ABSTRACT
Activism has always played a central role in drag culture. Drag is more visible in mainstream consciousness than ever before, and the popularity of the reality television program RuPaul’s Drag Race (2009–) has ensured widespread fandom and exposure for the contestants. Subsequently, New York based winners of seasons 8 and 9, Bob the Drag Queen and Sasha Velour, have been outspoken about using their public profile as “America’s next drag superstar’ to highlight the importance of drag as activism. Drag personas have long been used to comment on, and motivate political action, particularly on issues facing the LGBTIQ community at large. This chapter examines how celebrity drag personalities such as Bob and Velour use drag as a form of activism, and how drag personas intersect with politics and national identity online. Historically, the intersection between drag and national identity has been heightened at moments when the LGBTIQ community has been threatened with erasure in matters of policy and debate. In the current American political climate, satirical drag performance is a vital way of drawing attention to the reversal of legal rights facing the LGBTIQ community under Trump.
