Divine Rebellion: The History of Drag Queens

Harry S Franklyn, 1920s Drag Queen

(The scene: a hot summer day at my favourite beverage place, the Hop and Brew.)

Me: I'm writing an article on the history of Drag Queens.

Marc, my buddy from Seattle: Sounds cool. And I don't know anything about them. As a people or performers outside Priscilla, Hedwig...etc.

Me: I know some history but not outside of North America. My ignorance and your ignorance are perfectly matched.

Marc: (Laughs) That's the first I've hear that being dumb is good.

Me: Well, let's start off with your questions, then I'll use this as the base for the article.

Marc: Sure! And our reward for such an endeavor...more beer?

Me: Done!

What is a  Drag Queen? 

Eltinge with and without his dress - 1920s

To get all technical on you all, a drag queen is usually a male of any ethnicity who dresses as a woman (in drag) with exaggerated femine traits for performance and entertainment in some capacity. Meriam-Webster dictionary online has the incorrect definition, that it's a homosexual man only. That's not the modern or current usage, as any performer can identify with any gender and sexual orientation. It does not mean the person also is a Transgender as well, which is when a person born with one gender transitions to the opposite gender, or none at all. But the line has always been blurry: the early 20th century American vaudeville and film performer Julian Eltinge is called the greatest female impersonator in theatrical history. His hyper-masculinity off the stage, and his very ambiguous sexuality is still up for debate.

Do they exist all over the world and for how long? 

Heck yes!  Men dressing as women in performance was very common in the European theatre world: you see it a lot in Shakespearean theatre even today. In Asia, Chinese and Japanese theatre, men would play the parts of women because women were not allowed on stage. I'll focus more on Chinese performers here, as gender in Chinese history was more my area of study in University. Men performing in drag were not the modern concept of drag queens: their actions cannot be divorced from the cultural context surrounding them. In an article by Dawei Ji,  he states that in 20th century literature they were viewed as undesirables:

... I name them "performers of the paternal past" where the word perform references both theatrical art and speech act theory. Often paired with paternal figures, they dramatize and visualize the past as if it were a theatrical play, but they also operate and sustain the past, as if it were a wristwatch that needed winding up. Furthermore, with their androgynous bodies, these ambiguously gendered characters represent trauma in China's history. Drawing on Julia Kristeva's explication of the abject in Powers of Horror, I argue that both female impersonators and the Chinese past exemplify abjection in these novels. The abject, like bodily excreta, is both filthy and indispensable for the subject. It lingers on the subject's borders, at once repudiated and retained. In the works that I discuss, the past is abjected by the present, and female impersonators, who seem to be detained in the past, are abjected by normatively gendered characters.

One of the modern performers is Li Yugang (李玉刚) who really blurs gender lines and sexuality normative with his videos and work in opera. On his facebook page it states "A charming woman on stage, a man in real life", because the whole thing could be a bit blurry...

She is all man...and can wear a dress better than me.

How about just in North America?

The term Drag Queen first appears in 1870s, and is a popular item on the vaudeville stages pre and post WWI. However, after WWII there was a big backlash against anything seen as counter-culture or not hetero-normative. Being a homosexual was never 100 percent legal, but now after 1945 in Canada, Mexico and the US the government and police actively persecuted all LGTBQ people. The wearing of opposite gender clothes were banned, and people were often publicly humiliated, harassed, fired from jobs, jailed or placed in mental institutions.

And then came Silvia...

The suppression could not continue: The growing gay rights movement in 1950s and 60s America really exploded in the 1969 Stonewall Riots, started at the legendary bar in New York. It was the only gay bar in New York at that time and was raided on June 28th, 1969. Many lesbians and drag queens began to fight back, including the drag queen Sylvia Rivera, who threw pennies and quarters at police. Three nights of riots ensued, where other drag queens like Marsha P. Johnson smashed a police car window with her hand bag. (You kick ass girl!)

Because of these early fighters, people began to embrace again the drag queens, and it came out of the closet as more performances and careers were launched. One famous drag queen who gained international fame was Logan Carter who rose to fame in the early 1970s. My personal favourite, Travis Shaw has been better known as Foxy De-Rossi, a biracial diva from Prince George who has been an great advocate for human rights.

Is it a derogatory term?

No it's not but it's up to the individual to what they would like to be refered to as. Drag queens in North America do not like the term Transvestite being used for them, as they are not Trans people. Others, however, have no problem with being called Tranny as they want to take back the term, just like the old slur "Fag" meaning gay man. It's up to the person: so ask! Or how about just calling them by their name, that works too.

