[PHOTOS] 40 years (and more) of drag in West Hollywood

Drag performers are more than just entertainers: they are activists and community leaders who have helped lift spirits, raise funds, and lead campaigns.

Mark Mark
Jun 25, 2025 - 20:00
0 52
Long before they were mainstream superstars themselves, drag performers attracted the attention—and in many cases, collaborated with—movie stars, recording artists, and other celebrities. Here, Bette Midler poses with drag queens at Studio One. | Pat Rocco photographs and papers, ONE Archives at USC Libraries

Presented as part of the City of West Hollywood’s 40th anniversary, It’s Where I Belong tells the story of this unique landmark for fierce and fabulous drag performance.

Long before drag queens and kings became international superstars, they held a place of pride as local legends. Rooted deeply in community, drag performers serve flawless artistry, colorful cultural commentary, and unabashed challenges to the status quo. However, even while drag has been celebrated, it has also faced challenges: from raids on nightlife venues to attacks from conservative politicians. And yet, drag artists continue to fight back, proving that glamour is a crucial tactic of queer resistance and joy.

Central to the exhibition is a salon-style wall of photographs—gathered from institutional archives and community members’ closets—highlighting the intimacy and expressiveness of drag. These stunning images showcase the thrill of dressing up for one’s first Pride or Halloween festivities and the dedication of professional drag artists who routinely make magic on stages, screens, and the streets.

As with all things drag, too much is never enough: every sequin, swish, and side-eye tells its own story. Curator Lil Miss Hot Mess has graciously shared her favorite photos with GayCities.

Related

Drag queen forces cops to wait until she finishes her number during bar raid
When police swarmed the bar over liquor license violations, drag artist Blade Matthews took the stage. What she did was iconic.

Individual Photos & Objects

Drag performers from the infamous group the Cosmetics, who were regulars at the club Peanuts (which initially began as a lesbian nightclub), ride in a convertible in the Christopher Street West pride parade in June 1986. Many of the exhibition’s photographs were taken at pride parades over the decades, as drag performers stepped out of the nightclubs and onto the streets. | Kent Garvey photographs, ONE Archives at USC Libraries.
Photographer Mick Hicks captures the essence of West Hollywood as a meeting place for diverse cultures and communities—as an historic home not only to LGBTQ+ communities but also to Russian Jews—at the 1997 pride parade. | Mike Hicks

In addition to materials from the ONE Archives at USC Libraries, the exhibition features images contributed through a community call. 

Long before they were mainstream superstars themselves, drag performers attracted the attention—and in many cases, collaborated with—movie stars, recording artists, and other celebrities. Here, Bette Midler poses with drag queens at Studio One. | Pat Rocco photographs and papers, ONE Archives at USC Libraries

Throughout the exhibit, visitors will spot celebrities like Lucille Ball, Bea Arthur, and Jennifer Coolidge, and several music videos also highlight collaborations with Diana Ross, Gloria Estefan, and Chappell Roan.

A young El Daña—recently named the oldest living drag king in the Guinness Book of World Records—can be seen performing in 1969. Though El Daña has lived in California’s Central Valley, she frequently traveled to Southern California in the 1970s and 1980s to perform. | El Daña

Drag kings share many affinities with queens, but also present unique styles of drag that are all their own. Unfortunately, West Hollywood (like many gay locales and venues) has not always been a welcoming home to drag kings, though in recent years, that has begun to change. In the spirit of conjuring more drag king events in West Hollywood (and beyond), the exhibit presents a collection of archival materials stretching out across Los Angeles County.

This photo highlights an ACT UP “zap” at Cedar-Sinai Hospital in March 1989. The hospital lacked an AIDS ward, which was corrected shortly after this protest. | Chuck Stallard, ONE Archives at USC Libraries

Drag performers are more than just entertainers: they are activists and community leaders who have helped lift spirits, raise funds, and lead campaigns at various historical moments.

The West Hollywood cheerleaders began in 1986 when gay men started dressing in drag as cheerleaders to visit people with AIDS in hospitals. The group continues to this day, volunteering and spreading cheer to end stigma and discrimination surrounding HIV/AIDS. | William S. Tom photographs, ONE Archives at USC Libraries

The cheerleaders can be seen in many iterations across the gallery’s walls.

