as Mumbai, Delhi, and Bangalore.

Maya the Drag Queen,{{Cite web |url=https://www.thebetterindia.com/81870/alex-mathew-drag-queen-india-bengaluru-lgbt-rights/ |title=The Amazing Journey of This Indian Drag Queen is Both Heart Breaking and Inspiring |date=12 January 2017 |access-date=4 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191204151636/https://www.thebetterindia.com/81870/alex-mathew-drag-queen-india-bengaluru-lgbt-rights/ |archive-date=4 December 2019 |url-status=live }} Rani Kohinoor (Sushant Divgikar),{{Cite web |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/bollywood/drag-is-part-of-our-culture-to-refute-it-is-to-refute-history-sushant-divgikar/story-9Gfu2P2GjRidL3yettnnGJ.html |title=Drag is part of our culture; to refute it is to refute history: Sushant Divgikar |date=29 December 2017 |access-date=4 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191204150923/https://www.hindustantimes.com/bollywood/drag-is-part-of-our-culture-to-refute-it-is-to-refute-history-sushant-divgikar/story-9Gfu2P2GjRidL3yettnnGJ.html |archive-date=4 December 2019 |url-status=live }} Lush Monsoon,{{Cite web|url = https://www.vogue.in/culture-and-living/content/lush-monsoon-aishwarya-ayushmaan-indian-drag-queen-human-rights-lawyer-lgbtqi-delhi|title = Human rights lawyer Aishwarya Ayushmaan on how drag allows him to be his truest self|date = 21 September 2019|access-date = 6 January 2020|archive-date = 3 December 2020|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201203042650/https://www.vogue.in/culture-and-living/content/lush-monsoon-aishwarya-ayushmaan-indian-drag-queen-human-rights-lawyer-lgbtqi-delhi|url-status = live}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.vervemagazine.in/people/being-a-drag-queen-in-india-lush-monsoon |title=Being a Drag Queen in India: Lush Monsoon | Verve Magazine |date=October 2018 |access-date=6 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181001150100/http://www.vervemagazine.in/people/being-a-drag-queen-in-india-lush-monsoon |archive-date=1 October 2018 |url-status=live }} Betta Naan Stop,{{Cite web|url = https://www.vogue.in/culture-and-living/content/betta-naan-stop-indian-drag-queen-interview|title = Meet Betta Naan Stop, the Indian drag queen with the best dance moves|date = 20 September 2019|access-date = 6 January 2020|archive-date = 25 December 2020|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201225142833/https://www.vogue.in/culture-and-living/content/betta-naan-stop-indian-drag-queen-interview|url-status = live}} Tropical Marca,{{Cite web |url=https://elle.in/article/drag-queens/ |title=5 fabulous drag queens spill their make-up secrets |date=18 December 2018 |access-date=4 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191204151709/https://elle.in/article/drag-queens/ |archive-date=4 December 2019 |url-status=live }} Zeeshan Ali,{{Cite web |url=https://homegrown.co.in/article/801643/the-phenomenal-transformations-of-makeup-artist-zeeshan-ali |title=The Phenomenal Transformations of Makeup Artist Zeeshan Ali |access-date=4 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191204150931/https://homegrown.co.in/article/801643/the-phenomenal-transformations-of-makeup-artist-zeeshan-ali |archive-date=4 December 2019 |url-status=live }} and Patruni Sastry{{Cite web |url=https://telanganatoday.com/its-time-for-drag-shows-to-begin |title=It's TIME for 'Drag' shows to begin |access-date=4 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191204150923/https://telanganatoday.com/its-time-for-drag-shows-to-begin |archive-date=4 December 2019 |url-status=live }} are some examples of Indian drag artists. In 2018, Hyderabad had its first drag convention.{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Hyderabad/drag-con-hyderabad-2019-patruni-sastry/article29798142.ece|title=Hyderabad to have its first-ever Drag Con|newspaper=The Hindu|date=25 October 2019|last1=Bhavani|first1=Divya Kala|access-date=6 May 2021|archive-date=11 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230411054521/https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Hyderabad/drag-con-hyderabad-2019-patruni-sastry/article29798142.ece|url-status=live}} In 2020, India's first drag specific magazine Dragvanti began publication.{{Cite web|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/bengaluru/2020/jun/30/for-all-things-drag-2163102.html|title=For all things drag | author=Simran Ahuja |date=30 June 2020 | publisher=The New Indian Express | access-date=6 May 2021|archive-date=10 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230410150543/https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/bengaluru/2020/jun/30/for-all-things-drag-2163102.html|url-status=live}}

Lebanon is the only country in the Arab world with an increasingly visible drag scene.{{cite news |title='I don't want to hide myself': The drag queen standing up to Lebanon's LGBTIQ+ crackdown |url=https://www.sbs.com.au/news/dateline/article/the-drag-queen-standing-up-to-lebanons-lgbtiq-crackdown/tptzwxs6v |access-date=30 January 2024 |issue=8 June 2023 |publisher=SBS News}} Drag culture has existed in Lebanon for several decades but gained popularity with the astronomical rise of Bassem Feghali, who came to prominence in the 1990s, becoming a household name for his impersonation of Lebanese female singers.{{cite news |last1=Frakes |first1=Nicholas |title=It's off to the races in Lebanon, in drag |url=https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2019/09/the-unique-identity-of-lebanons-drag-scene.html |access-date=30 January 2024 |publisher=Al Monitor |date=30 September 2019}}{{cite news |title=Meet the Pop Icons who Inspired Generations of Arab Queens |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/10/20/arts/arab-drag-pop-icons.html |access-date=30 January 2024 |date=20 October 2022 |last1=O'Neill |first1=Shane }} Due to the global success of Rupaul's Drag Race, Beirut's drag scene has adopted various influences that blend American drag culture with local, unique cultural elements.{{cite news |last1=Louisa Loveluck, Ghalia al-Alwani |title=Beirut's fearless drag queens defy Middle Eastern conservatism |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/beiruts-fearless-drag-queens-belie-middle-eastern-conservatism/2019/01/26/2a7abcd4-ffb7-11e8-a17e-162b712e8fc2_story.html |access-date=30 January 2024 |agency=The Washington Post |date=28 January 2019}} The drag scene has grown so much that in 2019 Vogue magazine declared it a drag-aissance.{{cite news |last1=Satenstein |first1=Liana |title=Inside Beirut's Bright and Beautiful Drag-aissance |url=https://www.vogue.com/vogueworld/article/beirut-drag-queen-anya-kneez-latiza-bomba-zuhal-global-100 |access-date=30 January 2024 |publisher=Vogue |date=5 February 2019}}

Usha Didi Gunatita was a pioneer of drag art during the later years of the dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner. Many drag queens of later generations claim her as a reference, and base their characters on Usha's exaggerated characteristics in her performances.{{Cite web |date=2024-10-10 |title=Usha: la pionera drag que tendió puentes entre el show y el activismo en Paraguay - Agencia Presentes |url=https://agenciapresentes.org/2020/05/20/usha-pionera-drag-que-tendio-puentes-entre-el-show-y-el-activismo-en-paraguay/ |access-date=2025-02-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241010200012/https://agenciapresentes.org/2020/05/20/usha-pionera-drag-que-tendio-puentes-entre-el-show-y-el-activismo-en-paraguay/ |archive-date=10 October 2024 }}{{Cite web |last=Ogdon |first=Gabriel |date=2022-02-16 |title=Drag Party este sábado en Casa Crei |url=https://elnacional.com.py/agenda-cultural/2022/02/16/drag-party-en-casa-crei/ |access-date=2025-02-09 |website=El Nacional |language=es}}{{Cite web |date=2023-04-18 |title=Larga vida a las reinas |url=https://culturablend.com/post/larga_vida_a_las_reinas |access-date=2025-02-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230418215502/https://culturablend.com/post/larga_vida_a_las_reinas |archive-date=18 April 2023 }} She is also remembered as one of the first trans people who was featured on Paraguayan television without being censored.{{Cite web |date=2023-06-27 |title="Dragñua" busca reivindicar su manifestación artística - Cultura - ABC Color |url=https://www.abc.com.py/espectaculos/cultura/2023/06/27/dragnua-busca-reivindicar-su-manifestacion-artistica/ |access-date=2025-02-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230627122117/https://www.abc.com.py/espectaculos/cultura/2023/06/27/dragnua-busca-reivindicar-su-manifestacion-artistica/ |archive-date=27 June 2023 }}

Before being colonized by Spain in the mid-1500s, it was a national custom for men to dress in women's clothing.{{Cite web |last=COMMONER |date=2021-06-30 |title=Beyond the Glitz and Glamour: How Philippine Drag Has Evolved throughout the Years |url=https://mediacommoner.medium.com/beyond-the-glitz-and-glamour-how-philippine-drag-has-evolved-throughout-the-years-6eb867d7d658 |access-date=2022-12-02 |website=Medium |language=en |archive-date=2 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221202212644/https://mediacommoner.medium.com/beyond-the-glitz-and-glamour-how-philippine-drag-has-evolved-throughout-the-years-6eb867d7d658 |url-status=live }} However, when the Spaniards arrived, they not only outlawed homosexuality but executed men that appeared to be homosexual. Spain cast a culture of Machismo onto the Philippines, causing any kind of queerness and queer culture to be heavily suppressed.

