Drag queens

A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part of gay culture.

People partake in the activity of ''doing drag'' for reasons ranging from self-expression to mainstream performance. Drag shows frequently include lip-syncing, live singing, and dancing. They occur at events like LGBT pride parades, carnivals and drag pageants and in venues such as cabarets and nightclubs. Drag queens vary by type, culture, and dedication, from professionals who star in films and spend a lot of their time in their drag persona, to people who do drag only occasionally.

Those who do occasional drag may be from other backgrounds than the LGBT community. There is a long history of folkloric and theatrical crossdressing that involves people of all orientations. Not everyone who does drag at some point in their lives is a drag queen.

Terminology, scope and etymology

''Drag queen''

The origin of the term ''drag'' is uncertain; the first recorded use of ''drag'' in reference to actors dressed in women's clothing is from 1870. It may have been based on the term "grand rag" which was historically used for a masquerade ball.

In 1971, an article in Lee Brewster's ''Drag Queens'' magazine describes a drag queen as a "homosexual tranvestite" who is hyperfeminine, flamboyant, and militant. Drag queens are further described as having an attitude of superiority, and being commonly courted by heterosexual men who would "not ordinarily participate in homosexual relationships". The term ''drag queen'' implied "homosexual transvestite", but the term ''drag'' carried no such connotations. In the 1970's, ''drag queen'' is again defined as a "homosexual transvestite". ''Drag'' is parsed as changing one's clothes to those of a different sex, while ''queen'' is said to refer to a homosexual man.

For much of history, drag queens were men, but in more modern times, cisgender and trans women, as well as non-binary people, also perform as drag queens. In a 2018 article, '' Psychology Today'' stated that drag queens are "most typically gay cisgender men (though there are many drag queens of varying sexual orientations and gender identities)". Examples of trans-feminine drag queens, sometimes called ''trans queens'', include Monica Beverly Hillz and Peppermint. Cisgender female drag queens are sometimes called ''faux queens'' or ''bioqueens'', though critics of this practice assert that ''faux'' carries the connotation that the drag is fake, and that the use of ''bioqueen'' exclusively for cisgender females is a misnomer since trans-feminine queens exhibit gynomorphic features. Drag queens' counterparts are drag kings: performers, usually women, who dress in exaggeratedly masculine clothing. Examples of drag kings include Landon Cider. Trans men who dress like drag kings are sometimes termed trans kings. Drag has been argued to be an over-expression of the stereotypical female look. Drag is known to break down gender norms and can thus be seen as 'gender bending'.

''Female impersonator''

The term ''female impersonator'' was commonly used in the past. In 1972, Esther Newton described a ''female impersonator'' as a "professional drag queen". She considered the term ''female impersonator'' to be the one that was (then) widely understood by heterosexual audiences.

Female impersonation can be traced back at least as far as ancient Greece. There was little to no gender equity then and women held a lower social status. This meant male actors would play female roles during theatrical performances. This tradition continued for centuries but began to be less prevalent as motion pictures became popular. During the era of vaudeville it was considered immodest for women to appear on stage. Due to that circumstance, some men became famous as "female impersonators", the most notable being Julian Eltinge. At the peak of his career he was one of the most sought after and highest paid actors in the world.

Female impersonation has been and continues to be illegal in some places, which inspired the drag queen José Sarria to hand out labels to his friends reading, "I am a boy", so they could not be accused of female impersonation. American drag queen RuPaul once said, "I do not impersonate females! How many women do you know who wear seven-inch heels, four-foot wigs, and skintight dresses?" He also said, "I don't dress like a woman; I dress like a drag queen!"

Alternative term

Some drag queens may prefer to be referred to as " she" while in drag and desire to stay completely in character. Other drag performers, like RuPaul, seem to be completely indifferent to which pronoun is used to refer to them. In his words, "You can call me he. You can call me she. You can call me Regis and Kathie Lee; I don't care! Just so long as you call me."

