barcliel-deactivated20170505 asked:

trancefem-deactivated20170319:

I can see how it can be a form of genuine expression for closeted trans or genderqueer people

Absolutely it is.

Though there are many people who create drag that identify as cis gendered, there are countless people who don’t.

Many trans individuals find their way to their transition through drag. So all the while that they are creating drag, they are also discovering their trans selves. There are plenty of individuals who do drag as a creative outlet throughout their transition, and then once they have transitioned, they continue to do drag as self expression AFTER their transition.

Also, in America and within select queer communities throughout the world, where there drag queens who transition FOR their drag. I work in Florida often throughout my tour year, and nearly every queen I know there, started out as a drag queen, and to get a competitive edge on their pageant and work competition, made major gender transitions and body transformations. These are individuals who DECIDED to transition FOR drag. While this is a minority in the trans community, they still exist.

The act of doing drag, in itself, is an act of transcending gender. Even if one identifies as cis, the fact that they make the conscious choice to transcend their gender and choose a career that puts them outside of the gender binary, means that they are included in the overall trans conversation.

I see many people insist that drag is in fact an anti-trans art form, but this is extremely unfair to the trans individuals who participate in the art form and have used drag to find themselves.

Does that mean that all drag artists are open minded and sensitive to trans issues? Absolutely not. But one ignorant individual does not speak for a whole community of artists.