Nonetheless, in the early 1900s drag started to reappear in the media. Drag became a key element of national pantomime theatre and as time went on, drag queens appeared in other forms of theatre and in movies.

Drag in South Africa emerged in the 1950s in major cities such as Johannesburg and Cape Town.{{Cite web |title=Drag in South Africa: The Art of Expression |url=https://www.queermajority.com/essays-all/drag-in-south-africa-the-art-of-expression |access-date=2022-12-02 |website=Queer Majority |date=30 September 2020 |language=en-US |archive-date=2 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221202212640/https://www.queermajority.com/essays-all/drag-in-south-africa-the-art-of-expression |url-status=live }} It started in the form of underground pageants which created a safe space for members of the LGBTQ+ community in Apartheid South Africa, where people could be punished by law for being gay. Being gay was not legalized in South Africa until 1998, so pageants, such as the famous Miss Gay Western Cape, did not become official until the late 1990s.{{Cite web |last=McCormick |first=T. L. |title=The history of drag in South Africa still plays out at modern pageants |url=http://theconversation.com/the-history-of-drag-in-south-africa-still-plays-out-at-modern-pageants-120838 |access-date=2022-12-02 |website=The Conversation |date=7 November 2019 |language=en |archive-date=2 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221202212641/https://theconversation.com/the-history-of-drag-in-south-africa-still-plays-out-at-modern-pageants-120838 |url-status=live }}

Discrimination against drag is widespread in South Africa, and drag queens face the threat of violence by being openly gay. Furthermore, there is not language to explore queerness in Xhosa, one of the indigenous languages of South Africa.{{Cite news |last1=Olwage |first1=Lee-Ann |last2=Ingber |first2=Sasha |date=2019-09-20 |title=PHOTOS: Drag Queens In South Africa Embrace Queerness And Tradition |language=en |work=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2019/09/20/761990035/photos-drag-queens-in-south-africa-embrace-queerness-and-tradition |access-date=2022-12-02 |archive-date=2 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221202212639/https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2019/09/20/761990035/photos-drag-queens-in-south-africa-embrace-queerness-and-tradition |url-status=live }}

After homosexual acts were decriminalized in Thailand in 1956, gay clubs and other queer spaces began opening which lead to the first cabaret. However, drag in Thailand was actually heavily influenced by drag queens from the Philippines as the first drag show started after the owner of a gay club saw drag queens from the Philippines perform in Bangkok.{{Cite web |title=Thailand's Drag Shows: Testimony to Survival and Culture Redefined |url=https://www.thailandfoundation.or.th/culture_heritage/thailands-drag-shows-testimony-to-survival-and-culture-redefined/ |access-date=2022-12-02 |website=Thailand Foundation |language=en-US |archive-date=9 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230509035506/https://www.thailandfoundation.or.th/culture_heritage/thailands-drag-shows-testimony-to-survival-and-culture-redefined/ |url-status=live }} Therefore, drag shows started in Thailand in the mid-1970s and have become increasingly popular over time, especially in major cities like Bangkok.

In Renaissance England, women were forbidden from performing on stage,{{Cite web |title=Globe Theatre Female Roles |url=http://www.globe-theatre.org.uk/globe-theatre-female-roles.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130406074442/http://www.globe-theatre.org.uk/globe-theatre-female-roles.htm |archive-date=2013-04-06 |access-date=2018-12-24}} so female roles were played by men or boys. The practice continued, as a tradition, when pantomimes became a popular form of entertainment in Europe during the late 1800s to the mid-1900s.Moore, F. Michael. Drag!: Male and Female Impersonators on Stage, Screen, and Television: An Illustrated World History. Jefferson, N.C: McFarland & Company, 1994. {{ISBN|978-0899509969}} {{page needed|date=June 2020}}

The dame became a stock character with a range of attitudes from "charwoman" to "grande dame" who was mainly used for improvisation. A notable, and highly successful, pantomime dame from this period was Dan Leno.

Beyond theatre, in the 1800s, Molly houses became a place for gay men to meet, often dressed in drag.{{Cite web |title=A brief but glamorous history of drag |url=https://www.history.co.uk/articles/a-brief-but-glamorous-history-of-drag |access-date=2022-12-02 |website=Sky HISTORY TV channel |language=en |archive-date=15 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230515145054/https://www.history.co.uk/articles/a-brief-but-glamorous-history-of-drag |url-status=live }} Despite homosexuality being outlawed, men would dress in women's clothing and attend these taverns and coffee houses to congregate and meet other, mostly gay, men.

By the mid-1900s, pantomime, and the use of pantomime dames, had declined, although it remains a popular Christmas tradition.Christopher, David (2002). "British Culture: An Introduction", p. 74, Routledge; and [https://www.economist.com/news/britain/21636788-understand-britishand-have-fungo-and-see-christmas-pantomime-its-behind-you "It's Behind You"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170815101055/https://www.economist.com/news/britain/21636788-understand-britishand-have-fungo-and-see-christmas-pantomime-its-behind-you |date=15 August 2017 }}, The Economist, 20 December 2014 The role of the dame, however, evolved to become more about the individual performer. Many female impersonators built up their own fan bases, and began performing outside of their traditional pantomime roles.{{Cite web |title=The fabulous history of drag |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zbkmkmn |access-date=2023-12-27 |website=BBC |language=en}}

{{Main|Female impersonation#History of female impersonation#United States}}

Drag performance in the United States had its roots in the female impersonations of performers in minstrel shows of the 19th century, followed by female impersonators working in vaudeville, burlesque, and the legitimate theatre in the late 19th century and early 20th century.{{cite book|title=Historical Dictionary of Contemporary American Theater|page=331|first=James|last= Fisher|year= 2021|isbn=9781538123027|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers}}

The Pansy Craze was a period of increased LGBT visibility in American popular culture from the late-1920s until the mid-1930s;{{Cite web |last=Imig |first=Nate |date=6 June 2022 |title=Tracing the roots of Wisconsin's drag history, dating back to the 1880s |url=https://radiomilwaukee.org/story/uniquely-milwaukee/tracing-the-roots-of-wisconsins-drag-history-dating-back-to-the-1880s/ |access-date=2022-10-27 |website=Radio Milwaukee |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Bullock |first=Darryl W. |date=2017-09-14 |title=Pansy Craze: the wild 1930s drag parties that kickstarted gay nightlife |url=http://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/sep/14/pansy-craze-the-wild-1930s-drag-parties-that-kickstarted-gay-nightlife |access-date=2022-10-27 |website=The Guardian |language=en |issn=1756-3224}} during the "craze," drag queens – known as "pansy performers" – experienced a surge in underground popularity, especially in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. The exact dates of the movement are debated, with a range from the late 1920s until 1935.{{Cite web |last=Halley |first=Catherine |date=2020-01-29 |title=Four Flowering Plants That Have Been Decidedly Queered |url=https://daily.jstor.org/four-flowering-plants-decidedly-queered/ |access-date=2022-10-27 |website=JSTOR Daily |language=en-US}}{{Cite journal |last1=Cohen |first1=Lizabeth |last2=Chauncey |first2=George |date=September 1997 |title=Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male World, 1890-1940. |url=https://doi.org/10.2307/2952659 |journal=The Journal of American History |volume=84 |issue=2 |pages=685 |doi=10.2307/2952659 |jstor=2952659 |issn=0021-8723}}{{Cite web |last= |date=2022-09-28 |title=The Work of George Chauncey, LGBTQ Historian and Kluge Prize Honoree September 27, 2022 By Neely Tucker |url=https://www.yonkerstribune.com/2022/09/the-work-of-george-chauncey-lgbtq-historian-and-kluge-prize-honoree-september-27-2022-by-neely-tucker |access-date=2022-10-27 |website=Yonkers Tribune. |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Pansy Craze |url=https://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/fp22-pansycraze/understanding-lgbtq-identity-educators-toolkit/ |access-date=2022-10-27 |website=PBS LearningMedia |language=en}}

The term "pansy craze" was coined by the historian George Chauncey in his 1994 book Gay New York.{{Cite book |last=Heap |first=Chad |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pcs6T-NVz0wC |title=Slumming: Sexual and Racial Encounters in American Nightlife, 1885-1940 |date=2008-11-15 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-32245-2 |pages=319 |language=en}}

The first person known to describe himself as "the queen of drag" was William Dorsey Swann, born enslaved in Hancock, Maryland, who in the 1880s started hosting drag balls in Washington, DC attended by other men who were formerly enslaved. The balls were often raided by the police, as documented in the newspapers.{{Cite news|last=Joseph|first=Channing Gerard|date=31 January 2020|title=The First Drag Queen Was a Former Slave|journal=The Nation|language=en-US|url=https://www.thenation.com/article/society/drag-queen-slave-ball/|access-date=4 February 2020|issn=0027-8378|archive-date=2 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210202152031/https://www.thenation.com/article/society/drag-queen-slave-ball/|url-status=live}} In 1896, Swann was convicted and sentenced to 10 months in jail on the false charge of "keeping a disorderly house" (a euphemism for running a brothel). He requested a pardon from President Grover Cleveland, but was denied.