Drag queens are sometimes called transvestites, although that term also has many other connotations than the term ''drag queen'' and is not much favored by many drag queens themselves. The term ''tranny,'' an abbreviation of the term transvestite, has been adopted by some drag performers, notably RuPaul, and the gay male community in the United States, but it is considered offensive to most transgender and transsexual people. The word "tranny" is seen as a slur, thus the use of the word is often just used by drag queens themselves as a way to reclaim it.

Many drag performers refer to themselves as drag artists, as opposed to drag queens, as some contemporary forms of drag have become nonbinary.

Uncommon terms

In the drag queen world today, there is an ongoing debate about whether transgender drag queens are actually considered "Drag Queens". Some argue that, because a drag queen is defined as a man portraying a woman, transgender women cannot be drag queens. Drag kings are women who assume a masculine aesthetic. However this is not always the case, because there are also biokings, bio-queens, and female queens, which are people who perform their own biological sex through a heightened or exaggerated gender presentation.

History of drag

Ancient Greece

The concept of drag can be seen in the earliest forms of entertainment, including Ancient Greek Theatre. In ancient western cultures, women often were not allowed to perform onstage or become actors, therefore male actors played the roles of women also. This demonstrates how female impersonation can be traced back to the earliest forms of entertainment and spectacle. Not only this, but men and boys were expected to dress as women, or in drag, for many religious ceremonies and rituals in Ancient Greece.

There is some controversy as to whether this is actually where drag emerged, or if it occurred later in history in the 1800s with forms of entertainment such as minstrel shows and Shakespeare's plays, as he often incorporated male actors as female impersonators.

United Kingdom

In the late 1800s to the mid-1900s, pantomime dames became a popular form of female impersonation in Europe. This was the first era of female impersonation in Europe to use comedy as part of the performance, contrasting with the serious Shakespearean tragedies and Italian operas. The dame became a stock character with a range of attitudes from "charwoman" to "grande dame" that mainly was used for improvisation. The most famous and successful pantomime dame was Dan Leno. After World War I and World War II, the theatre and movie scenes were changing, and the use of pantomime dames declined.

Beyond theatre, in the 1800s, Molly houses became a place for gay men to meet, often dressed in drag. Despite gayness being outlawed, men would dress in women's clothing an attend these taverns and coffee houses to congregate and meet with other queer people (mostly gay men).

South Africa

Drag in South Africa emerged in the 1950s in major cities such as Johannesburg and Cape Town. It started in the form of underground pageants which created a safe space for members of the LGBTQ community in Apartheid South Africa, where people could be punished by law for being gay. Being gay wasn't legalized in South Africa until 1998, so pageants, such as the famous Miss Gay Western Cape, did not become official until the late 1990s.

Today, homophobia is still incredibly rampant in South Africa, and drag queens face the threat of violence by being openly gay. Furthermore, there isn't even the right language to explore queerness as there is no word for it in Xhosa, the indigenous language.

Thailand

After homosexual acts were decriminalized in Thailand in 1956, gay clubs and other queer spaces began opening which lead to the first cabaret. However, drag in Thailand was actually heavily influenced by drag queens from the Philippines as the first drag show started after the owner of a gay club saw drag queens from the Philippines perform in Bangkok. Therefore, drag shows started in Thailand in the mid 1970s and have become increasingly popular over time, especially in major cities like Bangkok.

Philippines

Before being colonized by Spain in the mid 1500s, it was The Philippines a national custom for men to dress in women's clothing. However, when the Spaniards arrived, they not only outlawed homosexuality but executed men that appeared to be homosexual. Spain cast a culture of Machismo onto the Philippines, causing any kind of queerness and queer culture to be heavily suppressed.

Nonetheless, in the early 1900s drag started to reappear in the media. Drag became a key element of national pantomime theatre and as time went on, drag queens appeared in other forms of theatre and in movies.

