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Play by Thomas Middleton and Thomas Dekker

Scene depiction of William Shakespeare's As You Like It, featuring the cross-dressing character Rosalind as Ganymede

William Dorsey Swann - First known drag queen to have been a slave in the 1800s

Short story


Drag queens from the 1800s. Photo with 3 "drag queens" is 3 Yale acting students imitating queens


Late 19th/Early 20th century drag queens

1920s Flapper Drag Queen

In the 1920s, drag becomes associated with the LGBTQ+ community with "drag balls". Parties for LGBTQ+ individuals to meet

Billy Richards, popular in the 1930s
The 1930s marks the decade when queens began to wear elaborate dresses

The 1950s popularized drag shows in the LGBTQ+ community

The 1960s is the decade when modern drag - the image we think of when we hear "drag queen" - began
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Drag Magazine, from left to right 1971, 1971, 1973, 1974
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