In the early to mid-1900s, female impersonation had become tied to the LGBT community and thus criminality, so it had to change forms and locations.{{citation |last=Boyd |first=Nan Alamilla |title=Wide-Open Town: A History of Queer San Francisco to 1965 |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/book/25351 |year=2003 |access-date=1 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200730041610/https://muse.jhu.edu/book/25351 |url-status=live |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=9780520938748 |archive-date=30 July 2020 }} It moved from being popular mainstream entertainment to something done only at night in disreputable areas, such as San Francisco's Tenderloin. Here female impersonation started to evolve into what we today know as drag and drag queens.Baker, Roger. Drag: A History of Female Impersonation in the Performing Arts. NYU Press, 1994. {{ISBN|0814712533}}{{page needed|date=June 2020}}

{{Failed verification|date=July 2023|reason=could not find this in this source. in fact, the source seems eager to except the concept of drag back into history, even if it was not called the same, he makes a solid case for the style of performance to be part of a similar tradition.

If he claims "Modern emergence/form of drag was [year]" and you find it, please add page number by making it superscript.}} Drag queens such as José Sarria"The Drag Times." Drag, 1980. Archives of Sexuality.

first came to prominence in these clubs. People went to these nightclubs to play with the boundaries of gender and sexuality and it became a place for the LGBT community, especially gay men, to feel accepted.{{Cite book|last1=Shaw|first1=Alison|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IB0sAwAAQBAJ&q=drag+show&pg=PA103|title=Changing Sex and Bending Gender|last2=Ardener|first2=Shirley|date=1 October 2005|publisher=Berghahn Books|isbn=978-0-85745-885-8|language=en}}

As LGBT culture has slowly become more accepted in American society, drag has also become more, though not totally, acceptable in today's society. In the 1940s and 1950s, Arthur Blake was one of the few female impersonators to be successful in both gay and mainstream entertainment, becoming famous for his impersonations of Bette Davis, Carmen Miranda, and Eleanor Roosevelt in night clubs.{{cite book|title=Obituaries: Arthur Blake|publisher=Variety|volume=318|issue=10|date=3 April 1985|page=87}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cSU1e-XStVcC&q=%22Arthur%20Blake%22|title=Spoken Word: Postwar American Phonograph Culture|pages=126–129|author=Jacob Smith|year=2011|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=9780520948358|access-date=19 March 2023|archive-date=13 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230413215118/https://books.google.com/books?id=cSU1e-XStVcC&q=%22Arthur%20Blake%22|url-status=live}} At the invitation of the Roosevelts, he performed his impersonation of Eleanor at the White House.{{cite book|title=Obituaries: Arthur Blake|series=The Stage and Television Today|issue=5441|date=25 July 1985|page= 21}} He impersonated Davis and Miranda in the 1952 film Diplomatic Courier.{{cite book|title=Creating Carmen Miranda: Race, Camp, and Transnational Stardom|author=Kathryn Bishop-Sanchez|year=2021|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TbwpEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22arthur+blake%22+%22diplomatic+courier%22&pg=PT329|publisher=Vanderbilt University Press|isbn=9780826503855|access-date=19 March 2023|archive-date=25 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230425211157/https://books.google.com/books?id=TbwpEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22arthur+blake%22+%22diplomatic+courier%22&pg=PT329|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Cooper Donuts Riot|Compton's Cafeteria riot|Stonewall riots|Invasion of the Pines}}

File:Manifestation pour le mariage pour tous Paris 16 12 2012 13.jpg at a marriage equality protest in Paris, 2012]]

The Cooper Donuts Riot was a May 1959 incident in Los Angeles in which drag queens, lesbians, transgender women, and gay men rioted; it was one of the first LGBT protests in the United States.{{cite news|last1=Moffitt|first1=Evan|date=31 May 2015|title=10 Years Before Stonewall, There Was the Cooper's Donuts Riot|work=Out Magazine|agency=Here Media Inc.|url=https://www.out.com/today-gay-history/2015/5/31/today-gay-history-10-years-stonewall-there-was-coopers-donuts-riot|url-status=live|access-date=30 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170621211159/https://www.out.com/today-gay-history/2015/5/31/today-gay-history-10-years-stonewall-there-was-coopers-donuts-riot|archive-date=21 June 2017}}

The Compton's Cafeteria riot, which involved drag queens and others, occurred in San Francisco in 1966.Boyd, Nan Alamilla (2004). "San Francisco" in the Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered History in America, Ed. Marc Stein. Vol. 3. Charles Scribner's Sons. pp. 71–78. It marked the beginning of transgender activism in San Francisco.

On 17 March 1968, in Los Angeles, to protest entrapment and harassment by the Los Angeles Police Department, two drag queens known as "The Princess" and "The Duchess" held a St. Patrick's Day party at Griffith Park, a popular cruising spot and a frequent target of police activity. More than 200 gay men socialized through the day.Witt, Lynn, Sherry Thomas and Eric Marcus (eds.) (1995). Out in All Directions: The Almanac of Gay and Lesbian America, p. 210. New York, Warner Books. {{ISBN|0-446-67237-8}}.

Drag queens were also involved in the Stonewall riots, a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations by members of the LGBT community against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of 28 June 1969, at the Stonewall Inn, located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. The riots are widely considered to be the catalyst for the gay liberation movement and the modern fight for LGBT rights in the United States.{{cite web |author=National Park Service |year=2008 |title=Workforce Diversity: The Stonewall Inn, National Historic Landmark National Register Number: 99000562 |url=http://www.nps.gov/diversity/stonewall.htm |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306222059/http://www.nps.gov/diversity/stonewall.htm |archive-date=6 March 2016 |access-date=21 January 2013 |publisher=US Department of Interior}}{{cite web |date=21 January 2013 |title=Obama inaugural speech references Stonewall gay-rights riots |url=http://www.northjersey.com/news/2012_Presidential_Election/Obama_inaugural_speech_references_Stonewall_riots.html |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130723025158/http://www.northjersey.com/news/2012_Presidential_Election/Obama_inaugural_speech_references_Stonewall_riots.html |archive-date=23 July 2013 |access-date=21 January 2013 |publisher=North Jersey Media Group Inc}}

During the summer of 1976, a restaurant in Fire Island Pines, New York, denied entry to a visitor in drag named Terry Warren. When Warren's friends in Cherry Grove heard what had happened, they dressed up in drag, and, on 4 July 1976, sailed to the Pines by water taxi. This turned into a yearly event where drag queens go to the Pines, called the Invasion of the Pines.{{Cite web |title=The Invasion of the Pines: Cherry Grove's Beloved 4th of July Tradition {{!}} New-York Historical Society |url=https://www.nyhistory.org/blogs/the-invasion-of-the-pines-cherry-groves-beloved-4th-of-july-tradition |access-date=2024-02-23 |website=www.nyhistory.org |language=en}}

In 1961, drag queen José Sarria ran for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, becoming the first openly gay candidate for public office in the United States.{{Cite web|url=http://www.advocate.com/society/people/2013/08/19/legendary-drag-queen-jos%C3%A9-julia-sarria-dead-91|title=Legendary Drag Queen José Julia Sarria Dead at 91|date=19 August 2013|website=www.advocate.com|access-date=21 December 2022|archive-date=21 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221221031827/https://www.advocate.com/society/people/2013/08/19/legendary-drag-queen-jos%C3%A9-julia-sarria-dead-91|url-status=live}}Miller, Neil (1995). Out of the Past: Gay and Lesbian History from 1869 to the Present, pg. 347.. New York, Vintage Books. {{ISBN|0-09-957691-0}}.