Canada

In the 1940s John Herbert, who sometimes competed in drag pageants, was the victim of an attempted robbery while he was dressed as a woman.John Herbert
at the Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia. His assailants falsely claimed that Herbert had solicited them for sex, and Herbert was accused and convicted of indecency under Canada's same-sex sexual activity law (which was not repealed until 1969). After being convicted, Herbert served time in a youth reformatory in Guelph, Ontario. Herbert later served another sentence for indecency at reformatory in Mimico. Herbert wrote '' Fortune and Men's Eyes'' in 1964 based on his time behind bars.John Herbert
at The Literary Encyclopedia. He included the character of Queenie as an authorial self-insertion.

In 1973 the first Canadian play about and starring a drag queen, ''Hosanna'' by Michel Tremblay, was performed at Théâtre de Quat'Sous in Montreal.

In 1977 the Canadian film '' Outrageous!'', starring drag queen Craig Russell, became one of the first gay-themed films to break out into mainstream theatrical release.

In 1980, for the first time, a police presence protected gay spectators and drag queens from anti-gay harassment at the annual Hallowe'en show at Toronto's St. Charles Tavern.

India

On 6 September 2018, the Supreme Court of India ruled that the application of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code to consensual homosexual sex between adults was unconstitutional, "irrational, indefensible and manifestly arbitrary". Since then, drag culture in India has been growing and becoming the mainstream art culture. The hotel chain of Lalit Groups spaced a franchise of clubs where drag performances are hosted in major cities of India such as Mumbai, Delhi and Banglore. Maya the drag queen, Rani Kohinoor ( Sushant Divgikar), Lush Monsoon, Betta Naan Stop, Tropical Marca, Zeeshan Ali and Patruni Sastry are some of the Indian drag artists. In 2018, Hyderabad had its first Drag Con. In 2020, India's First Drag specific Magazine Dragvanti was started.

United States

First drag balls

The first person known to describe himself as "the queen of drag" was William Dorsey Swann, born enslaved in Hancock, Maryland, who in the 1880s started hosting drag balls in Washington, DC attended by other men who were formerly enslaved, and often raided by the police, as documented in the newspapers. In 1896, Swann was convicted and sentenced to 10 months in jail on the false charge of "keeping a disorderly house" (euphemism for running a brothel) and requested a pardon from the president for holding a drag ball (the request was denied).

Minstrel shows

The evolution of drag in the United States was influenced by the phenomenon of the minstrel show. These shows were an example of how Blackface was used in a racist form of entertainment where the performers would mock African American men, but as time went on they found it amusing to mock African American women as well. They performed in comedic skits, dances, and "wench" songs. Black people themselves were excluded from being performers as at this point in history, Black people were still enslaved in the United States. Black face in minstrel shows emerged in circa 1820, but became more established with the creation of the character of "Jim Crow", which was first performed in 1828. After the Civil War, performance troupes began to be composed of Black performers. The shows maintained popularity in American entertainment into the 1920s.

Vaudeville and female impersonators

The broad comedic stylings of the minstrel shows helped develop the vaudeville shows of the late 1800s to the early 1900s. In addition to the "wench players", minstrel shows developed the role of "prima donnas", who appeared more elegant and refined while still retaining their comedic elements. While the "wenches" were purely American creations, the "prima donnas" were inspired by both American and European cross-dressing shows, like Shakespearean actors and castrati. With the United States shifting demographics, including the shift from farms to cities, Great Migration of African Americans, and an influx of immigrants, vaudeville's broad comedy and music expanded the audience from minstrelsy.

With vaudeville becoming more popular, it allowed female impersonators to become popular as well. Many female impersonators started with low comedy in vaudeville and worked their way up to perform as the prima donna.Moore, F. Michael. ''Drag!: Male and Female Impersonators on Stage, Screen, and Television: An Illustrated World History''. Jefferson, N.C: McFarland & Company, 1994.
They were known to perform song and dance routines with multiple outfit changes. In New York City, famous female impersonator Julian Eltinge found success, and he eventually made his way to the Broadway stage performing as a woman. He published a magazine, ''Magazine and Beauty Hints'' (1913), which provided beauty and fashion tips, and he posed for corset and cosmetics advertisements. Meanwhile, in San Francisco, Bothwell Browne was the top female impersonator of the West Coast. He performed at the Grand Opera House and Central Theater, among other venues, went on tour with United Vaudeville, and later appeared in the film Yankee Doodle in Berlin (1919), produced by Mack Sennett.

