there is a lot of exclusionary and divisive trans discourse on this website these days in the midst of it all it can be hard for some people to remember we are all one community so im taking some time out today to make a shout out specifically to drag royalty
✨drag culture positivity✨
lets talk about the history of drag!!! drag is fundamentally trans
long before the term transgender was coined and even before the term transsexual was coined the term transvestite was coined and the trans community slowly grew over time from the 20-80s it was explicitly a community for transvestites and transsexuals (transsexual was coined in the 60s) but it was HEAVILY segregated across social class and racial lines
the people who got official diagnoses could afford hormones and surgery and were accepted into trans mags were overwhelmingly white upper class trans people and poc were gatekept from using terms to identify themselves like transvestite transsexual or transgenderist
so ballroom culture grew as an underground queer counter culture explicitly for black and latinx trans people instead of trans women they were drag queens at drag balls instead of transvestites there were stage queens instead of transsexuals/transgenderists there were street queens
the queer community we have today with pride parades and pride month is because of marsha p johnson a black trans woman and sylvia rivera a latina sex worker trans woman we owe our community to trans people of color and the drag community
in the 2010s there was a pretty important schism in the trans community trans as an umbrella term used to be for transsexuals transvestites transgender people drag royalty crossdressers nonbinary people and intersex people and trans with an asterisk was often used to denote that trans describes many labels under our umbrella there are good and bad reasons why it is no longer used but in modern times people often treat trans as if it means only and exclusively (binary) transgender people and i think its important we remember the asterisk
transcending binary gender expression and performance expressing the constraints of rigid binary gender is a fundamentally queer expression of gender and it is no coincidence that when conservatives go after trans people they loop drag queens in that as well because a lot of the issues drag royalty experience are also trans issues and drag is still predominantly populated by trans people of color to this day
drag queens your voice deserves to be heard and you belong in our community
drag kings your voice deserves to be heard and you belong in our community
drag things your voice deserves to be heard and you belong in our community
androgyny queens kings and things your voice deserves to be heard and you belong in our community
drag queens kings and things of color your voice deserves to be heard and you belong in our community
black queens kings and things your voice deserves to be heard and you belong in our community
latinx queens kings and things your voice deserves to be heard and you belong in our community
indigenous queens kings and things your voice deserves to be heard and you belong in our community
aapi queens kings and things your voice deserves to be heard and you belong in our community
jewish queens kings and things your voice deserves to be heard and you belong in our community
romani queens kings and things your voice deserves to be heard and you belong in our community
muslim queens kings and things your voice deserves to be heard and you belong in our community
queens kings and things from the global south your voice deserves to be heard and you belong in our community
disabled queens kings and things your voice deserves to be heard and you belong in our community
bio queens and bio kings your voice deserves to be heard and you belong in our community
transdrag queens kings and things your voice deserves to be heard and you belong in our community
intersex drag queens kings and things your voice deserves to be heard and you belong in our community
nonbinary drag queens kings and things your voice deserves to be heard and you belong in our community
two spirit queens kings and things your voice deserves to be heard and you belong in our community
crossdressing drag queens kings and things your voice deserves to be heard and you belong in our community
stage drag queens kings and things your voice deserves to be heard and you belong in our community
fat queens kings and things your voice deserves to be heard and you belong in our community
multigender drag queens kings and things your voice deserves to be heard and you belong in our community
drag performers who use drag as a medium within which they can explore and question their gender your voice deserves to be heard and you belong in our community
genderfluid drag queens kings and things your voice deserves to be heard and you belong in our community
agender drag queens kings and things your voice deserves to be heard and you belong in our community
genderflux drag queens kings and things your voice deserves to be heard and you belong in our community
genderqueer drag queens kings and things your voice deserves to be heard and you belong in our community
genderfuck queens kings and things your voice deserves to be heard and you belong in our community
glamour queens kings and things your voice deserves to be heard and you belong in our community
cosplay queens kings and things your voice deserves to be heard and you belong in our community
comedy queens kings and things your voice deserves to be heard and you belong in our community
club queens kings and things your voice deserves to be heard and you belong in our community
goth queens kings and things your voice deserves to be heard and you belong in our community
tranimal queens kings and things your voice deserves to be heard and you belong in our community
activessle queens kings and things your voice deserves to be heard and you belong in our community
touring queens kings and things your voice deserves to be heard and you belong in our community
baby queens kings and things your voice deserves to be heard and you belong in our community and we are so proud of you for taking our first steps on a journey thats all your own
drag designers your art deserves to be seen and appreciated and you belong in our community
drag singers you art deserves to be heard and experienced and you belong in our community
drag composers and musicians your voice deserves to be heard and you belong in our community
drag choreographers and lip synchers your work deserves to be seen and appreciated and you belong in our community
drag burlesque performers you art deserves to be seen and experienced and you belong in our community
drag mamas you uplift raise and support those in our community you create community and you are an absolutely deserve to belong and be recognized
drag artists you entertain educate and enlighten us your voice deserves to be heard and you belong in our community
drag artists you involve yourself in the community help our children and fight for our rights often for no recognition your voice deserves to be heard and you belong in our community
