Hiya darlings! Welcome back to Pink-Tutu.com, the hottest destination for all things drag! It's your girl, Emma, and today we're jet-setting back to a very special date in drag history: September 9th, 2001. Grab your sparkly tiaras, girlies, because this trip is gonna be positively fabulous!
Now, as you all know, my magical pink tutu and I love a good journey through time, but September 2001 has always been a date I circled in my little black book, darlings! Why? Well, September 9th marked a major turning point in drag - the opening of The Stonewall Inn in New York! You might be saying, "But Emma, darling, the Stonewall Inn was already open!" And you would be right, but this was a very special occasion: a complete rebuild after a fire the previous year. It was a grand reopening! Now, you could say this date is the beginning of the rebirth of the Stonewall which is legendary, simply legendary!
My pink tutu and I zipped right over to New York, darling! The energy was palpable. Everyone was giddy with excitement for this amazing celebration of LGBTQ+ history and community! The Stonewall Inn has a long and proud story and I was thrilled to be there for its reemergence. It's a testament to the resilience and determination of the community to rebuild something so vital, and I'm truly grateful that history gave me a chance to be there to witness it, tutu and all!
Now, as you know, dear reader, I adore drag shows, and while in NYC I couldn’t not go see one! That evening I got dressed up to the nines - sequins, feathers, pink, oh my! (Of course, my fabulous tutu got an outfit change, darlings! She deserves to be out there amongst all that glitz and glamour). It felt surreal watching all these incredible queens performing - such passion, such artistry, and oh so much fabulousness! They all seemed to be celebrating the reopening of The Stonewall Inn in their unique ways. Each show felt like a little celebration of our own unique identities. I was truly inspired!
As much as I wanted to stay in New York forever and witness more drag history unfold, there were other events taking place all over the world! My trusty pink tutu was ready to fly and we weren’t going to miss a beat!
Let's head to the West Coast, darling! In the beautiful, glamorous city of Los Angeles, "Drag Wars", *the inaugural season of this fabulous competition, had started at *The Abbey, a legendary Los Angeles LGBTQ+ nightclub. This competition showcased talented queens who, after surviving multiple challenges, battled it out for the coveted title of “Drag SuperStar”, oh my goodness!
Can we say “Iconic!”, darlings?! This event made history.
Next, I hopped to London, a place that always has an exceptional drag scene, with some absolutely brilliant talent and iconic shows that are all just as iconic as they sound, darlings! In September of 2001, the Queen of England herself (Queen of everything! 😉) “Queen Elizabeth II,” was a show at The Kings Head Theatre! *And I tell you, she owned that stage, dear! And if the Queen herself was throwing down in the theatre, the audience at the infamous cabaret club *The RVT was treated to a dazzling evening with *Miss Sink! **Now, Miss Sink, darlings, you just cannot have a 2001 Drag Queen History blog post without a mention! She's just absolutely captivating! And she's so talented! She owned the stage with her dynamic presence and witty humour. She was a complete inspiration to me and my tutu alike!
Finally, let’s do some time traveling back to my lovely home in Derbyshire, darlings! What's happening in the drag scene here? What kind of fashion and looks did they sport? In this early millennium in Derbyshire, we saw drag queens really embracing all sorts of things!
You saw some glamorous queens like me owning their pink tutus (it's always good to encourage local drag! 😅). Then you had some with bold looks like fierce drag fashion queens in rainbow eyeshadow, bright colored platform heels (Oh, we were fabulous, dear!), some were pulling off the classic disco look, complete with sequin dresses and bell bottoms and, my all time favourites, the drag king performances which were totally growing in popularity. Derbyshire was all about experimentation and self expression – which is a perfect representation of the evolution of drag as a whole, and why drag will forever hold a special place in my heart.
The year 2001 really brought the world of drag to another level, darlings! We saw drag in the mainstream with RuPaul’s Drag Race on television, and we even had drag queen makeup tutorials on the internet (Can you imagine, a world without YouTube?! 😨). It was a major turning point for drag as it continued to become even more popular, diverse, and more impactful.
The most important part is that it was a time for community, connection, and self-expression, something that I find is still so important today. So, here's to celebrating the history of drag! May your lives always be filled with laughter, sequins, and lots of fun. Keep an eye out for my next blog post!
Stay fabulous, stay pink, stay YOU,
Love always,
Emma.
Note that, unfortunately, the “Drag Wars” event does not seem to exist in online records or archival footage. If you are aware of the truth and its legacy, I’d love to hear your feedback to continue adding more accurate drag history details into my posts!