At this time being a female impersonator was seen as something for the straight white male, and any deviation was punished. Connection with sex work and homosexuality eventually led to the decline of vaudeville during the Progressive Era. Both the minstrelsy and vaudeville eras of female impersonation led to an association with music, dance, and comedy that still lasts today.

Night clubs

In the early to mid-1900s, female impersonation had become tied to the LGBT community and thus criminality, so it had to change forms and locations. It moved from being popular mainstream entertainment to something done only at night in disreputable areas, such as San Francisco's Tenderloin. Here female impersonation started to evolve into what we today know as drag and drag queens.Baker, Roger. ''Drag: A History of Female Impersonation in the Performing Arts''. NYU Press, 1994.
Drag queens such as José Sarria and Aleshia Brevard first came to prominence in these clubs. People went to these nightclubs to play with the boundaries of gender and sexuality and it became a place for the LGBT community, especially gay men, to feel accepted. As LGBT culture has slowly become more accepted in American society, drag has also become more, though not totally, acceptable in today's society. In the 1940s and 1950s, Arthur Blake was one of the few female impersonators to be successful in both gay and mainstream entertainment, becoming famous for his impersonations of Bette Davis, Carmen Miranda, and Eleanor Roosevelt in night clubs. At the invitation of the Roosevelts, he performed his impersonation of Eleanor at the White House. He also impersonated Davis and Miranda in the 1952 film '' Diplomatic Courier''.

Protests

The Cooper Donuts Riot was a May 1959 incident in Los Angeles in which drag queens, lesbians, transgender women, and gay men rioted; it was one of the first LGBT protests in the United States.

The Compton's Cafeteria riot, which involved drag queens and others, occurred in San Francisco in 1966.Boyd, Nan Alamilla (2004). "San Francisco" in the ''Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered History in America'', Ed. Marc Stein. Vol. 3. Charles Scribner's Sons. pp. 71–78. It marked the beginning of transgender activism in San Francisco.

On 17 March 1968, in Los Angeles, to protest entrapment and harassment by the LAPD, two drag queens known as "The Princess" and "The Duchess" held a St. Patrick's Day party at Griffith Park, a popular cruising spot and a frequent target of police activity. More than 200 gay men socialized through the day.

Drag queens were also involved in the Stonewall riots, a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations by members of the LGBT community against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of 28 June 1969, at the Stonewall Inn, located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. The riots are widely considered to be the catalyst for the gay liberation movement and the modern fight for LGBT rights in the United States.

During the summer of 1976, a restaurant in Fire Island Pines, New York, denied entry to a visitor in drag named Terry Warren. When Warren's friends in Cherry Grove heard what had happened, they dressed up in drag, and, on 4 July 1976, sailed to the Pines by water taxi. This turned into a yearly event where drag queens go to the Pines, called the Invasion of the Pines.

Politics

In 1961 drag queen José Sarria ran for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, becoming the first openly gay candidate for public office in the United States.

In 2019 Maebe A. Girl became the first drag queen elected to public office in the United States when she was elected to the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council.

Drag Families

Drag families are a part of ball culture and drag 'houses''.'' In ball culture, drag queens usually all share the same last name of the drag house or drag family they belong to. Members of a drag house may live together, but are called families because of the values of support and community in drag culture. It is also rooted in the concept of 'chosen family' as queer people have been historically disowned or outcast by their relatives and so find love and camaraderie in the LGBTQ+ community, which is especially true for those in the drag community.

Drag Mother

A drag queen may either pick a drag name, or be given it by a friend or a"drag mother". Drag mothers often come to lead their drag house, or start their own, and are more experienced and acclaimed members of the drag community. As such, drag mothers and drag daughters have a mentor-apprentice relationship. This is because drag mothers help hone the skills of their younger queens, or drag daughters, by teaching them things such as how to apply makeup, walk in heels, sew clothing, dance, sing etc. In addition to this, drag mothers also promote their drag children at events and performances.

Art of drag

The process of getting into drag or into character can take hours. A drag queen may aim for a certain style, celebrity impression, or message with their look. Hair, make-up, and costumes are the most important essentials for drag queens. Drag queens tend to go for a more exaggerated look with a lot more makeup than a typical woman would wear.

Some people do drag simply as a means of self-expression, but often drag queens (once they have completed a look) will go out to clubs and bars and perform in a "drag show." Many drag queens dress up for money by doing different shows, but there are also drag queens that have full-time jobs but still enjoy dressing up in drag as a hobby.

Many parts of the drag show, and of the drag queens' other intellectual properties, cannot be protected by intellectual property law. To substitute the lack of legal protection, drag queens revert to social norms in order to protect their intellectual property.

In entertainment

Drag shows and venues

A drag show is a piece of entertainment consisting of a variety of songs, monologues or skits featuring either single performers or groups of performers in drag meant to entertain an audience. They range from amateur performances at small bars to elaborately staged theatrical presentations. Many drag shows feature performers singing or lip-synching to songs while performing a pre-planned pantomime, or dancing. The performers often don elaborate costumes and makeup, and sometimes dress to imitate various famous female singers or personalities. Some events are centered around drag, such as Southern Decadence where the majority of festivities are led by the Grand Marshals, who are traditionally drag queens.

In 2020 the first West End play to feature an all drag cast, ''Death Drop,'' launched at the Garrick Theatre in London. Produced by Tuckshop and Trafalgar Entertainment it was written by drag performer Holly Stars and starred Courtney Act, Monet X Change, Latrice Royale, Willam, Holly Stars, Anna Phylactic, LoUis CYfer, Don One, Kemah Bob, Myra Dubois and Vinegar Strokes and was directed by Jesse Jones. The show ran for a number of weeks in November and December 2020 before being closed due to a COVID lockdown in London. The show reopened on 19 May 2021 and ran until its scheduled end date of 11 July 2021. ''Death Drop'' received 5-star reviews from many publications including Gay Times and Attitude magazine and was widely celebrated for breaking new ground in theatrical drag performance.

