In this episode, Megan talks about The Pansy Craze - a period of increased LGBT visibility in popular culture from the late 1920s until the mid-1930s, that came to an end following the Great Depression, The Hays Code and the rise of World War Two.

During the "craze," drag queens, drag kings, masculine women and femme queer men β€” known as "pansy performers" β€” experienced a surge in underground popularity, especially in US cities such as New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.

Check us out across the web!

images:
1 front page of 'Breveties'
2 illustration of "pansy" stealing a sailor from a "working girl" - Breveties
3 #GladysBentley
4 #JeanMalin out of drag
5 Jean Malin in 'Arizona to Broadway'
6 #KarylNorman
7 Karyl Norman
8 #RaeBourbon
9 Rae Bourbon out of drag
10 #WilliamDorseySwann

#pansycraze #thepansycraze #hayscode #thehayscode #queerpodcast #queerhistory #queerhistorypodcast #theseoldqueers

I wrote this for #TheRationalWiki on #WilliamDorseySwann's #Life.

He was the first known #dragqueen in the #UnitedStates, and was involved in the #history of #American #LGBTQ #Activism in Washington, DC just after the Civil war.

β€” #LGBTQIA #Drag #Dragqueens #History

https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/William_Dorsey_Swann

William Dorsey Swann

William Dorsey Swann (March 11, 1860-December 12, 1925) was born in Washington County, Maryland, as William Henry Younker and holds a unique place in history as the first recorded drag queen.

RationalWiki

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-first-self-proclaimed-drag-queen-was-a-formerly-enslaved-man-180982311/

In the late 1880s, a formerly #enslaved man named #WilliamDorseySwann started hosting #private balls known as #drags, a name possibly derived from β€œgrand rag,” an antiquated term for #masquerade balls. Held in #secret in #Washington, D.C., these parties soon caught #authorities’ attention.

The First Self-Proclaimed Drag Queen Was a Formerly Enslaved Man

In the late 19th century, William Dorsey Swann's private parties attracted unwelcome attention from authorities and the press

Smithsonian Magazine
William Dorsey Swann

William Dorsey Swann (March 11, 1860-December 12, 1925) was born in Washington County, Maryland, as William Henry Younker and holds a unique place in history as the first recorded drag queen.

RationalWiki

πŸ³οΈβ€πŸŒˆ From slavery to voguing: the House of Swann - a guest blog by @MarjorieMorgan on the incredible and previously hidden history of William Dorsey Swann, the 18th century Queen of Drag and pioneer of modern ballroom culture.
#LGBTHistoryMonth #LGBT #LGBT+ #WilliamDorseySwann #Drag #Voguing #LiverpoolMuseums

https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/stories/slavery-voguing-house-of-swann

From slavery to voguing: the House of Swann

What is Drag? Where did the concept of Drag Queens start? There are multiple answers to those two simple questions.  Drag has been variously described as the theatrical performance of gender, a man in a dress, 'wearing clothes of the opposite sex, creative self-expression that uses costume, makeup and/performance to play with traditional notions of gender'.

National Museums Liverpool