In 1991, drag queen Terence Alan Smith, as Joan Jett Blakk, ran against Richard M. Daley for the office of mayor of Chicago, Illinois.Meyer, Moe (1994). The Politics and Poetics of Camp. Pgs. 5-6. Psychology Press. {{ISBN|0-415-08248-X}}. The campaign was chronicled in the 1991 video Drag in for Votes.{{Cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2050100/|title=Terence Smith|website=IMDb|access-date=2019-04-17}} After qualifying for presidency on his 35th birthday,{{cite web |last1=Peppermint |title=Joan Jett Blakk: The drag queen who ran for president {{!}} American Masters |url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/joan-jett-blakk-the-drag-queen-who-ran-for-president/18355/ |website=American Masters |publisher=PBS |access-date=1 August 2024 |date=6 August 2021}} Smith announced a campaign for presidency in 1992 under the slogan "Lick Bush in '92!" and documented in the 1993 video of the same name. Smith also ran for president in 1996 with the slogan "Lick Slick Willie in '96!" In each of these campaigns Smith ran on the Queer Nation Party ticket.Glasrud, Bruce A. (2010). African Americans and the Presidency: The Road to the White House. Taylor & Francis. Pg. 13. {{ISBN|0-415-80391-8}}. In June 2019, a play based on Smith's 1992 presidential campaign, titled Ms. Blakk for President, written by Tarell Alvin McCraney and Tina Landau and starring McCraney in the title role, opened at Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago.{{Cite web|url=http://www.playbill.com/article/steppenwolf-adds-tarell-alvin-mccraney-and-tina-landaus-ms-blakk-for-president-to-2019-season|title=Steppenwolf Adds Tarell Alvin McCraney and Tina Landau's Ms. Blakk for President to 2019 Season {{!}} Playbill|website=Playbill|date=13 September 2018|language=en|access-date=2018-09-17}}

In 2019, Maebe A. Girl became the first drag queen elected to public office in the United States when she was elected to the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council.{{Cite web|url=https://qvoicenews.com/2019/04/05/drag-queen-maebe-a-girl-running-for-silver-lake-neighborhood-council/|title=Drag queen Maebe A. Girl running for Silver Lake Neighborhood Council|first=Beatriz E.|last=Valenzuela|date=5 April 2019|website=Q Voice News|access-date=3 March 2020|archive-date=3 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200303201628/https://qvoicenews.com/2019/04/05/drag-queen-maebe-a-girl-running-for-silver-lake-neighborhood-council/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaeEjSz9JQw|title=NowThis News: Meet the First Drag Queen Elected to Public Office in the United States|website=YouTube|date=29 June 2019 |access-date=3 March 2020|archive-date=29 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200329043648/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaeEjSz9JQw|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/maebe-a-girl-silver-lake/|title=Meet the First Drag Queen to Be Elected to Public Office in California|first=Steven|last=Blum|date=12 April 2019|newspaper=Lamag - Culture, Food, Fashion, News & Los Angeles|access-date=3 March 2020|archive-date=8 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191108122719/https://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/maebe-a-girl-silver-lake/|url-status=live}}

D'Arcy Drollinger was appointed San Francisco's first drag laureate in May 2023.{{Cite web |date=2023-05-18 |title=SF Bestows First 'Drag Laureate' Title on Hardest-Working Queen |url=https://sfstandard.com/arts-culture/san-francisco-bestows-first-ever-drag-laureate-title-on-its-hardest-working-queen/ |access-date=2023-05-18 |website=The San Francisco Standard |language=en-US}}{{Cite web|url=https://apnews.com/article/san-francisco-first-drag-queen-ambassador-c97a296e3895f86b21c0562e6e92656d|title=Meet D'Arcy Drollinger, a drag queen who's now the first drag laureate in the US|date=18 May 2023|website=AP NEWS}} The role consists of serving as an ambassador for San Francisco's LGBTQ+, arts, nightlife, and entertainment communities.{{Cite web |title=Drag Laureate program {{!}} San Francisco |url=https://sf.gov/drag-laureate-program |access-date=2023-05-18 |website=sf.gov}}

Pickle Drag Queen became West Hollywood's first drag laureate on International Drag Day, 16 July 2023.{{Cite web|url=https://wehotimes.com/pickle-drag-queen-is-officially-sashed-as-first-west-hollywood-drag-laureate/|title=Pickle Drag Queen is Officially Installed as First West Hollywood Drag Laureate - WEHO TIMES West Hollywood News, Nightlife and Events|date=19 July 2023}}

File:Eddie Valdez "José Maria González" Wild Side Story 1977.jpg]]

Drag families are a part of ball culture and drag houses.{{cite web |date=2000–2007 |title=The Rainbow History Project: Drag in DC |url=http://www.rainbowhistory.org/html/drag.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140614052021/http://www.rainbowhistory.org/html/drag.html |archive-date=14 June 2014 |access-date=20 October 2007 |publisher=Rainbow History Project}}

A drag queen may either pick a drag name, or be given it by a friend or a {{anchor|drag mother}}"drag mother".{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FsGxTL0gtZUC&q=%22drag+mother%22&pg=PA168|title=Drag Queens at the 801 Cabaret|last1=Rupp|first1=Leila J.|author1-link=Leila J. Rupp|last2=Taylor|first2=Verta A.|author2-link= Verta Taylor |date=15 May 2003|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=9780226731582|page=168|language=en}} Drag mothers often come to lead their drag house, or start their own, and are more experienced and acclaimed members of the drag community. As such, drag mothers and drag daughters have a mentor-apprentice relationship. This is because drag mothers help hone the skills of their younger queens, or drag daughters, by teaching them things such as how to apply makeup, walk in heels, sew clothing, dance, sing etc. In addition to this, drag mothers also promote their drag children at events and performances.{{Cite web |last=Networks |first=Hornet |date=2021-08-06 |title='Call Me Mother': How Drag Mothers Are Raising a New Generation of Queens |url=https://hornet.com/stories/drag-mothers/ |access-date=2022-11-29 |website=Hornet |language=en |archive-date=29 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221129030859/https://hornet.com/stories/drag-mothers/ |url-status=live }}

File:ESC2014 - Austria 16.jpg, winner of the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest ]]

The process of getting into drag or into character can take hours. A drag queen may aim for a certain style, celebrity impression, or message with their look. Hair, make-up, and costumes are the most important essentials for drag queens.{{cite web |url=http://www.dukechronicle.com/articles/2002/10/03/dude-diva-how-become-drag-queen |title=Dude to Diva: How to Become a Drag Queen | The Chronicle |publisher=Dukechronicle.com |access-date=1 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140307024947/http://www.dukechronicle.com/articles/2002/10/03/dude-diva-how-become-drag-queen |archive-date=7 March 2014 |url-status=dead }} Drag queens tend to go for a more exaggerated look with a lot more makeup than a typical woman would wear.

Some people do drag simply as a means of self-expression,{{cite web |url=https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2015/05/drag_queens_find_form_of_self-.html |title=Performing in drag is all about self-expression for some West Michigan men |last=Jackson |first=Angie |date=20 May 2015 |access-date=7 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150523024456/http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2015/05/drag_queens_find_form_of_self-.html |archive-date=23 May 2015 |url-status=live }} but often drag queens (once they have completed a look) will go out to clubs and bars and perform in a "drag show".{{cite news |first=Mark |last=King |url=https://www.theguardian.com/money/2011/aug/12/drag-queen-cookie-monstar |title=A working life: the drag queen | Money |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=1 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131231000856/http://www.theguardian.com/money/2011/aug/12/drag-queen-cookie-monstar |archive-date=31 December 2013 |url-status=live }} Many drag queens dress up for money by doing different shows, but there are also drag queens that have full-time jobs but still enjoy dressing up in drag as a hobby.{{cite web |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-bartolomei/10-myths-about-drag-queens_b_2979249.html |title=Tom Bartolomei: 10 Myths About Drag Queens |publisher=Huffingtonpost.com |date=1 April 2013 |access-date=1 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131231000648/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-bartolomei/10-myths-about-drag-queens_b_2979249.html |archive-date=31 December 2013 |url-status=live }}

Many parts of the drag show, and of the drag queens' other intellectual properties, cannot be protected by intellectual property law. To substitute the lack of legal protection, drag queens revert to social norms in order to protect their intellectual property.{{cite journal|last1=Sarid|first1=Eden|title=Don't Be a Drag, Just Be a Queen – How Drag Queens Protect their Intellectual Property without Law|journal=Florida International University Law Review|date=2014|volume=10|issue=1|url=http://ecollections.law.fiu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1242&context=lawreview|access-date=8 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160416223539/http://ecollections.law.fiu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1242&context=lawreview|archive-date=16 April 2016|url-status=live}}

File:Sofia Pride 2019 Drag Queen.png in Bulgaria, 2019|alt=]]

File:Lorellasukkiarini.jpg]]

A drag show is a piece of entertainment consisting of a variety of songs, monologues or skits featuring either single performers or groups of performers in drag meant to entertain an audience.{{Cite book|last=Newton|first=Esther|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wtBI3fTtZzsC&q=drag+show&pg=PA132|title=Mother Camp: Female Impersonators in America|date=15 May 1979|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-57760-9|pages=132|language=en}} They range from amateur performances at small bars to elaborately staged theatrical presentations.{{Cite book|last=Underwood|first=Lisa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BDTxVpy1CuYC&q=drag+show&pg=PA66|title=The Drag Queen Anthology: The Absolutely Fabulous but Flawlessly Customary World of Female Impersonators|date=11 January 2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-56935-7|language=en}} Many drag shows feature performers singing or lip-synching to songs while performing a pre-planned pantomime, or dancing. The performers often don elaborate costumes and makeup, and sometimes dress to imitate various famous female singers or personalities. Some events are centered around drag, such as Southern Decadence where the majority of festivities are led by the Grand Marshals, who are traditionally drag queens.{{cite web |url=http://www.southerndecadence.net |title=Southern Decadence Official Website |publisher=Southerndecadence.net |date=3 September 2013 |access-date=1 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120902130212/http://www.southerndecadence.net/ |archive-date=2 September 2012 |url-status=live }}

