# Have we ever had an "Ask the Drag Queen" thread?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-we-ever-had-an-ask-the-drag-queen-thread/570957
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [February 10, 2011, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-we-ever-had-an-ask-the-drag-queen-thread/570957 "2011-02-10T22:29:29Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2011, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-we-ever-had-an-ask-the-drag-queen-thread/570957/1 "2011-02-10T22:29:29Z")
Cuz I want one.
I’ve been very close friends with gay men throughout my life, but none of them were seriously into drag outside of Halloween, so I’ve never really had a chance to probe into the drag mind, and after watching some [RuPaul’s Drag Race](http://www.logotv.com/shows/rupauls_drag_race/season_3/series.jhtml), I’m burning with questions.
Any volunteers?
---
### Author:  [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2011, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-we-ever-had-an-ask-the-drag-queen-thread/570957/2 "2011-02-10T23:06:55Z")
Aren’t most drag queens actually heterosexual? I’m pretty sure I read that somewhere.
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### Author:  [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2011, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-we-ever-had-an-ask-the-drag-queen-thread/570957/3 "2011-02-10T23:12:19Z")
I’ve never met or seen or heard of a straight drag queen in my entire life.
Transvestite? yes.
Drag queen? No.
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### Author:  [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimmy_Gibbler)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2011, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-we-ever-had-an-ask-the-drag-queen-thread/570957/4 "2011-02-10T23:20:23Z")
> [@Stoid](#):
>
> Cuz I want one.
>
> I’ve been very close friends with gay men throughout my life, but none of them were seriously into drag outside of Halloween, so I’ve never really had a chance to probe into the drag mind, and after watching some [RuPaul’s Drag Race](http://www.logotv.com/shows/rupauls_drag_race/season_3/series.jhtml), I’m burning with questions.
>
> Any volunteers?
No shade, Ru’s show is amazing. Be sure to watch _Untucked_ too.
---
### Author:  [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2011, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-we-ever-had-an-ask-the-drag-queen-thread/570957/5 "2011-02-10T23:23:08Z")
Yep.
Drag Queens are all gay.
Transvestites–men who get a boner from wearing women’s clothing–are all straight.
Some transsexuals prefer men, others prefer women. I’m not going to get into which preference would be gay or straight.
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### Author:  [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2011, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-we-ever-had-an-ask-the-drag-queen-thread/570957/6 "2011-02-11T00:17:58Z")
My Roomie was a cross dresser, and was primarily Het…well, before the rest of his life went spiraling down the crapper. No telling if, what, or how he experimented.
He was quite the womanizer, too.
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### Author:  [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2011, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-we-ever-had-an-ask-the-drag-queen-thread/570957/7 "2011-02-11T03:39:18Z")
> [@Stoid](#):
>
> I’ve never met or seen or heard of a straight drag queen in my entire life.
>
> Transvestite? yes.
>
> Drag queen? No.
> [@Lemur866](#):
>
> Yep.
>
> Drag Queens are all gay.
>
> Transvestites–men who get a boner from wearing women’s clothing–are all straight.
>
> Some transsexuals prefer men, others prefer women. I’m not going to get into which preference would be gay or straight.
So… it’s about terminology? I’ll admit I thought drag queens and transvestites were the same thing.
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### Author:  [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimmy_Gibbler)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2011, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-we-ever-had-an-ask-the-drag-queen-thread/570957/8 "2011-02-11T04:13:46Z")
I’d say it’s more than just terminology. A drag queen typically cultivates a persona associated with being in drag and sees it as a piece of performance art. There’s no erotic element typically, and passing as a woman is not the objective (although a drag queen is expected to bring a certain amount of skill, craft, and glamour or camp).
Whether it’s exclusively a gay thing or not? Well, there’s [Dame Edna Everidge,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dame_Edna_Everidge) who is also Barry Humphries, a straight man, but I don’t think Dame Edna ever been described as a drag queen. On the other hand, nobody denies that [Divine](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divine_%28actor%29) was most certainly a drag queen.
And of course, you have the term itself, which includes the word “queen” and which definitely sheds some light on the matter.
