“To many, the stereotypical image of a drag queen is one of a gay man dressed in exaggerated feminine getup, oversized wigs and heavy makeup. But drag’s image — and history — is far more complex.
Drag is a grand dame in a glittering gown, commanding the stage with a power ballad or disco classic. Drag is also an underground performer twirling onstage to Madonna’s “Papa Don’t Preach.”
It’s the glitzy cast of “RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars” and small-town performers with dedicated local followings. It’s a queen named Meatball dressed as a ghoulish exaggeration of George Santos, singing the “Greatest Showman” anthem “This is Me,” and a king named Mo B. Dick in a firetruck-red pompadour and drawn-on goatee. It’s cisgender and trans men, trans and cis women and nonbinary people. Its performers are gay and straight. It’s masculine and feminine; it’s neither or both…”
