Drag and the New Political Economy of Queer Nightlife

In recent decades, rising rents, lower patronage, and the sexual integration of nightlife have forced hundreds of gay, lesbian, and queer (GLQ+) bars across and beyond the United States to close. In this context, the mainstreaming of drag, especially through RuPaul's Drag Race (2009-), has made both GLQ+ and other restaurants, bars, and clubs eager to capitalize on its rising popularity by hosting drag shows and hiring drag hosts to attract both queer and heterosexual audiences, despite the historic hostility of gay bars toward drag and the definition of gay and trans respectability in opposition to drag queens. While most academic interest in drag has focused on questions about identity, culture, and performance, the professionalization and corporatization of drag calls for greater attention to its spatial and political economic primacy in organizing local and global queer publics. In this Boston-based study, I draw on ethnographic fieldwork, interviews, and archival press reports to present a case study of how drag has scaled from a pathologized subculture to a professionalized multi-billion dollar industry, in turn becoming one of the most reconciliatory strategies for sustaining queer nightlife in the context of neoliberal economic restructuring and Western decline.