In 2020, the first West End play to feature an all drag cast, Death Drop, launched at the Garrick Theatre in London. Produced by Tuckshop and Trafalgar Entertainment it was written by drag performer Holly Stars and starred Courtney Act, Monet X Change, Latrice Royale, Willam, Holly Stars, Anna Phylactic, LoUis CYfer, Don One, Kemah Bob, Myra Dubois and Vinegar Strokes and was directed by Jesse Jones. The show ran for a number of weeks in November and December 2020 before being closed due to a COVID lockdown in London. The show reopened on 19 May 2021 and ran until its scheduled end date of 11 July 2021. Death Drop received 5-star reviews from many publications including Gay Times{{Cite web|date=2021-05-28|title=Drag Race stars absolutely slay in raucous murder mystery Death Drop - review|url=https://www.gaytimes.co.uk/culture/drag-race-stars-absolutely-slay-in-raucous-murder-mystery-death-drop-review/|access-date=2021-08-11|website=GAY TIMES|language=en-GB|archive-date=19 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210719141909/https://www.gaytimes.co.uk/culture/drag-race-stars-absolutely-slay-in-raucous-murder-mystery-death-drop-review/|url-status=live}} and Attitude magazine{{Cite web|date=2021-05-28|title=Death Drop review: Latrice Royale and Willam star in side-splitting drag murder mystery|url=http://attitude.co.uk/article/death-drop-review-latrice-royale-and-willam-star-in-side-splitting-west-end-murder-mystery-1/25080/|access-date=2021-08-11|website=Attitude.co.uk|language=en|archive-date=11 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210811181614/https://attitude.co.uk/article/death-drop-review-latrice-royale-and-willam-star-in-side-splitting-west-end-murder-mystery-1/25080/|url-status=live}} and was widely celebrated for breaking new ground in theatrical drag performance.{{Cite web|date=2021-06-02|title=REVIEW: DEATH DROP (Garrick Theatre)|url=https://www.westendwilma.com/review-death-drop-garrick-theatre-london-2021/|access-date=2021-08-11|website=West End Wilma|language=en-GB|archive-date=11 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210811181609/https://www.westendwilma.com/review-death-drop-garrick-theatre-london-2021/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|last=Clarendon|first=AuthorEmma|date=2021-05-21|title=REVIEW: Death Drop, Garrick Theatre|url=https://lovelondonloveculture.com/2021/05/21/review-death-drop-garrick-theatre/|access-date=2021-08-11|website=Love London Love Culture|language=en-GB|archive-date=11 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210811181600/https://lovelondonloveculture.com/2021/05/21/review-death-drop-garrick-theatre/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|date=2020-12-11|title=Death Drop review – murder most rollicking with Dragatha Christie|url=http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2020/dec/11/death-drop-review-dragatha-christie-drag-whodunnit|access-date=2021-08-11|website=the Guardian|language=en|archive-date=24 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210824044300/https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2020/dec/11/death-drop-review-dragatha-christie-drag-whodunnit|url-status=live}}

File:Cristal Snow Euroviisuklubissa 2012 (cropped).jpg, Finnish drag artist,{{Cite news |last=Vaarala |first=Noora |date=2020-10-31 |title=Naapuriluokan poikaan ihastunutta Cristal Snow'ta kiusattiin koko kouluaika:"Vieläkin perääni saatetaan huudella Kankaanpäässä" |url=https://www.hs.fi/kulttuuri/art-2000006705733.html |access-date=2021-10-18 |work=Helsingin Sanomat |url-access=subscription |language=fi |archive-date=18 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211018114121/https://www.hs.fi/kulttuuri/art-2000006705733.html |url-status=live }} performing in 2012]]

While some male music celebrities wear exaggerated feminine clothing as part of their show, they are not necessarily drag queens. An example of a band that utilised drag as part of their stage act was the New York Dolls. Similarly, English new wave singer Boy George wears drag queen style clothes and cosmetics; he once stated he was not a drag queen {{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fi6offnQQN0 |title=Boy George: "I'M Not A Dragqueen!" At YouTube |publisher=YouTube.com |date=27 December 2007 |access-date=1 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140626060554/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fi6offnQQN0 |archive-date=26 June 2014 |url-status=live }} but on another occasions he said he was.{{Cite book |last=Boy George |title=Take it like a man |publisher=Sidgwick & Jackson |year=1995 |isbn=0 283 99217 4 |pages=7 ,182, 225}} However, RuPaul is a professional drag queen performer and singer.{{Cite web |title=RuPaul {{!}} Biography, Movies, TV Shows, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/RuPaul |access-date=2023-06-14 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}

Examples of songs where lyrics refer to drag queens:

• "Lola" by The Kinks (or possibly a transgender woman)
• "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" by Aerosmith
• "The Lady Is a Vamp" by Spice Girls
• "Ballad of Cleo and Joe" by Cyndi Lauper
• "King for a Day" by Green Day
• "Cherry Lips" by Garbage
• "Born This Way" by Lady Gaga
• "Verbatim" by Mother Mother
• "He's a Woman, She's a Man" by Scorpions
• "Pretty Lady" by Ke$ha & Detox Icunt
• "Andrew in Drag" by The Magnetic Fields
• "Rise Like a Phoenix" by Conchita Wurst (represented Austria at the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest and won)
• "Divine" by Antony and the Johnsons
• "The End." from the album The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance
• "Drag Queen" by The Strokes
• "LGBT" by cupcaKke
• "C.L.A.T" by Aja, Peppermint, Sasha Velour and Alexis Michelle

Drag queen Don McLean (drag name Lori Shannon){{Cite web|url = http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Drag-queen-Don-McLean-dies-3173277.php|title = Drag queen Don McLean dies|date = 1984|access-date = 19 September 2014|website = SFGate|publisher = Hearst Communications, Inc|archive-date = 31 October 2014|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141031085251/http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Drag-queen-Don-McLean-dies-3173277.php|url-status = live}} appeared in three episodes of the CBS sitcom All in the Family as drag queen Beverly LaSalle: "Archie the Hero" (1975), in which Archie Bunker gives her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, not realizing she is male; "Beverly Rides Again" (1976), in which Archie uses her to play a practical joke on a friend; and "Edith's Crisis of Faith, Part 1" (1977), in which her murder leads Edith Bunker to question her faith in God. The role was noteworthy for its uncommonly respectful and sympathetic treatment of Beverly as a "transvestite".{{Cite web|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/matt-baume-culture-cruise-archie-bunker_n_5d13f7a7e4b0d0a2c0ab649c|title=Here's How 'All In The Family' Depicted Gender Nonconformity In 1975|last=Wong|first=Curtis M.|date=27 June 2019|website=HuffPost|language=en|access-date=16 November 2019|archive-date=12 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191012110903/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/matt-baume-culture-cruise-archie-bunker_n_5d13f7a7e4b0d0a2c0ab649c|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://southfloridagaynews.com/Television/all-in-the-family-kicked-open-doors-for-lgbts-on-television.html|title=All in the Family Kicked Open Doors For LGBTs on Television|last=Nahmod|first=David-Elijah|website=southfloridagaynews.com|language=en-gb|access-date=16 November 2019|archive-date=16 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191116025451/https://southfloridagaynews.com/Television/all-in-the-family-kicked-open-doors-for-lgbts-on-television.html|url-status=live}}

British entertainer Paul O'Grady was a staple of light entertainment and variety shows on UK television from the early 80s to the mid 90s playing the drag persona Lily Savage: an over the top, glamorous diva character for comedic effect.{{Cite news |last=writers |first=Guardian |date=2023-03-29 |title='I'm Lily Savage, the blonde bombsite' – the genius of Paul O'Grady, by Suzy Eddie Izzard, Russell T Davies and more |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/mar/29/lily-savage-paul-ogrady-eddie-izzard-russell-t-davies-blonde-bombsite |access-date=2024-02-23 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}

CODCO was a Canadian sketch comedy series which aired on CBC Television from 1988 to 1993;[http://www.museum.tv/eotv/codco.htm CODCO] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170426174139/http://www.museum.tv/eotv/codco.htm |date=26 April 2017 }} at the Museum of Broadcast Communication. two of its actors, Tommy Sexton and Greg Malone, were especially renowned for drag-based impersonations of celebrity women such as Queen Elizabeth, Barbara Frum, Barbara Walters, Tammy Faye Bakker and Margaret Thatcher. In one famous sketch, Malone as Frum moderated a debate between Andy Jones as a gay teacher who had been fired from his job for testing HIV-positive and Sexton as Clarabelle Otterhead, the president of an anti-gay lobby group called Citizens Outraged by Weird Sex (or COWS).[http://www.thetelegram.com/Entertainment/2009-12-21/article-1442161/Queens-pay-tribute-to-clown-prince/1 "Queens pay tribute to clown prince"] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130411232805/http://www.thetelegram.com/Entertainment/2009-12-21/article-1442161/Queens-pay-tribute-to-clown-prince/1 |date=11 April 2013 }}. The Telegram, 21 December 2009.

