Drag is a flamboyant performance of exaggerated femininity, masculinity, and other gender kinds of gender expression. It often involves the act of crossdressing but with the added factor of striking and eye-catching features and an extremely flashy presence. It is often performed by cisgender men dressed as women called Drag Queens, but it can be performed by just about any gender.
This page lists drag performers as well as works centered on drag
Creators:
- Adore Delano
- Ariel Versace
- Alaska Thunderfuck
- Bianca Del Rio
- Bob The Drag Queen
- Conchita Wurst
- Courtney Act
- Divine (Actor)
- Gia Gunn
- Ginger Minj
- Heidi N Closet
- Jackie Beat
- Jaymes Mansfield
- Jiggly Caliente
- Jinkx Monsoon
- Juno Birch
- Katya
- Laganja Estranja
- Milk Queen
- Miss Coco Peru
- Miss Fame
- Miz Cracker
- Mo Heart
- Nina Bonina Brown
- Pabllo Vittar
- Pandora Boxx
- Peppermint
- Plastique Tiara
- RuPaul
- Shangela
- Sharon Needles
- Shea Couleé
- Trixie Mattel
- Valentina
- Verka Serduchka
- Willam Belli
- Yuhua Hamasaki
Works:
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Film — Live-Action
- The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert has Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce, and Terence Stamp as a trio of drag queens traveling through Australia. However, Stamp's character is a transgender woman, not a gay man.
- DogMan: Protagonist Douglas "Doug" Munrow (Caleb Landry Jones) performed in drag in a cabaret act.
- Femme (2023): Jules is a cis gay man who's also a drag queen, performing under the name Aphrodite Banks. He's the victim of a Homophobic Hate Crime while in drag.
- High Heels: Prominent character Eduardo Domínguez aka Letal, a judge by day, performs songs of star Becky del Páramo in drag attire mimicking her by night.
- Lévy and Goliath has a prominent supporting character, inspector Delaroche aka "Bijou" (Jean-Claude Brialy), who dresses and behaves drag at all times. He offers a place to heal and rest to the Lévy brothers in a nightclub filled with drag queens and Chippendales Dancers.
- To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar is a comic response to The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, starring Patrick Swayze, Wesley Snipes, and John Leguizamo. Leguizamo is a comedy actor, but the other two are Playing Against Type so hard that it makes their roles so much funnier. Also, the drag queen background characters in the two pageant scenes are played by actual drag queens, including Lady Bunny, Coco Peru, and obviously RuPaul.
Live-Action TV
- The Boulet Brothers' Dragula is a reality competition show not unlike RuPaul's Drag Race but it champions alternative drag performers who deal in the grotesque, horrifying, or just downright disgusting.
- The Fabulous Show with Fay & Fluffy is hosted by the titular duo, who are both drag queens who entertain and educate kids.
- RuPaul's Drag Race, hosted by the most famous drag queen in the world, has been credited with bringing drag performance out of the clubs and into the mainstream. Many queens who appear on the show go on to to have successful performing careers even if they didn't come close to winning their season. Even here on TV Tropes, it's no coincidence that the majority of queens with their own pages are former contestants.
Music
- The Music Video for "Do it With Madonna"
by The Androids has several drag queens dressed up as the performers mentioned in the lyrics, including Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, P!nk, Kylie Minogue and, of course, Madonna.
- Iconic drag queen Divine recorded dance music and had several hits in Europe.
- The "Dragapella" group The Kinsey Sicks consists of four men performing a capella in drag and bill themselves as "America's favorite beautyshop quartet."
- Aside from just his famous show, drag queen RuPaul has also had a lengthy musical career.
- Many of the queens who appear on RuPaul's Drag Race released singles either before or after the show.
- Brazil saw the emergence of two drag queen musicians in The New '10s, Pabllo Vittar and Gloria Groove (the latter also recorded under birth name Daniel Garcia, including from his other job in dubbing).
- Queen's video for "I Want to Break Free" had the members dressing up in drag to parody the long-running soap opera Coronation Street.
Professional Wrestling
- Pro wrestling has so many of these there are not one, not two but three different recurring gimmicks. In the USA, the famous one is Gorgeous George, a wrestler who acts like a stereotypical gay man without actually admitting to being gay. In Mexico, they typically come in the form of exoticos, wrestlers who are openly gay, straight, transgender or otherwise who aim to emasculate their opponents into submission. The third is one of many varieties of men who seek work at all women's events.
- Sonny Kiss, a wrestling cheerleader who dresses more like a traditional Pom-Pom Girl with her two piece outfit than the standard male bodysuit.
Stand-Up Comedy
- Chouchou, the neurotic Algerian drag queen persona created by Gad Elmaleh. Got adapted into a film in 2003.
Theatre
- The Dame in traditional British Pantomime. "Her" actual name and role depends on the story, but there's always one character played as a comedy drag queen. Often the Dame character is the mother or nanny of the protagonist. Cinderella pantomimes sometimes use two Dames as the Ugly Sisters.
Visual Novel
- The third case of Murder by Numbers (2020) takes place at Magellan's, a drag bar owned by KC's drag mother, Fran Tasia. The killer stole a pride float and crashed it into the bar, killing a regular who happened to be outside, and the characters ponder whether it was a homophobic attack or not. Fran herself turns out to have been the culprit, as part of an Insurance Fraud scheme, with the victim getting hit by accident. The case also features a rare cis female drag queen in the form of Roz Mosis, one of Fran's employees.
Web Comics
- The eponymous hero of The Dragon Queen is a male who likes to dress up as a female superhero and got his start cross-dressing in a Drag Queen bar. The character seems to be tending toward identifying as completely female though.
Web Original
- Give It To Me Straight: Infamous heterosexual queen from RuPaul's Drag Race, Maddy Morphosis, interviews other Drag Race alumni.
- Queer Kid Stuff had an episode devoted to teaching children about dressing in drag, and brought one on the show as a Special Guest.
- World of Wonder Presents Drag Tots about baby drag queens. Voiced by Drag Rage alumni including Adore Delano, Bianca Del Rio, Detox, Latrice Royale and Valentina and of course RuPaul herself.
Western Animation
- Super Drags is naturally about drag queen superheroes with magical powers fighting against a drag queen that sucks rainbow light from other gay people.