The history of drag queens as an art form dat back to theater and earlier, even before was associated wh the gay muny.
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RACG TO PRERVE THE HISTORY OF MAE’S 1ST GAY RIGHTS ANIZATN
by Alex Masse, Peak Associate It’s LGBT History Month. For many, the history of the queer muny is marked by a small number of major events, like the Stonewall rts, the AIDS epimic, and the legalizatn of gay marriage Ameri and Canada. But queer history is much more expansive than that, and ntu to… * drag queen lgbt history *
It soon beme a way for men (often gay men, although plenty of heterosexual men wear drag as well) to exprs a different si of themselv, over-exaggeratg feme looks, style and body language to create a persona. Otherwise known as gentleman’s servant John Cooper, Serapha was seen as the untry’s first drag queen, that she was part of John’s daily life rather than an actg was a regular sight molly ho, the equivalent of a gay bar.
Even though men uld be hung at the time if found participatg homosexual acts (three were 1726, followg a raid on a molly hoe), there are no reports of Serapha ever beg arrted or treated wh mistst. While there was a tolerance, even celebratn of drag and LGBT people the USA durg the 1920s and early '30s (known as the 'pansy craze'), Amerin society beme more reactnary the mid-1930s, amid fears surroundg sex crime, which had a negative impact on the way drag was the Send World War, although homosexualy was still owned upon by society as a whole - even illegal some s - there were still drag acts who broke through the negativy and had succsful reers. Elegant tip-to to the mastreamThe Stonewall Rt of 1969 saw drag queens, most notably Marsha P Johnson, prott agast police raids on gay bars New York Cy and led to the creatn of the Gay Liberatn fight for acceptance and equaly grew profile over the 1970s and 1980s, wh Harvey Milk beg the first openly gay man to be voted to public office San Francis ’s Drag Race is a global posive reprentatn gradually bled through to the mastream.
To many, the stereotypil image of a drag queen is one of a gay man drsed exaggerated feme getup, oversized wigs and heavy makp. The term “homosexualy” me to greater circulatn the ’30s, Jefeys said, as did “pansy acts” – hyper-feme queens whose rout clud nuendos about same-sex sire.
Steve Bull once raced agast time to try to save the memoirs of one of Mae's gay rights pneers. His trip led him down memory lane. * drag queen lgbt history *
Police regularly raid gay bars the US – until the late ‘60s, Jefeys said, was illegal for bars New York to serve a drk to a “known homosexual. Queens found their own drag ho – and chosen fai the procs; for many Black and Lato queer and trans people this was a reactn to the racism they faced wh the gay pageant scene. As drag grew populary the ’60s and beyond, many trans women found themselv performg bee rampant transphobia and homophobia ma difficult to fd other work.
And yet, even wh the LGBTQ muny, trans women who performed drag were often ostracized, particularly among some cisgenr gay drag queens, acrdg to Esther Newton, an anthropologist who thored the semal 1979 book “Mother Camp” about Midwtern drag queens. For many, the history of the queer muny is marked by a small number of major events, like the Stonewall rts, the AIDS epimic, and the legalizatn of gay marriage Ameri and Canada. Somehow, the art form is simultaneoly alive and well, yet horribly misunrstood by most of the cisgenr heterosexual populatn, and even some queer folks themselv, bee they only know as a homophobic or transphobic punchle.
Though most drag queens are gay men and queer men, some are transgenr and cisgenr women. After the famo 1969 Stonewall rts New York Cy through the early 1990s, gay pri and gay culture were regnized, and so was the drag culture.
* drag queen lgbt history *
As said before, drag queens are maly gay men, drsg like women while performg. After Stonewall, Johnson -- who intified as gay and a "transvte" durg her lifetime but is nsired a mother of the trans rights movement -- helped found the Street Transvte Actn Revolutnari to advote for trans people years before other anizatns did. Johnson, she beme an early activist wh the Gay Liberatn Front wh weeks.