Take time to remember drag history
Guest Commentary
by Janice Covington February 18, 2011
http://goqnotes.com/10048/take-time-to-remember-drag-history/The art of drag is a very serious part of the LGBT community. Being a drag queen makes you a member of a unique family that many others, either straight or LGBT, don't understand. I hope this article will enlighten you in a way that will help you understand and give drag queens the respect that many of them deserve.
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Drag queens have been involved in LGBT advocacy since the early days of our movement, like the leadership at the famous Compton's Cafeteria demonstration in 1967 and the Stonewall Riots in New York City in 1969. If there was trouble in our community, the drag queen was at the forefront of the problem to make a stand and take action. Gay bashing was at an all-time high in San Francisco's Castro district — these hate crimes were ignored by the bigoted police of the times. The non-action by law enforcement inspired the drag community along with hustlers and other street folk to organize and patrol the streets in the tenderloin of San Francisco as a vigilante group called the Lavender Panthers. They protected the gay community from assaults and murder from 1970 to 1974.