OK - Divine and other extreme drag queens kind of freak me out...

She's fierce to me but I can't stand her music really....

...and that's ok, but understand that your reaction to another human being is important. Divine was Harris Glenn Milstead, (October 19, 1945 – March 7, 1988), an American actor, singer and Drag Queen best know for his work with filmmaker John Waters. He personally did not identify as Transgender, but male and gay, which flies in the face of many stereotypes of what a drag queen should be. He was, however, as Divine, very edgy and in your face. Who can forget his great comedic timing and slapstick act in Hairspray? So next time you're freaked out, understand not everyone has to like everyone's performances, but that Divine was just expressing herself and we should honour that.

Me: (After I give this to Mark) So beers next week? Are you buying?

Mark: Yep, and after all this, I might just throw in the pizza too.

Me: Thank you, Saint Divine...

For more info, ask a local drag troupe. Or do some reading and watching:

Around the World in 80 Drag Queens

I am Divine: A New Documentary

The Imperial Court

History Now: International History News (Includes Canada)

It's been a busy spring for me personally but also professionally. While I've been working like a dog, (a small pug I think), let's see what's been making the news the last few months in local and world history.

First, a tip of the pink stetson to Calgary! 

It's the 25th anniversary of the Calgary Pride Festival. The festival and the events surrounding it (including the parade) is run by Calgary Pride. The CPF is a not-for-profit organization that exists to promote equality and acceptance of Calgary’s LGBTQA community. My friend Kevin Allen wrote in the Gay History Project blog that Calgary’s first “Pride Week” started as a weekend of workshops in 1988.  In 1990, Calgary’s 3rd Annual “Pride Festival” had a political rally that drew 400 at Memorial Park, on the steps of the library. The first real parade was in 1991, and was actually part of the 4th Annual Pride Festival. This year's parade will be September 6 down 9 Avenue SE to SW downtown.

We thank you: Stephen Lock, Nancy Miller & Richard Gregory: 1990 Pride Rally Organizers. From Gay History.

Why do I know so much about Queer (Gay) history in my hometown? I'm one of the researchers for the Gay History Project and will be presenting at the Glitter Gala next month. Come have fun and hear me make history interesting!

I'm On the Road to Stonehenge

Next, I want you to take some deep breaths before you read this next news story.

 The brilliant people who are road planners in the UK are hoping to get a traffic tunnel dug under Stonehenge. In 2013, a major roadway near the giant rock circle was partly closed, because it was damaging the site. However, traffic has been insane as there is a major road corridor near the site. The answer: build a tunnel: The BBC Reports:

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said the plan to "tackle the bottleneck at Stonehenge" would "get the funds it needs". English Heritage, which runs the Stonehenge site, has previously described the bottleneck road as "highly detrimental" to the ancient monument. Senior Druid King Arthur Pendragon has also backed the idea of a tunnel, but only if there are "cast-iron" guarantees that any human remains found "are reinterred as close as possible to what should have been their final resting place".

A group that advises World Heritage body Unesco has warned a tunnel could have an "adverse impact" on the Stonehenge landscape. In a letter seen by the BBC, the International Council on Monuments and Sites (Icomos) said it wanted a solution that "respects and maintains" the value of the "iconic and unique site". Ralph Smyth of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) said it was "calling for a longer tunnel", as the proposed tunnel was too short and would create two "huge holes" which would affect the landscape around the World Heritage site.

OOOOOH....now where's the MacDonald's?

Screw You Labour History

Let's head back to Canada for the next bit with some serious controversy. The Museum of History in Ottawa has announced that they are excluding a display on the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike will be excluded from the renovated areas, but officials promise the labour movement will still have a home in its halls.

According to a document obtained by the Ottawa Star in response to an access to information request, the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Que., saw there were few risks (???) surrounding the decision to shut down the exhibit.

Here is the part that pisses me off...

“Changes can be made to the module with few political or institutional risks,” reads the summary of a draft renovation risk assessment, revised Aug. 22, 2014. "Some comments by academics cite the closure as evidence of the museum’s lack of interest in working class history . . . . The removal of this module represents minimal risk to the museum, though it will entail communications challenges to the academic community,” says the document.

OK - WAIT A MINUTE. So academics are the only people interested in working class/labour issues? Classes of school kids that have it in their curriculum to learn about the history of the strike and other labour issues are dismissed as "academics"? Thank you for your condescending air. Sorry that as a working class person you want to know more about our history, or recall how mostly soldiers were the ones striking as they were promised things the govt. and businesses never delivered for dying on the fields in WWI.

