KPFA Radio Presents Drag Laureate D'Arcy Drollinger - Interview by Eric "Cinnamon Sugarshoes" Jansen

Eric Jansen hosts this interview with D'Arcy Drollinger.

While many states are restricting drag, D'Arcy Drollinger, the world's first Drag Laureate, tells us how she has crafted this new role, spreading the humor and "sparkle" of drag to make positive change in the world. Through performance clips we hear in this feature, Drollinger shows us the joy of drag and explains how it could help us all.

Drollinger -- who uses "she" when in drag, "he" when in “boy clothes” -- was appointed San Francisco’s Drag Laureate in May 2023 to celebrate drag as an art form and enhance the city’s tarnished tourism draw. A year into the role, Drollinger has initiated an annual Day of Drag and taken steps toward creating a drag mall in one of San Francisco's many vacant retail spaces.

Meanwhile, at least three states have severely restricted drag performance and 15 more have similar bills advancing. Under Arizona’s proposed law, for example, a drag performer just reading a book in front of a child could be imprisoned for more than 10 years and registered as a sex offender.