At any rate, drag certainly has played a very large role in the American gay experience (including for gay men of color with [ball culture](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ball_culture)), far outpacing its influence among heterosexuals or mainstream culture at large.
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### Author:  [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2011, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-we-ever-had-an-ask-the-drag-queen-thread/570957/9 "2011-02-11T04:55:35Z")
> **[Drag queen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drag_queen)**
>
> 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 have been a part of gay culture.
> People do drag for reasons ranging from self-expression to mainstream performance. Drag shows frequently include lip-syncing, live singing, and dancing. They typically occur at LGBT pride parades, drag pageants, cabarets, carnival...
> **[Transvestism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transvestism)**
>
> Transvestism is the practice of dressing in a manner traditionally or stereotypically associated with a different gender. In some cultures, transvestism is practiced for religious, traditional, or ceremonial reasons. The term is considered outdated in Western cultures, especially when used to describe a transgender or gender-fluid person.
> Though the term was coined as late as the 1910s by Magnus Hirschfeld, the phenomenon is not new. It was referred to in the Hebrew Bible. Being part of the ho...
> **[Transsexual](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transsexuality)**
>
> Transsexual people experience a gender identity that is inconsistent with their assigned sex, and desire to permanently transition to the sex or gender with which they identify, usually seeking medical assistance (including sex reassignment therapies, such as hormone replacement therapy and sex reassignment surgery) to help them align their body with their identified sex or gender.
> The term transsexual is a subset of transgender, but some transsexual people reject the label of transgender.: 8...
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### Author:  [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimmy_Gibbler)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2011, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-we-ever-had-an-ask-the-drag-queen-thread/570957/10 "2011-02-11T05:33:37Z")
> [@Lemur866](#):
>
> [Drag queen - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drag_queen)
> [Cross-dressing - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transvestism)
> [Transsexual - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transsexuality)
Listicle without commentary?
---
### Author:  [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2011, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-we-ever-had-an-ask-the-drag-queen-thread/570957/11 "2011-02-11T08:02:40Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#):
>
> So… it’s about terminology? I’ll admit I thought drag queens and transvestites were the same thing.
Their translations are almost the same thing in Spain. The difference is that a reinona is a transvestite who has a complete persona (which is not himself and not copied from someone else), whereas a “lower level” transvestite doesn’t.
A dude who dresses up as Dolly Parton or Rocío Jurado for a varieties show would qualify as “un travesti”; I remember seeing someone pointing to a comic duo (Los Morancos: they’re brothers and straight) that the success of two female characters they use often makes them “reinonas” - and them saying “hell, now that you mention it, yes! Hey bro, do you think we should try our hand in Tenerife?” “Nah, nowhere near pretty enough” (the two characters are a housewife in hair rollers and her mother in law).
Google carnaval tenerife drag queen for a drag queen show which definitely does not require the participants to be gay but does require them to have stage personas as well as stage costumes. Results NSFW unless you work in Private.
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### Author:  [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2011, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-we-ever-had-an-ask-the-drag-queen-thread/570957/12 "2011-02-11T08:17:39Z")
> [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](#):
>
> Whether it’s exclusively a gay thing or not? Well, there’s [Dame Edna Everidge,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dame_Edna_Everidge) who is also Barry Humphries, a straight man, but I don’t think Dame Edna ever been described as a drag queen.
Humphries is a satirist, and whilst I’m not sure _what_ his predilictions are, I doubt that drag was ever high on his career agenda. 😃
**Edna** is one of many of the personas that Barry Humphries has taken on over his career. In her early days, Edna wore ordinary middle-aged shapeless clothes and daggy accessories, as was the norm for ordinary middle-aged women in Australia at that time. It’s been his most successful character, initially intended to ‘take the piss’ out of the typical Australian suburban housewifely lifestyle, but later taking on a life of her own you might say. Once she became famous, she got all glam and stuff. Not quite how she started out. 😃
Two of his other characters are [Sir Les Patterson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Les_Patterson), [Sandy Stone](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Stone_%28Barry_Humphries_character%29). Now they never reached the heights of stardom that Dame Edna did, but are IMHO more believable characters than Edna could ever aspire to.