Drag queen Amnesia Sparkles tried out for American Idol in 2002.{{Cite web|url=https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/one-drag-queens-mission-to-help-get-other-men-183340614.html|title=One Drag Queen's Mission: To Help Get Other Men Into Lipstick and Heels|date=29 March 2016|website=Yahoo Life}}

What Would You Do?, airing since early 2008, has had episodes featuring drag queens.{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/WhatWouldYouDo/video/parents-disapprove-drag-queen-sons-eat-56275264|title=Video: What Would You Do: Parents disapprove of their drag queen son's look while out to eat|author=|website=ABC News|access-date=2 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180702204917/https://abcnews.go.com/WhatWouldYouDo/video/parents-disapprove-drag-queen-sons-eat-56275264|archive-date=2 July 2018|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/WhatWouldYouDo/drag-queens-harassed-cafe/story?id=12332984|title=Drag Queens Harassed: What Would You Do?|date=6 July 2011|website=ABC News|access-date=2 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180702204755/https://abcnews.go.com/WhatWouldYouDo/drag-queens-harassed-cafe/story?id=12332984|archive-date=2 July 2018|url-status=live}}

In mid-2008, RuPaul began producing RuPaul's Drag Race, a reality television game show which began airing in February 2009. The premise of the program has several drag queens compete to be selected by RuPaul and a panel of judges as "America's next drag superstar". It inspired the similar spin-off shows RuPaul's Drag U and RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars, as well as the international franchise editions Drag Race Thailand, The Switch Drag Race (Chile), RuPaul's Drag Race UK, Canada's Drag Race, Drag Race Holland, Drag Race España, RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under, Drag Race France, Drag Race Philippines among many others.

In 2018, American Idol featured a drag queen, Adam Sanders (drag name Ada Vox) as one of its contestants.{{cite web |url=https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/entertainment/a20054917/ada-vox-american-idol-facts/ |title=Facts About Ada Vox From "American Idol" You Need to Know |publisher=Goodhousekeeping.com |date=25 April 2018 |access-date=1 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180527104503/https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/entertainment/a20054917/ada-vox-american-idol-facts/ |archive-date=27 May 2018 |url-status=live }} He made it to the top ten.

In 2018, Celebrity Big Brother featured Queen Shane Jenek (drag name Courtney Act) as one of its contestants, placing first in the season with 49.43% of the public vote.{{Cite news|url=http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/celebrity-big-brother/news/a849084/courtney-act-winner-celebrity-big-brother-2018/|title=Courtney Act crowned winner of Celebrity Big Brother|date=2 February 2018|work=Digital Spy|access-date=14 August 2018|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180814170051/http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/celebrity-big-brother/news/a849084/courtney-act-winner-celebrity-big-brother-2018/|archive-date=14 August 2018|url-status=live}}{{Citation needed|date=June 2023|reason=49% is not in source}}

Also in 2018, So You Think You Can Dance featured Jay Jackson (drag name Laganja Estranja) as one of its contestants.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/pride/8459292/laganja-estranja-sytycd-drag-race |title='Drag Race' Star Laganja Estranja Shows Off Sickening Moves on 'So You Think You Can Dance' |magazine=Billboard |date=4 June 2018 |access-date=8 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180613082449/https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/pride/8459292/laganja-estranja-sytycd-drag-race |archive-date=13 June 2018 |url-status=live }}

The Netflix show Dancing Queen, also released in 2018, starred Justin Johnson (drag name Alyssa Edwards) and his dance studio, Beyond Belief Dance Company.{{Cite web|url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwtv/article/Drag-Superstar-Alyssa-Edwards-to-Star-in-Docu-Series-DANCING-QUEEN-on-Netflix-20180822|title=Drag Superstar Alyssa Edwards to Star in Docu-Series DANCING QUEEN on Netflix|author=|website=BroadwayWorld.com|language=en|access-date=8 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180822214343/https://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwtv/article/Drag-Superstar-Alyssa-Edwards-to-Star-in-Docu-Series-DANCING-QUEEN-on-Netflix-20180822|archive-date=22 August 2018|url-status=live}}

A 2018 episode of The Simpsons, titled "Werking Mom", featured many drag queens, including cameos from RuPaul and Raja (the season three winner of RuPaul's Drag Race).{{Cite web|url=https://www.gaystarnews.com/article/simpsons-drag-queen-episode/|title=RuPaul, Raja and Mr Smithers team up in drag queen Simpsons episode|first=James|last=Besanvalle|date=19 November 2018|website=Gay Star News|access-date=27 March 2020|archive-date=27 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200327014937/https://www.gaystarnews.com/article/simpsons-drag-queen-episode/|url-status=live}}

Gingzilla, also known as Ben Hudson and the "Glamonster", an Australian drag queen, appeared on The X Factor in 2018, and America's Got Talent in 2019.{{Cite web |title=Bearded Drag Queen Slays 'She's a Lady' on 'America's Got Talent' |url=https://www.advocate.com/television/2019/5/24/bearded-drag-queen-slays-shes-lady-americas-got-talent |access-date=2023-10-01 |website=www.advocate.com |language=en |archive-date=3 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221003090633/https://www.advocate.com/television/2019/5/24/bearded-drag-queen-slays-shes-lady-americas-got-talent |url-status=live }}

Dragnificent! is a television series on the American network TLC. The show started as a special branded as Drag Me Down the Aisle which aired on 9 March 2019.{{cite web |author1=Us Weekly Staff |title=4 Drag Queens Will Help a Bride-to-Be Feel Confident in Her Skin on TLC's New Wedding Special |url=https://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/drag-me-down-the-aisle-4-drag-queens-help-a-bride-to-be/ |website=Us Weekly |access-date=12 April 2020 |date=12 February 2019 |archive-date=30 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200730033535/https://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/drag-me-down-the-aisle-4-drag-queens-help-a-bride-to-be/ |url-status=live }} It features Alexis Michelle, BeBe Zahara Benet, Jujubee, and Thorgy Thor, four drag queens who are all RuPaul's Drag Race alumnae, helping an engaged woman to plan her upcoming wedding.{{Cite web|url=https://www.newsweek.com/who-drag-me-down-aisle-cast-meet-four-drag-queens-who-will-save-wedding-three-1356656|title=Who is the 'Drag Me Down the Aisle' cast? Meet the leading drag queens with all the answers|last=Wynne|first=Kelly|date=8 March 2019|website=Newsweek|language=en|access-date=29 March 2019|archive-date=30 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200730024316/https://www.newsweek.com/who-drag-me-down-aisle-cast-meet-four-drag-queens-who-will-save-wedding-three-1356656|url-status=live}} On 15 January 2020, TLC announced that it had given a full season run to Dragnificent!, a new show to be based on the Drag Me Down the Aisle special.{{cite web |last1=Corinthios |first1=Aurelie |title=4 Beloved Drag Queens Help Fans with Life-Changing Makeovers in TLC's Dragnificent! |url=https://people.com/tv/tlc-dragnificent-series-premiere-trailer-exclusive/ |website=People |access-date=12 April 2020 |date=15 January 2020 |archive-date=16 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200116134656/https://people.com/tv/tlc-dragnificent-series-premiere-trailer-exclusive/ |url-status=live }} The series premiered on 19 April 2020.

