Palm Springs Pride theme demands support for drag
qvoicenews.comPalm Springs Pride has designated the theme for 2023 Pride Week as “Drag Now. Drag Forever.” Organizers said the move is a way to take a stand against anti-drag bills that have been proposed or passed around the country and the increase in anti-LGBTQ+ extremism as well as an effort to support the historic form of artistic expression and advocacy.
Photo: City of Palm Springs Palm Springs Pride has designated the theme for 2023 Pride Week as “Drag Now. Drag Forever.” Organizers said the move is a way to take a stand against anti-drag bills that have been proposed or passed around the country and the increase in anti-LGBTQ+ extremism as well as an effort to support the historic form of artistic expression and advocacy.
Greater Palm Springs also issued a declaration saying that the city will be a sanctuary for drag and all forms of self-expression. “Greater Palm Springs Pride declares Palm Springs, the Mother Church for Drag in the Coachella Valley, supports drag queens, kings, drag mothers, and baby queens regardless of their realness, flawlessness, disheveled presentation, or fierceness,” Palms Springs Pride said in a press release. “Drag is not a crime.
Drag is art. Drag is entertainment and has existed for hundreds of years and is part of everyday life.” For example, William Dorsey Swann, known to his friends as “the Queen,” reigned over a secret world of drag balls in Washington, D.C., in the 1880s, and is the first known person to dub himself a “queen of drag” or drag queen.
