It was a production to prepare D’Arcy Drollinger for her first official appearance as San Francisco Drag Laureate.
The artist, nightclub owner and newly appointed government official stood in the living room of her San Francisco apartment while two aides struggled with a set of jeweled, custom-made fake nails and dressed her in a pair of white patent leather stiletto heels and a tight pink skirt suit. Eventually, Drollinger left home and had a very busy schedule.
“I’m speaking before the San Francisco Arts Commission,” Drollinger said. “I’m also speaking before the Entertainment Commission on the same day. I will also speak at a high school. I will take part in the parade with the mayor.”
The word laureate is most commonly associated with the Nobel Prize winner or a poet whose job it is to commemorate official occasions in verse. But a Drag Laureate is something new.
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D’Arcy Drollinger puts on lipstick in her apartment in preparation for her first drag-winning performance in San Francisco.
The city’s LGBTQ task force proposed the creation of the drag laureate position about three years ago, in the darkest days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’ve been through a really tough time,” San Francisco Mayor London Breed said a few days before the flag-raising ceremony that kicks off the city’s annual Pride celebration. And so, for city officials, a drag laureate seemed something of a panacea, if not a cure-all thanks to “the creativity and joy that a drag laureate brings.”
Breed said one of Drollinger’s selling points as a candidate for the job, which comes with an 18-month tenure and $55,000 stipend, is her track record as a shine-broadener.
The nightclub owner switched during lockdown to run a food delivery service – “Meals on Heels” – from Oasis, the drag nightclub she owns in downtown San Francisco. Drag performers from Oasis delivered meals and cocktails to local residents, with a side dish of curbside lip-syncing.
“It brought a lot of love and excitement,” Breed said of Drollinger’s drag-performance-inspired food delivery service.
But Breed said recent attacks against drag performers, as well as the tightening of anti-drag legislation in different parts of the country, now make the appointment of a drag honoree particularly important.
“In some communities where that wouldn’t be considered acceptable behavior, there’s a kid who’s like, ‘Oh my God, she’s like me. I can be myself without fear,'” Breed said.
LGBTQ activists across the country are working to fight a number of anti-drag laws currently under discussion in various states.
“It’s scary right now,” said Kylo Freeman, CEO and founder of For Them, a trans-owned brand that makes clothing for transgender people and the driving force behind “Drag is Divine,” an ad campaign aimed at raising awareness and increase funding to help fight anti-drag laws. “The backlash is real.”
A poster for the Drag is Divine advertising campaign.
Freeman said they are thrilled that local governments are highlighting drag culture in such a visible way. In West Hollywood, authorities plan to nominate a drag honoree later this month.
“I think it’s a real step forward to have these roles and give us people who can speak out on behalf of the community in a big way,” Freeman said.
But plans to found a drag laureate in New York, where Freeman is based, have stalled. And Freeman said similar positions won’t be emerging in parts of the country that are less friendly to less LGBTQ people anytime soon, Freeman said.
“We’re so politicized right now,” Freeman said. “And I think we forgot that this is just a human rights issue.”
At the San Francisco Pride launch, Drollinger not only supported the mayor in the traditional unfurling of the Pride flag in front of City Hall – she also posed for photos, gave hugs and delivered her first official speech as a drag winner.
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D’Arcy Drollinger delivers her inaugural speech as drag award winner, flanked by California Senator Scott Wiener (left) and San Francisco Mayor London Breed.
“Drag is many things,” Drollinger told the crowd of assembled dignitaries and members of the local LGBTQ community. “Drag is art. Drag is activism. Drag is joy. Drag helps bring people together. Drag is fabulous.”
Afterwards, Drollinger happily admitted that she didn’t feel quite up to the demands of her new job. For example, standing up at lengthy civic events isn’t particularly compatible with wearing 3-inch stiletto heels.
“I need to reconsider my heels,” she said.
But the country’s first drag award winner said she’s willing to improvise: “Sometimes you have to lip-sync no matter what song you’re running to.”
Audio and digital stories edited by Jennifer Vanasco. Audio produced by Isabella Gomez-Sarmiento.
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