This photograph, contributed by self-described “crackerjack archivist” @GayInterestPhoto, highlights a group of club-kid-inspired drag performers posing before a night out. | photographer unknown, courtesy @GayInterestPhoto

Drag doesn’t only happen in nightclubs and parades, but also at home: in the intimacy of getting ready and the creation of chosen families.

Photographer Austin Young created this portrait originally for the 2016 exhibition “A Brief History of Drag” (held as part of the City of West Hollywood’s One City One Pride LGBTQ Arts Festival), noting, “It was one of the best experiences I’ve had in the last 25 years of doing photography.” | Austin Young
The exhibition highlights several examples across decades, including several copies of the legendary Dragazine, created by Lois Commondenominator (aka Freddie Bercovitz) in West Hollywood, here featuring the final issue with cover girl Vaginal Davis. | One Archives

Before the advent of social media, drag performers and LGBTQ+ communities created their own print media, from glossy magazines to DIY zines. The exhibition includes cover stories of drag kings in famed lesbian magazines Curve and On Our Backs, as well as contemporary zines created by Manny Oakley and Samara Goodman.

In November 1972, nine people were arrested on charges of lewd conduct while attending the Universal Ball — a fate not uncommon at the time for drag performers and other members of queer and trans communities, who were targeted by anti-vice and “morality” laws across the US. Dubbed the “Innocent 9” they held drag shows and other community fundraisers to support their defense. | Newspapers reproductions courtesy of ONE Archives at USC Libraries

It’s Where I Belong is organized by One Institute, curated by Lil Miss Hot Mess. This exhibition is made possible through an arts grant from the City of West Hollywood. Special thanks to ONE Archives at USC Libraries and local community members who contributed loans and exhibition copies.

Installation Shots

As the exhibition’s centerpiece, a salon-style photo wall leans into the over-the-top maximalism and defiant messiness of drag, invoking a spirit of dazzling stimulation rather than a neat chronology or typology. | Nicolette Jackson-Pownall

Drag is both a material and ephemeral art form: on the one hand, offering rich archives of glitter and sequins, but on the other, leaving only the slightest trace of legendary moments in one’s mind. As seen here, the exhibit also showcases costumes (including this one from legendary queen Jackie Beat), as well as video (here a collection of archival videos of drag king performances from around Los Angeles).

Here, viewers can see a costume from drag king Johnny Gentleman, as well as a compilation of performance videos from the iconic Showgirls night at Micky’s, shot and preserved by Myles Matisse, and featuring legends like Raja, Jasmine Masters, and Glen Allen | Nicolette Jackson-Pownall

The exhibition draws inspiration and source material from homegrown archives and collections at the ONE Archives at USC, constructing an extended drag family across West Hollywood and beyond.

The exhibition includes jewelry on view here, including the original tiara from the Best in Drag Show pageant, a crown worn by drag king Justyn Caze of the Imperial Court of Los Angeles and Hollywood, and costume jewelry by mid-century artist and drag performer Sascha Brastoff (who can be seen in the photo in the bottom right). | Nicolette Jackson-Pownall

This wall of images not only celebrates the gorgeous diversity of drag culture but also invites reflections on who is missing and insists that the project of building a community of belonging is always a work in progress. Encouraging drag performers of different aesthetics, scenes, and eras to “rub elbows” with one another offers an urgent reminder of the power and possibility in expressing one’s most authentic self while building unwavering solidarity. 

At left are get-out-the-vote posters, a costume, and a key to the City of West Hollywood belonging to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, an order of drag nuns who are “dedicated to the promulgation of universal joy and the expiation of stigmatic guilt.” At the center are two posters from the 2023 Drag March, organized by the Los Angeles LGBT Center and more than 40 community groups to combat intensifying anti-drag legislation and attacks, proudly insisting that “drag is not a crime.” At right is “Portrait of Everyone Who Shows Up in Drag,” created by Austin Young in 2016, celebrating the spirit of inclusion that defines this art form. | Nicolette Jackson-Pownall

The exhibition also documents the power of drag to build community and catalyze activism. In 2023, the Sisters were honored with a Community Hero Award by the LA Dodgers, a surprisingly controversial decision resulting in a revocation and subsequent restoration of that honor.

One Gallery (626 N Robertson Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90069)
May 22-June 29, 2025, Fridays-Sundays, 1-6pm

Read More