The term drag queen originates in Polari, a subset of English slang that was popular in some gay communities in the early part of the 20th century. Drag meant "clothes", and was also theatre slang for a woman's costume worn by a male actor. Queen refers to the trait of affected royalty found in many drag characters.

Another term for a drag queen, female impersonator, is still used—though it is often regarded as inaccurate, as many contemporary drag performers are not all attempting to pass as women. Female impersonation, under that name, used to be illegal in many 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.[1] 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!". And celebrity drag couple The Darling Bears go so far as to sport full beards for their performances.

There are also performers who prefer to be called "gender illusionists" who do blur the line between transgender and drag queen. Generally transgender performers do not consider themselves to be drag queens and drag queens don't consider themselves to be illusionists but there are exceptions so if in doubt it's advisable to inquire what the performer prefers. Often these distinctions are more generational as laws and acceptance of individuality change and grow.

Many drag queens prefer to be referred to as "she" while in drag and desire to stay completely in character. Some performers may be offended if they are referred to as "he" or by their legal name while in character. Drag performer RuPaul is one of the few exceptions to this rule, as he seems to be completely ambivalent to which pronoun is used to refer to him. 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!"[2]

Biological females performing as drag queens are referred to as faux queens or bio queens.

I don't like them


They're like vulgar messed up clowns to me.


I just don't. Sorry folks.

Imago said:

ehuffnsd said:

I'm not talking about the sisters of perpetual finess, Eric



I just mean those vulgar mouthed drag queens in the gay bars. I just don't care for them.

It's like watching Pennywise in pantyhose. SCARY!

Imago said:

is that an invite to be my co-star?

ehuffnsd said:

I'm not talking about the sisters of perpetual finess, Eric



I just mean those vulgar mouthed drag queens in the gay bars. I just don't care for them.

It's like watching Pennywise in pantyhose. SCARY!

Imago said:

I agree

Mach said:

I'm not saying they shouldn't do their THANG. you know?
Anymore than I wouldn't want this or that entertainer to be denied of what they do.

I'm just saying, it' ain't my bag. I just don't care for it

What are you views on drag?

ehuffnsd said:

I made it through 1:45.

Now I hate drag queens.

Mars23 said:

Varla is fierce!!!

What are you views on drag?

ehuffnsd said:

Call me crazy but I didnt' realize that Drag Queens were just characters. I thought they were female impersonators. I learned something today. I don't have a problem with them. I won't lie, when I saw one in person for the first time, my first thought was, but they are cool. I'm gay so I better not have a problem with them right?

purplecam said:

In the 60's drag queens dressed mostly like Las Vegas showgirls. Later on, in the 70's they started trying to dress like actresses. That moved on to trying to look like a specific supermodel. I think now, it's all different things, it depends on what city or country you're in.

MIGUELGOMEZ said:

Hi Miguel

Hmm that's very interesting there. Another fact I didn't know.

my favorite drag queen ever was one i saw at a little bar in the west village in NYC. she came out wearing a dirty t-shirt and shorts with a big dirty ratty wig with a bird's nest in it. she stumbled on stage with a bag full of white powder, tried to lip synch to irene cara's "fame" for a few seconds, then fell over and passed out on the middle of the stage. it was the most beautiful drag performance i'd ever seen, other than when flloyd did his courtney love impersonation at coney island high...which actually wasn't a whole lot different than what i just described.

Anxiety said:

that's great!!