GAY PERCEPTIONS: TO DRAG QUEENS WITH LOVE Nishit Saran May 31, 2000 792 words It is about time someone spoke out for drag queens. The most visible and, sadly, the most ridiculed men in our gay world, these fabulous people truly deserve a break. First, for those who do not know the lingo, some definitions. A “drag queen” is a gay man who likes to wear women’s clothing. This is not the same thing as being transsexual or trans-gendered, which is more a matter of wishing to belong to the opposite sex. And don’t confuse drag queens with transvestites either: transvestite males might like wearing women’s clothing as much as drag queens, but they are – by definition – heterosexual. So, first things first, drag queens do NOT want to be women. They are quite happy being men, thank you. Why women’s clothes, then? That, my dear friends, is the question I am going to try to answer. And the answer is not a matter of psychology but – as you shall see – of politics. Not that I can pretend to speak with authority about DQ life – I have “done drag” only once in my life, and that too at the severest insistence of flamboyant friends. However, I have been very close to enough drag queens in my life – both in India and abroad – to get at least some sense of what makes them tick. Plus, the one time I did drag, I must confess to a certain discovery of the pleasures – both personal and political – that might make some men, how to say, dress differently… Imagine that you DESIRE differently, and do so in a society that hates, ridicules and even punishes you for that difference. Imagine then that, at some point, you decide that ‘enough is enough’ and that living your own life is more important. Imagine finally, that you decide to wear that decision on your sleeve – that you decide to not only accept your difference but also take pride in it in front of the eyes of the world. That, friends, is the brave stuff that drag queens are made of. But, you might say, why flaunt it? Why not let sexuality or desire be a private matter? Why not behave, in a word, NORMALLY? Here, friends, is the crux of the matter. For one can flip the question around and ask: ‘Why hide it?’ What is there to be ashamed of? Why must you act in the way that those in power – be they your parents, your boss or your Constitution – tell you to, if all you are doing is expressing yourself and are not harming anyone in the process? Think, as an analogy, of the pre-Independence Indian situation. Should we all have acted ‘British’ (as some of us did) just because that would have won us some socio-economic advantages? And whose praises do we sing now: those who laid down their life to get us freedom, or those who were the sahibs of the British Raj? But come on, you might argue again: fighting for one’s country and wearing clothes of the opposite sex are two different things. Are they really, though? Are these not both equally a matter of injustice, and of freedom from injustice? Let people be, my friends, and if what people want to do is wear clothes of the opposite sex, then so be it. Moreover, does the patriot wearing ‘khadi’ not make the same kind of political statement as a gay man wearing a skirt? Historically, drag queens have played a more important role in the gay movement than most people might imagine. For these brave men who first showed their finger to the world were instrumental in bringing visibility to the entire question of gay politics and activism. It was they, after all, who first brought homosexuality out of the closet into public discourse. While ‘straight-acting’ gay men were busy trying to hide their sexuality in the early 1940s, drag queens were wearing it as a badge – of their pride, resistance and freedom. It is indeed a tragedy that, even today, some gay men prefer to distance themselves from drag queens than learn from them. So much, so very much, my friends, is a matter of clothes – of how you decide to present yourself to the world. So the next time you see a drag queen, don’t ridicule or patronize her (yes, you must address ‘her’ in the feminine)… Instead, especially if you are gay, salute her for her courage for she has made - believe it or not - even the existence of this section of this web-site possible. And, if you have truly figured it all out, I encourage you to go surf through your mother’s wardrobe right away - for that perfect pink sari to wear to the next gay party!