Biography of the First American Drag Queen in the History, William Dorsey

Swann
Early life
There was not much known details of Swann’s childhood. He is an
activist fighting for LGBTQ+ rights in his time. Some sources says that he was
born in the year of 1858 and some also says in the 1860s at Hancock,
Maryland. Both of his parents are slaves which made him automatically a
slave, he’s the fifth child among his 12 siblings. He was freed by Union Soldiers
but the exact date was not stated. His friends call him “the Queen”. He fought
for queer community rights until his death in 1954. His own pronouns were
he/him, even though he dressed drag at his balls, he used masculine pronouns
and clothing all the time.
Activism
According to Cherry (2021), Swann led a group of former slaves and rebel
drag queens known as “House of Swann”. In the late 19 th century and early
20th century, Swann organized series of drag balls in Washington D.C.
According to Joseph (2020), the first recorded ball was on the night of his 30 th
birthday on the year 1988, he organized a ball for all of his friends who are also
drag queens. However, that night the police raided the place where the ball was
held. Resulting to the drag queens escaping through the glass windows and
back door of the place. Swann did the opposite, he tried stopping the police to
enter the place but to no avail. His silk gown was torn by the police. He was
brought to the prison with no top to cover his upper body. This was not the
first nor last time that Swann was arrested but this was the first time that was
recorded hence, the reason why he is known as the first drag queen. Swann
and his friends were said to be described by a psychiatrist as the “lecherous
gang of sexual perverts”. That time, LGBTQ+ community was not well-known
and accepted by the public. Males dressing up as females caused confusion to
the public back then.
Legacy
There is no known photo of Swann himself and the only way that he was
discovered was the news article made when his ball was raided back in the
1988. Joseph the author of Swann’s biography entitled, “House of Swann:
Where Slaves Became Queens — And Changed the World”, described Swann as
a person who protected his own community from the chaos and hostile of the
world. Swann made an historic act when he asked President Grover Cleveland
for pardon from holding a ball event for the queer community. This is the first
time that someone defended the queer community at that time. After he retired,
his brother Daniel J. Swann, continued providing costumes for drag queens
until his death. Swann paved the way so that RuPaul could run.

References:
Joseph, C. (2020, January 31). The first drag queen was a former slave.
The Nation. https://www.thenation.com/article/society/drag-queen-slave-
ball/
Wakefield, L. (2020, February 01). Researcher says first self-described
drag queen was a former slave who ‘reigned over a secret world of drag balls’ in
the 1800s. Pink News. https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/02/01/first-drag-
queen-slave-washington-dc-balls-emancipation-channing-gerard-joseph-
william-dorsey-swann/
Cherry, K. (2021, April 12). William Dorsey Swann: Ex-slave fought for
queer freedom in 1880s as America’s first drag queen. Q Spirit.
https://qspirit.net/william-dorsey-swann-queer/