I sit here thinking in the aftermath of Gov. Bill Lee signing TN HB9 into law Thursday, March 2nd, 2023. Under the “Drag Law,” drag performance becomes limited to “adult cabaret venues.” The push for the signing of this bill into law comes from a view point that Drag as a performance art is perversive and appeals to only “prurient interest.” While this bill seeks to define drag performance as a devious act, I want to look back at the way Drag has evolved since its inception.

*Moth Moth Moth, Rainbow Rumble, Feb. 2022*

Drag, as a performance practice, can cite its first utilization on the stages of ancient Greek amphitheaters. Its purpose? For men to take the place of women onstage. During this period, women were not allowed to perform onstage (laws restricted women’s involvement in theatre, even their participation as audience members). Drag, as defined in this period as someone of one gender dressing and performing as the opposite gender, served as a tool of the patriarchy to restrict women.

Yes, Drag was designed to be a restrictive tool of white-male patriarchy. That said, we have to continue diving into the evolution of drag over the years to understand Drag’s definition today. During the English Restoration period, we find women onstage performing in not only women’s roles, but also “breeches roles.” Breeches roles were comical roles, designed to depict a woman “tricking” men by dressing up as a man or in masculine fashion.

*Monika Monroe (she/her), MMC Drag Night, Feb. 2020*

Drag evolved during the 17th & 18th century from a tool restricting one gender from performing stage into a comical troupe that one gender could not possibly become the opposite gender. This idea that Drag is a device to “deceive” or “hide” played into the notion that Drag is devious. The butt of the joke centered on the idea that, “Someone born this gender could never possibly become that gender. How could anyone believe them when that is obviously a man/woman?” It’s also during this period we begin to see the utilization of gender norms presented in Drag performance. If a man is to “play” a woman, he must go to the feminine extreme. If a woman is to “play” a man, she must go to the masculine extreme.

Thus through Drag, during this period, gender norms were enforced on who is “passable” based on their masculine or feminine presentation. The ideology behind breeches roles and female-impersonation is the notion of that we must conform the the masculine and feminine troupes in order to be seen as either male or female (in western-European and American practices). Drag, at this point, is still a restrictive mechanism. It is through the 20th century we can cite Drag performance practices that begin to free us.

Our modern conceptions of Drag find their roots in 20th century Drag performance. The 20th century offered us Drag performance through an open Queer lens, be it that “female-impersonation” became a popular performance act in Queer nightlife. It should be noted Drag during this period was not limited to a cis-white gay man performing as Judy Garland in the back by the piano. Drag during this period was also performed by Drag Kings, Trans Drag Performers, and a vast array of folks dissecting what Drag can do for them in terms of gender expression.

Drag transformed in the 20th century into a performance practice that aided folks to come to terms with their gender, to play with masculine and feminine molds, and blur the lines of a strict patriarchal definition of gender. Though Drag shifts to a more progressive place, laws prohibiting “cross-dressing” were in effect and led to many police raids of Queer bars and arrests of those who practiced “cross-dressing.”

Transvestism and cross-dressing became interchangeable with “Drag” during this period. The concept, by the masses, was Drag followed binary gender norms. Transvestism and cross-dressing align with this ideology; that a man dresses as a woman but he himself does not identify as a woman and that a woman dresses as a man but does not identify as a man. Also during this period, transvestism and cross-dressing were viewed as fetish practices, thus Drag was understood by cishet masses as a sexual perversion. This distinction of “Drag” as a “fetish” was utilized to restrict Drag performance practice.

Through the Queer Liberation Movement of the late 20th Century, cited in its inception at the Stonewall Riots of 1969, Drag performers Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera led a new wave of Drag: Drag as a form of Resistance. It was two Trans-Drag performers of color who led the Queer Liberation Movement. Drag expanded from here into a form of retaliation against western gender concepts upheld in a patriarchal system. We see an expansion of this through the Club Kid movement of the 1980s & 90s. What they presented was not the mass understanding of Drag, but the extension of what gender could be and how gender could be presented or played with.

