History of Drag

Men dressing as women is a phenomenon that has been around for a long time, dating back to ancient roman literature and classical Chinese theater. Since women were banned from performing on stage, men had to perform all the roles, this is very notable in Shakespearean theater, when younger, feminine looking men would play the female roles in the plays.

It is difficult to know where the word 'drag' originated from, from 1870s theater slang to the German word 'tragen' but it is also known as a abbreviation for 'dressed as a girl'. The word queen was once considered a more derogatory term for a gay man and has been around since the 18th Century. Since then the word has been reclaimed in a more positive sense. Drag queens as they're known today started in the 1950s and 60s but didn't flourish and become popular until the 1980s and 90s at the time that gay culture started to develop. Although a drag queen isn't necessarily a gay man and someones sexuality shouldn't be determined by the act, the acceptance of drag queen came about with the acceptance of the LGBT community.

In the 1950s and 60s drag was very underground and in some places was a criminal offence. However with the sexual freedom of the 1960s, the late 60s saw the LGBT community fighting back against society, starting with the Stonewall riots. These were a series of violent demonstrations by the gay community against police raids that took place at the Stonewall Inn New York. The Stonewall Inn was popular with the poorest and most oppressed people in the gay community including Drag Queens and transgender people. Within two months of the riots, two gay activist rights groups were formed in New York.

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 RuPaul is one of the most famous modern drag queens and is an actor, model, drag artist, author and singer. She runs the extremely popular reality television show RuPaul's drag race, looking to find the next big drag act in the USA

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The Lady bunny is an American drag queen, nightclub DJ, promoter and founder of the annual wigstock event. She has also appeared in movies such as Party Girl

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Chad Michaels is an American drag performer and was known as a Cher impersinator, even getting to perform with Cher. She was the runner of RuPaul's drag race season 4 and the winner of RuPaul's all star drag race.

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Nina Flowers is a Puetro Rican drag queen, DJ, activist, professional makeup artist and reality TV personality who has been performing since 1993