Onstage, all gender expressions are celebrated.Įvery drag king has their own reasons for wanting to take on the trappings of a drag king persona. Performances take many forms and often push gender boundaries and subvert social norms, showcasing traditional female-to-male drag, female-to-male-to-female drag, as well as androgyny, burlesque, dapperlesque, questioning, nonconforming, trans, and transitioning themes. It wasn’t long before I agreed to join her onstage.ĭrag king shows have become an important forum for gender expression. The crowds, who were mostly lesbians, couldn’t get enough they showered her with dollar bills like men at a strip club. Her performances were a little bit raunchy, a little bit sweet, and always shocking-they often employed bondage, whipped cream, and a less-than-subtle male package. She invited me into the small, cramped, and questionable bars that hosted her events, usually once a month, on a slow night of the week. I began dating a girl who went by the moniker Randy Andy and happened to be the reigning drag king of Seattle. After coming out in a small suburb, I started spending more time in Seattle, trying to find my community. My own introduction to the scene came by chance. Some of them haven’t even heard of drag kings. Many of my queer friends who have been out for years have never been to a performance. Today, the scene doesn’t have stable venues or an established following. The host bars regularly folded or changed ownership, and kings were never given top billing. Even then, the underground shows weren’t well advertised. In Portland and Seattle, drag king shows experienced their heyday in the early 2000s, when they were used as a way to bring the LGBTQ+ community together under one roof. While drag queens have found a loyal following as shows like RuPaul’s Drag Race and films like The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert have gained mainstream popularity, drag king performances and venues have remained largely under the radar. Backstage at a king show, you are likely to find more finely groomed mustaches than wigs and more chest binders than lacy push-up bras. Most drag kings are female or female-identified, but their stage personas flaunt facial hair, masculine swagger, and boyish charm while they lip sync to rock ballads, country songs, and hair-metal standards. I had found my community.Ĭompared to the glamorous drag queen, the drag king is often overlooked and underrepresented in queer spaces. I had never felt such positive affirmation. As I leaned forward, my drag partner, decked out as a football player, dropped his leggings, threw his helmet to the side, and prepared to consummate our newfound love as the sweet crooning of Foreigner’s “I Want to Know What Love Is” fueled our onstage passion. I wore a feather boa and a felt beret, and my cheeks were covered in peach fuzz. In the front row, through the glare of the stage lights, I saw both looks of shock and grins of pleasure.
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