“RuPaul’s Drag Race,” the famed drag show hosted by RuPaul, recently celebrated its 200th episode during its 15th season on air. While the 200th episode aired, dozens of bills surrounding restrictions on the art of drag sat in state congresses. The general American public has become too comfortable with the state of LGBTQ+ rights in the U.S. Since Obergefell v. Hodges, we’ve seen the American public accept the state of affairs for members of the LGBTQ+ community. Because of this comfort, politicians take their chance to demolish LGBTQ+ spaces, namely within the drag sphere. 

It’s a common misconception that drag began within the last fifty years. In reality, we can trace the history of drag all the way back to Ancient Greece. When women were barred from performing in Greek theaters, the male actors would dress in drag to perform the female roles. Outside of the theater, drag performances were also prominent in religious ritual performances in Greece. Over the years, drag has evolved in many different ways, in an array of countries. In the United States specifically, one of the first recorded drag queens was named William Dorsey Swann, the first person to ever refer to themselves as “the Queen of Drag.” Swann was born into slavery in Maryland, just three years before President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. In the 1880s when Swann entered his twenties, he began hosting his own drag balls in Washington D.C. Swann embraced the danger that came along with hosting these balls; while Swann was known for hosting these balls, they were also known for holding their own when police would eventually raid these drag balls. Swann was arrested countless times during raids on their drag balls, even being sentenced to 300 days in prison after one raid in 1896, convicted of “being a suspicious character” and “keeping a disorderly house.” Swann paved the way for drag shows and the liberation of black LGBTQ+ people in America. 

Shortly after Swann retired from hosting drag balls, drag continued to evolve. This time, it reflected the Greek theaters aforementioned. During the Progressive Era, “female impersonators” began to take New York City by storm, one by the name of Julian Eltinge even performing on Broadway. Alongside the growth of the drag scene in NYC came the prominence of night clubs. Since the identities of LGBTQ+ people in NYC were criminalized, they made their own spaces to express themselves and their identities. 

These night clubs provided a space for that, as well as a forum for drag shows at entertainment in these clubs. As LGBTQ+ people were continued to be persecuted for their identities, the dire need for their liberation became more and more apparent – and drag queens were a vital part of the LGBTQ+ protests and riots that took place in the 1960s and 1970s.