21st century Drag encompasses many forms and is performed by a vast array of folks of all genders, races, ethnicities, body types, and abilities. Drag broke into the mainstream with the assistance of the light Rupaul’s Drag Race shined on the artform. Drag was no longer a limited artform. Drag became a tool for all to use.

Drag has flipped from a patriarchal tool that restricts who can perform onstage. Drag is a now a form of liberation. Drag is a form of resistance against gender troupes that are used to confine us. Now that Drag has evolved outside of its original purpose, it is now poses a “threat” to the very system that created it.

Through TN HB9, Drag is minimized to this notion that Drag is utilized by a performer to push a sexual agenda. Drag, in actuality, is a performance practice that permits folks to explore their gender. Drag presents to audiences what they can achieve through their own exploration of gender. To say that Drag is a means to expose youth to “sexual perversion” is an outdated conception. This conception comes from an understanding of Drag’s as a transvestism fetish.

The Drag Bill relies on fear tactics, pushing the idea that Drag is a threat to the innocence of youth under the guise of sexual perversion. The fear stems from this public fear of transvestism perpetuated in film; that someone of the opposite gender will dress in Drag to fool someone they wish to get close to (i.e. Mrs. Doubtfire, Some Like it Hot, Tootsie, Big Mamma’s House, etc.). In this same vein, there is the association that all Drag performers wish to transition to the gender they perform as onstage. It’s no accident the Drag Bill runs at the same time as countless state bills running to hinder the protection of Trans and Gender-noncomforming people/youth. The illegal act of performing “Drag” in a public space in the state of TN will surely be utilized to target Trans people and arrest them for simply existing.

While we have made strides from the place we once were, it appears to push back on Drag performance and laws against TGNC folks reverts us back to early 20th century life. Now that gender expression and Drag performance have expanded beyond what the patriarchy can “categorize,” it seeks to regulate it as an act of defiance. It’s curious to see a system work swiftly to destroy the very tool they conceived now that it no longer serves its original purpose.

*Portrait Mar. 2021, Photographer: Carla McDonald*

At the age of 12, I was introduced to Drag through my mother. We sat together and watched Season 2 of Rupaul’s Drag Race as it aired in 2010. While watching the show, I became aware that there was an performance style that I related to. That there were other people like me out in the world who were Queer who had found a form of gender expression in Drag. While struggling with my gender identity, Drag presented an outlet that permitted me to accept the facets of myself that I believed were wrong under a cisgendered-binary system.

As I got older, Drag became a tool for me, whether attending a Drag show or performing in Drag, that I could access gender euphoria. I can only hope other young people who are experiencing similar turmoil receive this form of euphoria as well. Drag is not designed to “convert” people; Drag is an outlet for everyone to learn more about their gender and what it means to them. There is no text book definition of Drag under a true understanding of what it means today. There is no concrete form of what Drag looks like.

By spreading ideology that closes off Drag, Drag becomes limited to who it reaches and how it is received. The further we funnel Drag into a singular definition, one that perpetuates Drag as a sexual perversion, the more we close off folks from how Drag can aid their lives.

*Shea Couleé, Laurie Beechman Theatre, Nov. 2018*

What I hope those in opposition of public Drag performance come to understand is that Drag can enhance their life as well. There is room for them at a Drag show, a Drag Queen story hour, and open spot for them at Amateur Night if they wish to take the stage. Though Drag has evolved away from its original inception, it can still be utilized as a tool by all people to learn about how they wish to present themselves to the world.

Drag is no longer the act of dressing as the “opposite gender,” it is a form of presenting gender expression however the individual sees fit. Drag is an uplifting artform that connects folks of different backgrounds to celebrate their gender as they understand it, not to an understanding designed to fit under a certain category. Drag is acceptance of all people. Drag is an extension of self. Drag is the beautiful and ugly facets of life. Drag is powerful and political. Drag is tender and nurturing. Drag is for families and communities. Drag is love.

a love letter to Drag

cruel summer vol. 2

where to go when lost