Making Black Queer History: William Dorsey Swann
William Dorsey Swann was born into slavery in Hancock, Maryland on November 4th, 1860. At the end of the Civil War, his parents bought a farm, and shortly after that, Swann began his first job as a hotel waiter. He was caught stealing books from the Washington Library Company (as well as an object from his employers' home) at 24 years old, charges of petty larceny he plead guilty to and was subsequently sentenced to six months in jail.
However, luck - and possibly genuine allyship - were on his side: his former employers, as well as the judge and Assistant US Attorney assigned to his case, all supported a presidential pardon on his behalf, arguing he was "free from vice, industrious, refined in his habits, and associations, gentle in his disposition, courteous in his bearing" (quote indirectly attributed to the case). This petition was founded on the grounds that he had demonstrated an effort to improve his own education and provide for his family.
Swann was not only the first U.S. American to lead a gay resistance group, but also the first official drag queen, or as he called himself, a "queen of drag." He organized a series of drag balls in Washington, D.C. throughout the 1880s and 1890s, the majority of the attendees of which were formerly enslaved African Americans. A group of regulars formed the "House of Swann", one of the earliest examples of a drag house or "haus", a.k.a. an organized attempt at creating a LGBTQ found family. Because these drag events were considered taboo, invitations were most frequently placed in the secrecy of safe spaces like the YMCA.
Due to the rampant prejudice against queer folk, free Black folk, formerly enslaved people, and especially people who were all of the above, Swann's home was raided and he and his guests were arrested by the police on multiple occasions. The most infamous of these instances took place on April 12, 1888, during which Swann was arrested at his thirtieth birthday party - the first ever documented case of an arrest made on the grounds of "female impersonation." That was the origin of what I would argue is his most legendary quote, "You is no gentleman", words Swann spoke in abject fury to an arresting offer.
These words made clear exactly what qualms Swann and his fellow Black and queer Americans had with the current establishment: rich and working class whites alike, but especially white nonqueer male landowners, often shared the unfounded belief that they were inherently more sophisticated - and deserving of this perception by others - as a result of their social privilege. These whites thought of themselves as white knights; protectors of white women, white children, and Manifest Destiny, but their desire to defend the innocent and vulnerable from harm did not extend beyond those they viewed as their own kin. By common standards today, this definition of "gentlemanly behavior" is quite ungentlemanly, a sentiment not echoed but rather originating with Swann's famous words of defiance.
Swann died at age 65 on December 23, 1925 after a long life of unapologetic devotion to the Black and queer community of Hancock. Local officials burned his home to the ground in the wake of his death, but their cruel actions failed to tarnish, let alone outlive, his legacy.
"You is no gentleman." — William Dorsey Swann
You might not know that he...
Was fully literate; capable of both reading and writing in English
Had an intimate relationship with Pierce Lafayette
Requested a pardon from President Grover Cleveland, who refused to grant it (July 29, 1896)
And his drag balls laid the foundation for modern day "voguing" with the cakewalk, a dance that mimicked the mannerisms of plantation owners
Was the first American on record who pursued legal and political action to defend the LGBTQ community's right to gather
William Dorsey Swann, the Queen of Drag (Rediscovering Black History)
The First Drag Queen Was a Former Slave (The Nation)
House of Swann: Where Slaves Became Queens (Channing Joseph, Whiting)
William Dorsey Swann: The first "Queen of Drag" (American Masters, PBS)
How a former slave became the world's first drag queen (Alva French, Dan John, BBC)
The First Drag Queen (Channing Joseph, American Academy in Berlin)
William Dorsey Swann (Otis Alexander, Black Past)
From slavery to voguing: the House of Swann (Marjorie Morgan, National Museums Liverpool)
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