The Netflix show AJ and the Queen, released in 2020, followed "Ruby Red, a bigger-than-life but down-on-her-luck drag queen [played by RuPaul] who travels across America from club to club in a rundown 1990s R/V with her unlikely sidekick AJ, a recently orphaned, tough-talking, scrappy ten-year-old stowaway. As the two misfits travel from city to city, Ruby's message of love and acceptance winds up touching people and changing their lives for the better."{{cite web |last1=Andreeva |first1=Nellie |last2=Petski |first2=Denise |title=RuPaul Comedy Series 'AJ And The Queen' Set On Netflix From Michael Patrick King |url=https://deadline.com/2018/05/rupaul-comedy-series-aj-and-the-queen-netflix-series-order-michael-patrick-king-1202388420/ |website=Deadline Hollywood |access-date=11 May 2018 |date=11 May 2018 |archive-date=11 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180511232356/http://deadline.com/2018/05/rupaul-comedy-series-aj-and-the-queen-netflix-series-order-michael-patrick-king-1202388420/ |url-status=live }}{{Citation|title=AJ and the Queen: Season 1|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/aj_and_the_queen/s01|language=en|access-date=16 January 2020|archive-date=11 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200111011311/https://rottentomatoes.com/tv/aj_and_the_queen/s01|url-status=live}}

In 2020 RuPaul became the first drag queen to host Saturday Night Live, though he was not in drag at the time.{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/saturday-night-live-rupaul-pete-davidson-chad-drag-watch-1203497783/|title='Saturday Night Live': RuPaul Teaches Pete Davidson About the Art of Drag (Watch)|first1=Danielle|last1=Turchiano|date=9 February 2020|access-date=28 June 2020|archive-date=9 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200609074034/https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/saturday-night-live-rupaul-pete-davidson-chad-drag-watch-1203497783/|url-status=live}}

In 2020-21 British drag queen Holly Stars wrote and performed in two seasons of a mockumentary series, Holly Stars: Inspirational, broadcast on OutTV,{{Cite web|title=Holly Stars: Inspirational|url=https://outtv.ca/show/holly-stars-inspirational/|access-date=2021-08-11|website=OUTtv|language=en-US|archive-date=11 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210811165631/https://outtv.ca/show/holly-stars-inspirational/|url-status=live}}

Queen of the Universe, a drag queen singing competition television series hosted by Graham Norton with four pop music judges, premiered on Paramount+ on 2 December 2021.{{cite web |last1=Del Rosario |first1=Alexandra |title='Queen Of The Universe': RuPaul To EP Paramount+ Drag Singing Competition, International Contestants Unveiled |url=https://deadline.com/2021/11/queen-of-the-universe-rupaul-ep-paramount-drag-singing-competition-international-contestants-unveiled-1234871478/ |website=Deadline |access-date=11 November 2021 |date=10 November 2021 |archive-date=10 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211110195429/https://deadline.com/2021/11/queen-of-the-universe-rupaul-ep-paramount-drag-singing-competition-international-contestants-unveiled-1234871478/ |url-status=live }} On 23 June 2023, the series was canceled after two seasons.{{cite web|title='Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies', 'Star Trek: Prodigy', 'The Game' & 'Queen of the Universe' Canceled At Paramount+ As Streamer Pulls Shows From Service & Takes Content Write-Down|website=Deadline Hollywood|first=Peter|last=White|date=23 June 2023|access-date=23 June 2023|url=https://deadline.com/2023/06/grease-rise-of-the-pink-ladies-star-trek-prodigy-the-game-queen-of-the-universe-canceled-paramount-1235423451/|archive-date=23 June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230623181122/https://deadline.com/2023/06/grease-rise-of-the-pink-ladies-star-trek-prodigy-the-game-queen-of-the-universe-canceled-paramount-1235423451/|url-status=live}}

{{globalize|section|US|date=April 2024}}

While drag queens are entertainers, they play a role in educating people on gender roles and stereotyping. Professor Stephen Schacht of Plattsburgh State University of New York began introducing his and his students' experiences of attending a drag show to his gender/sexualities class to challenge his students' ideas of dichotomy. Over time he began inviting students to attend with him. He gathered from his students that after attending the drag show they had a new appreciation for gender and sexuality and often become very vocal about their new experiences in the classroom.{{cite journal|title=Browse journals by subject |journal=Journal of Homosexuality |volume=46 |issue=3–4 |pages=225–240 |doi=10.1300/J082v46n03_14 |pmid=15132493 |year = 2004|last1 = Schacht|first1 = Steven P.|s2cid=38596592 }}

Nina West, Drag Race season eleven contestant and winner of Miss Congeniality, and producer of Drag Is Magic, an EP of children's music about the art form, says she hopes to inspire them to "dream big, be kind, and be their perfect selves."{{Cite web|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/nina-west-drag-is-magic-video_n_5ce30897e4b075a35a2bd851|title=Nina West Of 'RuPaul's Drag Race' Wants Kids To Feel 'Loved And Seen' With New Video|last=Wong|first=Curtis M.|date=21 May 2019|website=HuffPost|language=en|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190908171245/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/nina-west-drag-is-magic-video_n_5ce30897e4b075a35a2bd851|archive-date=8 September 2019|access-date=9 September 2019}} West feels the art form is "an opportunity for children to get creative and think outside the boxes us silly adults have crafted for them." Marti Gould Cummings said something similar when a video of them performing "Baby Shark" at a drag brunch event went viral.{{Cite web|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/baby-shark-drag-queen-brunch_n_5c893c7ee4b038892f49caa9|title=Drag Queen Performs 'Baby Shark' At 2-Year-Old's Request, And It's Delightful|last=Wong|first=Curtis M.|date=19 March 2019|website=HuffPost|language=en|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190614202754/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/baby-shark-drag-queen-brunch_n_5c893c7ee4b038892f49caa9|archive-date=14 June 2019|access-date=9 September 2019}} "Anyone who thinks drag isn't for children is wrong," said Cummings, "Drag is expression, and children are such judgment-free beings; they don't really care what you're wearing, just what you're performing." As of May 2019, the video has been viewed over 806,000 times.

West responded to critics who question if children are too young to experience drag, saying "Drag is an opportunity for anyone – including and especially children – to reconsider the masks we are all forced to wear daily." West added, "Children are inundated with implicit imagery from media about what is 'boy' and what is 'girl.' And I believe that almost all kids are really less concerned about playing with a toy that's supposedly aligned to their gender, and more concerned with playing with toys that speak to them."

John Casey, an adjunct professor at Wagner College in New York City, posits in The Advocate,{{Blockquote|"[Drag queens] are incredibly talented, and they are trying to live their lives, and in the process, brighten the lives of those around them. That's the message parents should be communicating to their kids, at any age. It's all about acceptance and being loved for who you are."{{Cite web|url=https://www.advocate.com/commentary/2019/9/17/exposing-kids-drag-isnt-abuse|title=Exposing Kids to Drag Isn't Abuse|last=Casey|first=John|date=September 17, 2019|website=The Advocate|language=en|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190921225932/https://www.advocate.com/commentary/2019/9/17/exposing-kids-drag-isnt-abuse|archive-date=September 21, 2019|access-date=September 19, 2019}}}}

Separately from kids watching drag, the phenomena of drag kids is relatively recent,{{vague|date=January 2023}} The New York Times in September 2019 published a guess that a there are about a hundred children who do drag in the U.S., with Desmond is Amazing being the one with the most followers.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/07/style/self-care/drag-kids-desmond-the-amazing.html|title=Sashaying Their Way Through Youth|last=Hines|first=Alice|date=7 September 2019|work=The New York Times|access-date=9 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190909054506/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/07/style/self-care/drag-kids-desmond-the-amazing.html|archive-date=9 September 2019|url-status=live}} The mainstream access to drag queens on television exponentially increased in 2009 when RuPaul's Drag Race started airing.{{Cite news |date=2017-05-04 |title=How RuPaul's Drag Race Pushed Glamour Mainstream |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/photo-essays/2017-05-04/how-rupaul-s-drag-race-pushed-glamour-mainstream |access-date=2024-02-23 |work=Bloomberg.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Framke |first=Caroline |date=2017-06-26 |title=The phenomenon of RuPaul's Drag Race — and what it means for teen culture |url=https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/6/26/15845792/rupauls-drag-race-season-9-teen-fanbase |access-date=2024-02-23 |website=Vox |language=en}}

However, as of 2022, exposing kids to drag has become somewhat controversial. Lawmakers in states such as Arizona, Florida, and Texas are attempting to ban minors from attending drag shows and punish parents who expose their kids to drag.{{Cite news |last=Barco |first=Mandalit del |date=2022-06-16 |title=Some lawmakers hope to crack down on drag shows watched by children |language=en |work=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/2022/06/16/1105544325/drag-shows-children |access-date=2022-11-19 |archive-date=10 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230510005848/https://www.npr.org/2022/06/16/1105544325/drag-shows-children |url-status=live }} These attempts to ban minors from watching drag are based on allegations of drag being a form of perversion and hyper-sexualization. Some have argued that these accusations are the same that were leveled against homosexual men since the lavender scare of the 1950s.{{Cite web |last=Tensley |first=Brandon |date=2022-10-27 |title=How age-old homophobic language is being used to miseducate voters |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/27/us/rhetoric-lgbtq-midterms-race-deconstructed-newsletter-reaj/index.html |access-date=2023-06-21 |website=CNN |language=en}}{{cite web |last=Jones |first=Timothy W. |date=2023-05-16 |title=Calling drag queens 'groomers' and 'pedophiles' is the latest in a long history of weaponising those terms against the LGBTIQA community |url=http://theconversation.com/calling-drag-queens-groomers-and-pedophiles-is-the-latest-in-a-long-history-of-weaponising-those-terms-against-the-lgbtiqa-community-205648 |access-date=2023-06-21 |website=The Conversation}} Those who disagree with the accusations have argued that drag queens provide a safe and creative environment for young children, especially LGBTQ+ children, and are a source of both education and entertainment.

