![]() ![]() ![]() (The fight was also one of the first known instances of violent resistance in the name of LGBTQ rights.) Thirteen Black Men Dressed as Women Surprised at Supper and Arrested.” According to another news account, more than a dozen escaped as the officers barged in and Swann tried to stop them, boldly telling the police lieutenant in charge, “You is no gentleman.” In the ensuing brawl, the Queen’s “gorgeous dress of cream-colored satin” was torn to shreds. The headline leaped off the page: “Negro Dive Raided. My research on Swann began 15 years ago, when I stumbled upon a Washington Post article from April 13, 1888. When I tell people that I’m writing a book about the life of a former slave who reigned over a secret world of drag balls in Washington, DC, in the 1880s, the looks of shock, delight, and even confusion on their faces tell me all I need to know. This, too, was a historic act: it made Swann the earliest recorded American to take specific legal and political steps to defend the queer community’s right to gather without the threat of criminalization, suppression, or police violence. In 1896, after being convicted and sentenced to ten months in jail, on the false charge of “keeping a disorderly house”-a euphemism for running a brothel-Swann demanded (and was denied) a pardon from President Grover Cleveland for holding a drag ball. But beginning in the 1880s, he not only became the first American activist to lead a queer resistance group, he also became, in the same decade, the first known person to dub himself a “queen of drag”-or, more familiarly, a drag queen. Born in Maryland in 1860, Swann endured slavery, the Civil War, racism, police surveillance, torture behind bars, and many other injustices. To learn in more depth about what it means to be transgender, start at our one-page resource: Understanding Transgender People: The Basics.H is name was William Dorsey Swann, but to his friends he was known as “the Queen.” Both of those names had been forgotten for nearly a century before I rediscovered them while researching at Columbia University. NCTE works to end violence against all people who face bias because of their gender presentation and/or identity. Like transgender people, drag performers can experience discrimination and harassment because of their gender expression. If you’re not sure, for example, of which pronouns to use when referring to someone, just ask. ![]() It can be hurtful to refer to a transgender person’s presentation as drag, because it suggests that their deeply held identity is just a show they are putting on-which is untrue.īeing respectful of a drag performer’s gender is the same as being respectful of anyone else’s gender. Just as the vast majority of the general population does not do drag, most transgender people also are not drag performers. It is an important part of their identity, and can be a critical part of affirming their gender identity.ĭon’t assume that someone in drag is transgender, or vice versa. On the other hand, when a transgender person comes out and asks people to use a different name and different gender pronouns to refer to them, it is not part of a performance. Drag performers are artists and entertainers, so being in drag is not an integral part of their identity in the same way that gender is. Just as actors do not keep being referred to by their characters’ names after stepping offstage, drag performers do not necessarily keep the names or pronouns they use while performing. This persona will of course look different, but may also have a different name and ask to be referred to by different gender pronouns. Many drag kings are women, but people of any gender can be drag kings as well.Īs part of their performance, many drag queens and kings have a separate drag persona in addition to the self they live as every day. Drag kings, who wear men’s clothing and perform stylized forms of masculinity, are less common, but do exist. While some drag queens live their lives as men outside of their drag personae, people of any gender can be drag queens. Today, many prominent drag artists are still people who identify as men and present themselves in exaggeratedly feminine ways as part of their performance, and are known as drag queens. The term originated as British theater slang in the 19th century and was used to describe women’s clothing worn by men. Drag is a type of entertainment where people dress up and perform, often in highly stylized ways. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |