Drag Queen as Prophet

March 2000

From political organizing in San Francisco in the 1950s, to New York's 1969 Stonewall riots, drag queens have been at the forefront of the modern gay liberation movement. Yet, like other prophets without honor in their own country, drag queens continue to be treated with condescension and discrimination by many in the gay and lesbian community.

Injustices experienced by drag queens range from being denied admittance to some gay bars to physical attacks. And every June, gay papers will predictably be full of letters bemoaning how drag queens "embarrass us all" at pride parades.

Such scorn and disrespect is often promoted and justified in our community by two specious arguments.

First, it is argued that drag queens are offensive because they "degrade" women by imitating and perpetuating all the negative stereotypical definitions of femininity that have been foisted upon women through patriarchal oppression.

But if the identification of women with using mascara, wearing slinky gowns, and sashaying in spiked heels is the problem, then clearly the blame is misdirected. Nothing more dramatically challenges this definition of femininity than a man in drag. After all, if a man can successfully appropriate the clothing, mannerisms, and gestures which have traditionally been viewed as exclusively appropriate for females, then one can no longer support the belief that such external trivialities are what make a woman a woman.

Drag queens are, in fact, powerful allies of women's liberation precisely because they undermine rather than support the traditional clothing and behavior restrictions associated with biological gender. The difficulty, if there is any, isn't with men who at some personal risk consciously choose to shave their legs and put on nylons, but rather with women who still do not understand that they equally are free to choose not to. The problem is not with drag queens who elect to dress like women, but with women who feel that they must dress like drag queens.

The second rationalization for condemning men in drag is the claim that such behavior gives gay people a bad image. But such an assertion is nonsense: what gives gay people a "bad image" is that they fuck members of the same sex. If they were willing to forego such practices, even the Pope has indicated that he would find such gay people acceptable. The drag queen along with the flannel-shirted, work-booted bull dyke reminds the straight world that homosexuality exists; their presence doesn't cause homophobia, it simply exposes it.

The closeted or "discreet" homosexual who is so discomfited by drag queens is actually the one who creates problems for our community by reinforcing the notion that rigid gender roles are appropriate and that violation of such warrants punishment or ostracism. They unwittingly reinforce the notion that there is something wrong or less desirable about being or appearing gay.

Drag queens, like the prophets of old, challenge the hypocrisy and oppression around them. Thus, it is not surprising that many in our community shy away from the power of their example. But we need to recognize the homophobic source of this anxiety and rejection so that we are freed to applaud drag queens' courage and able to give them the honor they are due.

Pasted from <http://guidemag.com/magcontent/invokemagcontent.cfm?ID=E561E0B6-EDE8-11D3-AD960050DA7E046B>