In film

As drag is such a prominent element in theatre, it makes sense that drag also entered the world of movies. Below is a list of movies about drag, or featuring drag.
* 1933 – '' Victor and Victoria'', a German film about drag queens working in musical entertainment, starring Renate Müller and Hermann Thimig.
* 1933 – ''Arizona to Broadway,'' an American pre-Code film in which drag performer Gene Malin portrays Ray Best, a female impersonator and Mae West type, and performs the song "Frankie and Johnny."
* 1934 – '' George and Georgette'', the French-language version of ''Victor and Victoria''.
* 1935 – ''First a Girl'', the English-language version of ''Victor and Victoria''.
* 1937 – ''Upstairs'' ( Piętro wyżej), the first Polish drag queen style movie, starring Eugeniusz Bodo.
* 1953 – ''Glen or Glenda'', one of the most famous cult classics of Ed Wood, starring himself as Glen and Glenda.
* 1954 – '' White Christmas'', classic of Irving Berlin, with Danny Kaye and Bing Crosby singing in "drag".
* 1957 – '' Victor and Victoria'', a German remake of the 1933 film.
* 1959 – '' Some Like It Hot'', starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon.
* 1967 – '' Thoroughly Modern Millie'', an American musical starring Julie Andrews, James Fox, Mary Tyler Moore, Carol Channing, John Gavin, and Beatrice Lillie, notable where Fox's character dresses in drag in order to find out what happened to Tyler Moore's character.
* 1968 - ''The Queen'', a documentary film detailing the 1967 Miss All-American Camp Beauty Pageant hosted by drag queen Flawless Sabrina.
* 1969 – '' Funeral Parade of Roses'' starring Peter
* 1972 – ''Pink Flamingos'' starring Divine
* 1975 – ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'', with Tim Curry as a cross-dressing bisexual, Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick
* 1977 – '' Outrageous!'', starring Craig Russell as a fictionalized version of himself
* 1978 – ''La cage aux folles'' a 1978 Franco-Italian film adaptation of the play of the same name starring Ugo Tognazzi and Michel Serrault.
* 1979 – '' The Rose'' starring Bette Midler, notable for a scene in which Midler's character Mary Rose Foster performs a duet on stage in a drag club with a drag queen (played by Kenny Sacha) who is impersonating Midler as Foster.
* 1982 – ''Tootsie'' starring Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange, and Teri Garr
* 1982 – ''Victor/Victoria'', an American musical adaptation of the 1933 film, starring Julie Andrews
* 1985 – ''Lust in the Dust'' starring Divine
* 1988 – ''Hairspray'' starring Divine (Remade in 2007 starring John Travolta)
* 1988 – ''Torch Song Trilogy'' starring Harvey Fierstein, Anne Bancroft and Matthew Broderick
* 1990 – '' Paris Is Burning'' a documentary film directed by Jennie Livingston. It chronicles the ball culture of New York City and the gay and transgender community involved in it. It centers around African American and Latino drag culture surrounding communities such as Harlem in the 80s.
* 1991 – ''Vegas in Space'' starring Doris Fish, Miss X, Ginger Quest, and introducing 'Tippi'
* 1993 – ''Mrs. Doubtfire'' starring Robin Williams, Sally Field, and Pierce Brosnan.
* 1994 – ''The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert'' starring Terence Stamp, Hugo Weaving, and Guy Pearce
* 1995 – ''To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar'' starring Wesley Snipes, Patrick Swayze, and John Leguizamo (cameo by RuPaul)
* 1995 – '' Wigstock: The Movie'' documentary film focusing on the annual drag music festival that had been held in New York City's East Village during the 1980s and 1990s. Includes appearances by Lady Bunny, Crystal Waters, Deee-Lite, Jackie Beat, Debbie Harry, Leigh Bowery, Joey Arias and the Dueling Bankheads. The film also captures a performance by RuPaul at the height of his mainstream fame during the 1990s.
* 1996 – ''The Birdcage'' starring Robin Williams, Nathan Lane, Gene Hackman and Dianne Wiest (a remake of the 1978 film '' La Cage aux Folles'', based on the 1973 play)
* 1996 – '' The Nutty Professor'' starring Eddie Murphy.
* 1998 – ''Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil'' starring John Cusack, Kevin Spacey and starring as herself Lady Chablis
* 1999 – '' Flawless'' starring Philip Seymour Hoffman and Robert De Niro
* 2000 – ''Big Momma's House'' starring Martin Lawrence
* 2001 – '' Hedwig and the Angry Inch'' starring John Cameron Mitchell
* 2002 – ''Sorority Boys''
* 2002 – '' Miss 501: A Portrait of Luck''
* 2003 – '' Girls Will Be Girls'' directed by Richard Day, starring Miss Coco Peru (Clinton Leupp), Evie Harris (Jack Plotnick), and Varla Jean Merman (Jeffery Roberson).
* 2003 – ''Die, Mommie, Die!'' starring Charles Busch, Jason Priestley, Philip Baker Hall, and Natasha Lyonne
* 2004 – ''Connie and Carla'' starring Nia Vardalos, Toni Collette, and David Duchovny
* 2004 – ''White Chicks'' starring Shawn Wayans and Marlon Wayans
* 2005 – '' Kinky Boots'' starring Joel Edgerton, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sarah-Jane Potts, and Nick Frost
* 2005 – ''Rent''
* 2006 – '' The Curiosity of Chance'' starring Tad Hilgenbrink and Brett Chukerman
* 2007 – '' St. Trinian's'' starring Rupert Everett as Camilla Fritton, the headmistress of the school.
* 2011 – '' Big Mommas: Like Father Like Son'' starring Martin Lawrence and Brandon T. Jackson
* 2012 – ''Albert Nobbs'' starring Glenn Close and Janet McTeer
* 2015 – '' Dressed as a Girl'' starring Johnny Woo
* 2016 – '' Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie'' starring Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Saunders, featuring Jodie Harsh and La Voix amongst others
* 2016 – ''Iru mugan'' (Indian Tamil movie) starring Vikram, Nayanthara, Nithya Menen and Nasser in the lead roles.
* 2016 – '' Hurricane Bianca'' starring Bianca Del Rio, Willam Belli, Shangela Laquifa Wadley and appearances by RuPaul, Joslyn Fox and Alyssa Edwards
* 2018 – '' Hurricane Bianca 2: From Russia with Hate'' starring Bianca Del Rio, Rachel Dratch, Katya Zamolodchikova, Shangela Laquifa Wadley and appearances by Wanda Sykes, Mrs. Kasha Davis, Darienne Lake, Alaska Thunderfuck, Lady Bunny, and Alyssa Edwards
* 2018 – ''Tucked'' starring Derren Nesbitt, Jordan Stephens, about a young drag queen taken in by an older drag queen who is dying of cancer.
* 2018 - ''A Star Is Born (2018 film)'', in which Shangela appears as the drag bar MC and Willam Belli as drag queen Emerald
* 2019 – ''Drag Kids'', a documentary film about young drag performers
* 2020 – '' Number 1'', a Singaporean film starring Mark Lee
* 2020 – '' P.S. Burn This Letter Please'', documentary about 1950s New York City drag queens
* 2020 – '' Stage Mother''
* 2020 – '' Jump, Darling''
* 2020 – Violet Chachki's Digital Follies
* 2020 – The Boulet Brothers Dragula Resurrection
* 2020 – The Jinkx & Dela Holiay Special
* 2020 – Bring Back My Ghouls
* 2020 – Queer Japan
* 2021 – Workhorse Queen
* 2021 – Being Bebe