Go fuck yourself History Museum. Never thought I'd say that.

The exhibit, which opened in 1999, was modelled after a meeting room in the Labour Temple on James St. in Winnipeg, where union members met to debate, organize and vote in the months leading up to, and during, the massive strike. It's being removed to make room for the Canadian History Hall, which is scheduled to open July 1, 2017. I'll be dammed if I go.

Because 30,000 people is just not that important. Sorry guys.

The Canadian Museum of History has come under public scrutiny in the past couple of years, following a controversial change in name — it was formerly known as the Canadian Museum of Civilization — and mandate that had critics accusing the Conservative government of using the Crown Corporation to rewrite history in its image.

Chinese Tomb Reveals Awesome Bling

Lastly, something less depressing and way more flashy. After workers discovered the brick tomb by chance at a construction site in Nanjing, China, archaeologists from Nanjing Museum and the Jiangning District Museum of Nanjing City excavated it back in 2008. Their findings, originally published in Chinese in the journal Wenwu, have recently been translated into English and published in a recent issue of the journal Chinese Cultural Relics. (Reported by History TV)

The archaeologists found that water had damaged the tomb, but the occupant’s skeletal remains remained inside. In addition, the tomb’s interior sparkled with gold baubles, including hairpins, bracelets and a small fragrance box. All are intricately engraved in designs of lotus petals, chrysanthemums and flames, and all are inlaid with precious gems, including rubies, sapphires and turquoise.

BLING!

 
The owner of the tomb had a beautifully adorned but challenging life. Her story really tells a lot about women in Traditional China, their lives and their deaths.

Two stone inscriptions, or epitaphs, found inside the tomb identify its occupant as one Lady Mei, and tell the story of her life in Ming Dynasty China more than five centuries ago. Born around 1430, she was probably a teenager when she married the decades-older Mu Bin, a duke of Qian who ruled Yunnan province in southwestern China. A former concubine, she would probably have been lower in status than Mu Bin’s two other wives.

Ten months after she gave birth to a son, Mu Zong, her husband died. According to her epitaphs, Lady Mei was then only 21 years old, “unwashed and unkempt, and called herself the survivor.” She dedicated herself to the care of her infant son, and began carefully grooming him to become a third-generation duke. Among other things, she “urged him to study hard mornings and evenings, and taught him loyalty and filial devotion, as well as services of duty.”

When it was time for Mu Zong to take the reins in Yunnan, Lady Mei traveled with him to meet the Chinese emperor, who was impressed by Lady Mei and later awarded her the title “Dowager Duchess.” Her son gave her much respect, and turned to her for advice on being a judicious leader and a faithful representative of the emperor. Specifically, as the epitaphs relate, she provided Mu Zong with “strategies for bringing peace to the barbarian tribes and pacifying faraway lands.”

Lady Mei was only in her mid-40s when she died of illness in 1474. She was brought to Nanjing for burial; the city served as the capital of China during the early Ming Dynasty. The emperor himself apparently ordered officials to prepare for Lady Mei’s funeral and burial. Meanwhile, the epitaphs describe widespread mourning for the Dowager Duchess back in her son’s province: “On the day of her death, the people of Yunnan, military servicemen or civilians, old and young, all mourned and grieved for her as if their own parents had passed.

William Haines: A Brave Gay Man in Hollywood

This week was Pride Week in my hometown, and I volunteered as I always do for the Calgary's Queer History Project booth. I was speaking to a friend about the current acceptance of gay and lesbian actors in Hollywood and she asked me if I knew who the first one that was 'out'.

I do, but only because I recently read a really good book Wisecracker: The Life and Times of William Haines, Hollywood's First Openly Gay Star. William (Billy) Haines (1900-1973) was a silent-screen movie idol. Good looks, decent acting, and a sharp tongue won him a host of fans.

I can't see why they thought he was hot in the 1920s, no not at all.

He started out in 1922, by sending his photograph to a "New Faces" contest sponsored by movie producer Samuel Goldwyn. Haines won and started his film career under contract with Goldwyn's MGM but was loaned out to other studios. His break out came with Brown of Harvard (1926) with Joan Crawford, who became a life long friend. Haines was named a top-five box office star from 1928 to 1932. He was known for being seriously hot, funny, and a smart-ass.

Then he fell in love. On a trip to New York in 1926, Haines met James "Jimmie" Shields. He convinced him to move to Los Angeles with him, where he could get him work as an extra. Shields agreed. They became a couple and stayed together for the next 40 years, until Haines death. Joan Crawford once remarked that they were the happiest married couple in Hollywood.

