Documentation of the resistance explosion
Armed with her camera, Linda Simpson found herself in the heart of New York's burgeoning drag scene in the 1980s. Her new book gives a glimpse into the hedonistic highs and melancholy lows that defined the era
Drag existed in one form or another as early as the 17th century when the theater's connections to the church mandated that only men were allowed to take the stage, which meant they often doubled as female characters. In the 1800s, female mimes were a common feature of theaters in Europe, and variety shows became increasingly popular in the United States.
It is only in the last few decades that drag has really cemented its place in mainstream culture. Documentaries like Paris is Burning help break down taboos around the art form, and the TV show RuPaul & # 39; s Drag Race is now a popular part of the entertainment landscape. The seeds for the success of drag today have their roots in New York in the 1980s, where a young RuPaul's music career was just beginning to blossom and the wider scene was about to explode.
Above: Liz, Pyramid Club, 1992. Above: RuPaul in Union Square Park, where Wigstock took place in 1991
Originally from Minnesota, Linda Simpson quickly found herself at the center of the scene when she moved to New York in the '80s. Her cult magazine My Comrade not only hosted and promoted her weekly night channel 69 in the Pyramid Club, which was adorned by many of the defining queers of the queer scene in downtown Manhattan, but also featured the performers, go-go dancers and the politics of the time . "I was very lucky that my formative years as a drag queen came with this really incredible boom in drag, and I was really right in the middle of it," she says.
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