In music

While some male music celebrities wear exaggerated feminine clothing as part of their show, they are not necessarily drag queens. For example, Boy George wears drag queen style clothes and cosmetics but he once stated he was not a drag queen. However, RuPaul is a professional drag queen performer and singer.

Examples of songs where lyrics refer to drag queens:
* "Lola" by The Kinks (or possibly a transgender woman)
* "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" by Aerosmith
* "The Lady Is a Vamp" by Spice Girls
* " Ballad of Cleo and Joe" by Cyndi Lauper
* "King for a Day" by Green Day
* "Cherry Lips" by Garbage
* " Born This Way" by Lady Gaga
* "Verbatim" by Mother Mother
* "He's a Woman, She's a Man" by Scorpions
* "Pretty Lady" by Ke$ha & Detox Icunt
* "Andrew in Drag" by The Magnetic Fields
* "Rise Like a Phoenix" by Conchita Wurst (represented Austria at the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest and won)
* "Divine" by Antony and the Johnsons
* "The End." from the album ''The Black Parade'' by My Chemical Romance
* "Drag Queen" by The Strokes
* "LGBT" by cupcaKke
* "C.L.A.T" by Aja, Peppermint, Sasha Velour and Alexis Michelle

In television

Drag queen Don McLean (drag name Lori Shannon) appeared in three episodes of the CBS sitcom ''All in the Family'' as drag queen Beverly LaSalle: "Archie the Hero" (1975), in which Archie Bunker gives her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, not realizing she is male; "Beverly Rides Again" (1976), in which Archie uses her to play a practical joke on a friend; and "Edith's Crisis of Faith, Part 1" (1977), in which her murder leads Edith Bunker to question her faith in God. The role was noteworthy for its uncommonly respectful and sympathetic treatment of Beverly as a "transvestite".

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