From left: Shields, Haines, Joan Crawford, and unknown dude in the 1940s. I love men in black tie.

While his friends had no problem with him being gay, the rest of the country had issues. In the 1920s, homosexuality and sexuality for many in big urban areas was to be celebrated. The puritanical-ism of the depression in the 1930s things changed. In 1933, Haines was arrested with a sailor he had picked up. The MGM studio head Louie B Mayer informed him that either he agree to a sham marriage or a lavender marriage, end his relationship with Shields, or his career was over.

Haines was awesome. He refused to deny his homosexuality.

He rejected Hollywood hetro-normative demands and decided to leave acting. Using his connections, Haines became an interior designer, creating furniture and designing beautiful homes for the rich and famous in Hollywood. But don't let that fool you into thinking they just gave him work. Haines was one of the best ever and became a legend in the design world. His furniture is still in demand, with two chairs having been sold recently for $43,000.

Don't think his life was easy. He and his partner were beat up at least on one occasion in 1936 by an angry mob of reportedly white supremacists from their home. No charges were laid, of course. The couple settled in Brentwood, California. Haines died of lung cancer at the age of 72. A sad ending note, however. His life partner Shields could not live without him, and committed suicide soon after.

Rest in peace, you magnificent man.

Flashback: The Return to Soviet Era Life for Russian Gays

Source: 76 Crimes

 During the recent Sochi 2014 Olympics, a lot of the focus was on the countries' anti-gay laws.
The Russian law outlaws pro-gay "propaganda" that could be accessible to minors. Critics say it is so restrictive and vague that it deters almost any public expression of support for gay rights.What was missing from the reports was the historical preceedence for this decision. The attitudes and legislation in Russia against Gay and Lesbians is unfortunately not new.

I found an article from the Calgary Herald dated June 1993, "Russia: Anti-gay law wiped from books". In 1993 Russian legislators had formally lifted the Soviet era law declaring male homosexuality a crime. The law, Article 121, was a holdover from the criminal code and made Russia one of the few countries in Europe that considered male homosexuality a crime punishable up to five years in prison. Ten men had been sentenced in 1992 for the crime, and 1989 some 500 men were sent to jail for being homosexual.

One of the fall-outs from criminalizing gay people is the increase in AIDS and lack of treatment in Russia. Many gay men "were very scared they would be thrown in jail if they went to the doctor for a STD", said Dima Lychev, eidotr of the gay newspaper One In Ten. Such restrictions had cast doubt on official stats on AIDS in Russia at the time, saying 650-700. Activists have said the actual number is at least 10 times higher.

Around 1.4 million people in Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia were living with HIV at the end of 2011, representing an HIV prevalence of 1 percent. Around 140,000 became infected in 2011 and 92,000 died from AIDS related illnesses; there was a 21 percent increase in AIDS-related deaths between 2005 and 2011.

 

It is estimated that over two-thirds of the area’s infected people live in Russia, and combined with Ukraine, these two countries account for almost 90 percent of the region's newly reported HIV diagnoses. Both countries also have the highest number of people living with HIV relative to the general population; adult HIV prevalence is 0.8 percent in Ukraine and between 0.8 and 1.4 percent in Russia. (See avert's report) What will the stats look like after the new anti-gay laws wreak their havoc is not too hard to guess.

Around 1.4 million people in Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia were living with HIV at the end of 2011, representing an HIV prevalence of 1 percent.1 Around 140,000 became infected in 2011 and 92,000 died from AIDS-related illnesses; there was a 21 percent increase in AIDS-related deaths between 2005 and 2011.2
- See more at: http://www.avert.org/hiv-aids-russia-eastern-europe-central-asia.htm#sthash.2jxArsmV.dpuf

Around 1.4 million people in Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia were living with HIV at the end of 2011, representing an HIV prevalence of 1 percent.1 Around 140,000 became infected in 2011 and 92,000 died from AIDS-related illnesses; there was a 21 percent increase in AIDS-related deaths between 2005 and 2011.2
- See more at: http://www.avert.org/hiv-aids-russia-eastern-europe-central-asia.htm#sthash.2jxArsmV.dpuf

Around 1.4 million people in Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia were living with HIV at the end of 2011, representing an HIV prevalence of 1 percent.1 Around 140,000 became infected in 2011 and 92,000 died from AIDS-related illnesses; there was a 21 percent increase in AIDS-related deaths between 2005 and 2011.2
- See more at: http://www.avert.org/hiv-aids-russia-eastern-europe-central-asia.htm#sthash.2jxArsmV.dpuf