In December 2015, Radar Productions and Michelle Tea developed the concept of Drag Queen Story Hour.{{cite news |last1=Lamarche |first1=Una |date=19 May 2017 |title=Drag Queen Story Hour Puts the Rainbow in Reading |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/19/style/drag-queen-story-hour-puts-the-rainbow-in-reading.html |url-status=live |access-date=22 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701150324/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/19/style/drag-queen-story-hour-puts-the-rainbow-in-reading.html |archive-date=1 July 2017}} Launched at the San Francisco Public Library, Drag Queen Story Hour was adopted by the Brooklyn Public Library in the summer of 2016, and has since traveled to various libraries, museums, bookstores, recreation centers, and parks across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.{{cite web |title=About Drag Queen Story Hour |url=https://www.dragqueenstoryhour.org/#about |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170602104444/https://www.dragqueenstoryhour.org/#about |archive-date=2 June 2017 |access-date=22 June 2017 |website=Drag Queen Story Hour – drag queens reading stories to children in libraries, schools, and bookstores |publisher=Drag Queen Story Hour}}

Such events sometimes prompt opposition against the libraries and organizers.{{cite web |last=Kuga |first=Mitchell |date=15 November 2018 |title=Some Libraries Are Facing Backlash Against LGBT Programs – And Holding Their Ground |url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/mitchellkuga/librarians-drag-queen-story-hour-lgbt-safe-spaces |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190621041117/https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/mitchellkuga/librarians-drag-queen-story-hour-lgbt-safe-spaces |archive-date=21 June 2019 |access-date=21 June 2019 |website=BuzzFeed News}}{{cite web |date=1 June 2019 |title=Drag Queen Storytime Held at Fall River Library Despite Protests |url=https://boston.cbslocal.com/2019/06/01/drag-queen-storytime-protests-fall-river-library-kids/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190621041130/https://boston.cbslocal.com/2019/06/01/drag-queen-storytime-protests-fall-river-library-kids/ |archive-date=21 June 2019 |access-date=21 June 2019 |website=WBZ – CBS Boston}} In one instance in California, men belonging to the far-right group known as the Proud Boys arrived in a group and disrupted the event by shouting homophobic and transphobic phrases at the crowd. The County Sheriff's Office opened a hate crime investigation into the incident due to the nature of the disruption. Proud Boys sometimes bring guns for intimidation purposes.{{Cite web |title=Proud Boys Terrorize Drag Queen Story Hour in Nevada |url=https://www.advocate.com/news/2022/6/30/proud-boys-terrorize-drag-queen-story-hour-nevada |access-date=2023-06-20 |website=www.advocate.com}} Some leftist groups, such as the Elm Fork John Brown Gun Club, organize armed counter protests to keep protesters out of the building. This usually leads to the presence of police to ensure both groups don't harm each other.{{cite news |last=Pengelly |first=Martin |orig-date=30 August 2022 |title=Armed left and rightwing protesters face off at 'drag brunch' in Texas |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/aug/30/texas-drag-brunch-armed-protesters-roanoke |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230611221411/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/aug/30/texas-drag-brunch-armed-protesters-roanoke |archive-date=2023-06-11 |access-date=2023-06-20 |work=The Guardian|date=30 August 2022 }}

Drag has come to be a celebrated and important aspect of modern gay life, but has also been criticized for degrading women.[https://thecritic.co.uk/how-drag-degrades-women/ Article] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221024095225/https://thecritic.co.uk/how-drag-degrades-women/ |date=24 October 2022 }} by Dr Em in The Critic 2022-02-25 In the era of second-wave feminism some women "were angry and appalled by what they perceived as the charade of femininity expressed by some drag queens and transsexual women."{{cite book |last=Rudacille |first=Deborah |author-link=Deborah Rudacille |date=2005 |title=The Riddle of Gender: Science, Activism and Transgender Rights |location=New York |publisher=Pantheon Books |pages=162–163 |isbn=0375421629}} These critics compared drag to blackface and saw it "as a kind of gender minstrel."

Many gay bars and clubs around the world hold drag shows as regular events or for special parties. Several "International Drag Day" holidays have been started over the years to promote the shows. In the United States, Drag Day is typically celebrated in early March.

A televised drag competition, RuPaul's Drag Race, is the most successful program on the Logo television network. In 2016, the show won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program.{{cite web|url=http://www.emmys.com/shows/rupauls-drag-race|title=RuPaul's Drag Race|website=Television Academy|access-date=28 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160928150709/http://www.emmys.com/shows/rupauls-drag-race|archive-date=28 September 2016|url-status=live}} In 2018, the show became the first show to win a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program and a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program in the same year.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/pride/8475768/rupauls-drag-race-emmys-win-reaction-tweets |title='RuPaul's Drag Race's Emmys Win: See The Best Reactions |magazine=Billboard |access-date=19 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180919155810/https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/pride/8475768/rupauls-drag-race-emmys-win-reaction-tweets |archive-date=19 September 2018 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=https://www.emmys.com/awards/nominees-winners/2018/outstanding-host-for-a-reality-or-reality-competition-program |title=Nominees/Winners | Television Academy |publisher=Emmys.com |access-date=19 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180919070811/http://www.emmys.com/awards/nominees-winners/2018/outstanding-host-for-a-reality-or-reality-competition-program |archive-date=19 September 2018 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=https://www.emmys.com/awards/nominees-winners/2018/outstanding-reality-competition-program |title=Nominees/Winners | Television Academy |publisher=Emmys.com |access-date=19 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180919211627/https://www.emmys.com/awards/nominees-winners/2018/outstanding-reality-competition-program |archive-date=19 September 2018 |url-status=live }}

RuPaul received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the television industry on 16 March 2018, making him the first drag queen to be given such an award.{{cite news |url=https://www.cnn.com/2017/06/23/entertainment/hollywood-walk-fame-2018/index.html |title=Hollywood Walk of Fame Class of 2018 revealed |last=France |first=Lisa Respers |date=23 June 2017 |website=CNN |access-date=21 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180222104813/https://www.cnn.com/2017/06/23/entertainment/hollywood-walk-fame-2018/index.html |archive-date=22 February 2018 |url-status=live }}{{cite web|url=https://www.vogue.com/article/rupaul-hollywood-walk-of-fame|title=RuPaul Is the First Drag Queen to Get a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame|date=17 March 2018|access-date=19 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180318054608/https://www.vogue.com/article/rupaul-hollywood-walk-of-fame|archive-date=18 March 2018|url-status=live}}

A moral panic called drag panic has emerged in the United States in relation to drag queen performers. It alleges that contact between children and drag queens would involve drag queens attempting to molest them or indoctrinate them into the "queer way of life".{{cite web |last=Tannehill |first=Brynn |date=12 January 2023 |title=The Moral Panic We Cannot Ignore |url=https://www.damemagazine.com/2023/01/12/the-moral-panic-trans-backlash/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414152941/https://www.damemagazine.com/2023/01/12/the-moral-panic-trans-backlash/ |archive-date=14 April 2023 |access-date=14 April 2023 |website=Dame Magazine |language=en-US}} This moral panic has also been linked to the LGBT grooming conspiracy theory, also from the United States.{{Cite web |last=Romano |first=Aja |date=2022-04-21 |title=The right's moral panic over "grooming" invokes age-old homophobia |url=https://www.vox.com/culture/23025505/leftist-groomers-homophobia-satanic-panic-explained |access-date=2023-05-16 |website=Vox |language=en |archive-date=17 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230517125930/https://www.vox.com/culture/23025505/leftist-groomers-homophobia-satanic-panic-explained |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=Empson |first=Olivia |date=2023-03-23 |title=Drag storytellers grapple with growing threats by Republicans and far right |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/23/us-drag-storytellers-face-growing-threats |access-date=2023-05-16 |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=16 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230516090018/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/23/us-drag-storytellers-face-growing-threats |url-status=live }}

{{div col|colwidth=25em}}

• Crossplay (cosplay)
• Finocchio's Club
• Imperial Court System
• Köçek
• List of drag queens
• List of drag queens from New York City
• List of transgender-related topics
• Pansy Craze
• Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence
• The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
• The Pink Mirror

{{div col end}}

{{reflist|group=nb}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite journal|author=Horowitz, Katie R.|title=The Trouble with "Queerness": Drag and the Making of Two Cultures |journal=Signs|volume=38|issue=2|date=Winter 2013|pages=303–326|jstor=10.1086/667199|doi=10.1086/667199|s2cid=147280045 |url=http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/8jn2c44k }} – [https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/667199 10.1086/667199]

{{Commons}}

{{wiktionary|female impersonator}}

{{wiktionary|drag queen}}

• [https://www.queermusicheritage.com/drag.html Drag Artist Discography (information and discography with historical references and photos) of drag artists & female impersonators]
• [https://www.solarispictures.com The Pink Mirror – a film on Indian drag queens] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221120034137/http://www.solarispictures.com/ |date=20 November 2022 }}

{{LGBTQ|culture=expanded}}

{{Drag performance}}

Category:Drag (entertainment)

Category:Female impersonators

Category:Gay effeminacy

Category:Performance art

Category:Popular culture language

Category:Sexuality-related lists