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The Former Slave Who Became The World’s First Drag Queen
William Dorsey Swann lived his life how he wanted despite constant harassment
Identifying as a Black man in America has had enough difficulties in and of itself throughout history. Having additional marginalized identifies can make life even harder. Consider the case of William Dorsey Swann, a gay former slave who gained freedom, founded the first known queer resistance group and is also credited as the first ever drag queen.
In 1858. Swann was born into slavery in Maryland under the name William Henry Younker. One of 13 children, his family was able to purchase a farm after the conclusion of the Civil War, a conflict that mandated their freedom.
As an adult, he lived in Washington D.C., employed as a waiter at a hotel. He also worked as a janitor at a business college and taught himself to read and write after being denied the ability to attend school earlier in his life.
Having already been freed from one set of bonds, he seemed to have no desire to go to any lengths to hide that fact that he was gay and also enjoyed dressing in drag. In the 1880s and 1890s, he became known for staging annual balls in the nation’s capital where men, most of whom were also former slaves, attended to dance and socialize wearing elegant…