Now, back to the Drag Queen thread…
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### Author:  [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2011, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-we-ever-had-an-ask-the-drag-queen-thread/570957/13 "2011-02-11T10:15:33Z")
I give you the story of Sam Duddy, Irish hard man and drag artiste.
[Wikipeida](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sammy_Duddy)
[Obit](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1567008/Sammy-Duddy.html)
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### Author:  [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2011, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-we-ever-had-an-ask-the-drag-queen-thread/570957/14 "2011-02-11T11:45:01Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#):
>
> So… it’s about terminology? I’ll admit I thought drag queens and transvestites were the same thing.
No, drag is a stage persona, an act, and in that sense is no different from Sly Stallone pretending to be a boxer or Colin Firth playing a King, except that Drag Queens (and Kings, lest we forget) tend to have characters that they carry with them across multiple shows. It’s a particular form of entertainment associated with the gay scene, but it’s not compulsory to be gay OR to have desires to BE a woman in order to play a drag queen.
A transvestite is someone who takes on the dress or persona of a member of the opposite sex for their own personal reasons, not for performance.
It’s possible to be both a drag queen and a transvestite, but is pretty rare compared with drag acts that dress as their own sex off stage.
(For the record, I would say that Dame Edna IS a drag act).
---
### Author:  [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2011, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-we-ever-had-an-ask-the-drag-queen-thread/570957/15 "2011-02-11T11:54:01Z")
But to answer a little for the OP, I don’t personally know any drag queens, but know plenty of gay men and women (including myself) who will happily don drag for fancy dress parties, pride parades and the like. I have two friends who performed as drag kings back in their student days and even appeared in a Frankie Goes to Hollywood video as such, but in their everyday lives, whilst they are lesbians, they do not dress or behave remotely masculine. It’s just for fun and is all part of the gay scene’s penchant for challenging gender stereotypes.
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### Author:  [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2011, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-we-ever-had-an-ask-the-drag-queen-thread/570957/16 "2011-02-12T01:31:35Z")
As **SanVito** mentioned, there are also drag kings (usually cis women, but sometimes trans men or genderqueer female-assigned people, who dress up in exaggerated male costume for performance purposes), as well as faux queens (cis women who dress up and perform as drag queens).
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### Author:  [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2011, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-we-ever-had-an-ask-the-drag-queen-thread/570957/17 "2011-02-12T01:36:59Z")
> [@SanVito](#):
>
> But to answer a little for the OP, I don’t personally know any drag queens, but know plenty of gay men and women (including myself) who will happily don drag for fancy dress parties, pride parades and the like. I have two friends who performed as drag kings back in their student days and even appeared in a Frankie Goes to Hollywood video as such, but in their everyday lives, whilst they are lesbians, they do not dress or behave remotely masculine. It’s just for fun and is all part of the gay scene’s penchant for challenging gender stereotypes.
As I said, I’ve got lots of gay friends, and almost all of them have donned drag occasionally for special parties. But that’s different. I’d like to hear from someone who is _committed_. A RuPaul wannabe.
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### Author:  [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2011, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-we-ever-had-an-ask-the-drag-queen-thread/570957/18 "2011-02-12T04:19:01Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#):
>
> As **SanVito** mentioned, there are also drag kings (usually cis women, but sometimes trans men or genderqueer female-assigned people, who dress up in exaggerated male costume for performance purposes), as well as faux queens (cis women who dress up and perform as drag queens).
**matt** , can you explain what ‘cis’ means?
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### Author:  [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2011, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-we-ever-had-an-ask-the-drag-queen-thread/570957/19 "2011-02-12T05:01:49Z")
cis = person born with matching gender identity and genitalia. The opposite of trans.
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### Author:  [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2011, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-we-ever-had-an-ask-the-drag-queen-thread/570957/20 "2011-02-12T14:11:17Z")
> [@Sunspace](#):
>
> **matt** , can you explain what ‘cis’ means?
Sure, it’s the opposite of “trans,” as in cisalpine and transalpine. Someone whose gender identity is congruent with that assigned at birth and is therefore socially affirmed and accepted.