Talking politics at the club with Bob The Drag Queen
Strides in the LGBTQ movement are thanks, in part, to drag queens.
Josh Rivera
Danica Roem’s win on Nov. 7 marked a momentous occasion for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community. Roem is the first transgender woman to win a seat in the house of delegates in Virginia.
Similarly, Palm Springs, Calif., has made great strides in the LGBTQ movement. For the first time in its history, the city has an all queer City Council — composed of three gay men, a transgender woman and a bisexual woman.
They all have a drag queen to thank for their achievements.
As Bob The Drag Queen explains, drag queens have always been at the forefront of the fight for LGBTQ rights: “We have the loudest voices. This is all armor. So the people wearing the most armor are gonna get out in front and run, and sacrifice themselves. I have the defenses up. You know what I mean?”
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The most notable example, and one of the LGBTQ greatest achievements, started with a fed up drag queen and trans woman known as Marsha "Pay It No Mind" Johnson. On June 28, 1969, patrons of the popular Stonewall Inn in New York’s Greenwich Village fought back against ongoing police raids of their neighborhood bar. The very next day, Johnson — along with Sylvia Rivera and thousands of others — took to the streets to march and protest the abusive behavior against her community.
Johnson was not the first, however. Early gay and lesbian rights organizations such as the Mattachine Society and the Daughters of Bilitis were paving the way in the 1950s. But it would not be until 1973 that the American Psychiatric Association removed the “illness” classification for homosexuality from its manual, finally legitimizing the LGBTQ community as members of society and thus having their voices validated.
But that’s precisely the point. Drag queens never needed legitimization from anyone to voice their opinions. The art form of drag, as RuPaul Charles himself explained, is the "antithesis of mainstream." It's meant to poke fun and expose the ridiculousness of every day life, while questioning what we take for granted.
Watch Bob The Drag Queen's interview above and join the conversation in the comment section.
Josh Rivera is the Your Say editor. You can follow him on Twitter @Josh1Rivera.