A Mighty “Queen”

William Dorsey Swann was an African-American man born to enslaved parents in Hancock, Maryland before the Civil War. In 1862, Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, bringing an end to the enslavement of black men, women, and children in the United States, including Swann. In the late 1800s, Swann took his freedom and made his way to Washington D. C., where he would pave the way for LGBTQ activism. 

In D. C., William Dorsey Swann organized private “drag” balls. He was known by his friends as the “Queen,” making him the first documented person using the term to describe himself in the context of an event that participants described as a “drag.” When law enforcement discovered the private communities’ activities, they began raiding the balls. An article in the Evening Star details a raid that took place on 12 April, 1888. It documents how police charged into a home, causing attendees to jump out of windows or hide for fear of arrest. However, The National Republican describes the “leaders” of the event standing their ground in protest. “Leaders did not seem to be paralyzed with fear; on the contrary, they showed fight. This was the case with the “Queen,” which character was impersonated by William Dorsey.  The queen stood with an attitude of royal defiance … she said, with a haughty air, ‘You is no gentleman.’ The officer made a grab for the queen but, the touch was too much for the royal one, and she fought the policeman's approach and arrest.” Female described clothing was found and used to convict the eleven arrested “‘girls” for vagrancy. According to the Washington Post, they were sentenced to give bonds to the courts or spend thirty days in jail. 

Despite Swann's arrest, he continued to hold balls in varying locations to avoid arousing police suspicion. He was determined to create an environment of privacy, acceptance, and community in a period where homosexuality and drag were seen as equal to bestiality or a mental illness. In 1889, Police arrested Swann for keeping a “disorderly house,” a term used to describe a brothel. The biased judge is reported to have stated, “I would like to send you where you would never again see a man’s face, and would then like to rid the city of all other disreputable persons of the same kind … Thieving and petty assaults amount to nothing as compared with the conduct of these people.” He was sentenced to ten months imprisonment for a crime he did not commit. Swann attempted to gain his freedom by appealing for a presidential pardon from President Grover Cleveland, making his appeal the first legal avenue taken to fight LGBTQ discrimination.

William Dorsey Swann's story is powerful, but it is rarely told. Our history books lack an in-depth education for the LGBTQ Movement,  a movement that is a crucial part of American culture and identity William Dorsey Swann is a man who, nearly a century before the Stonewall riots, laid the foundation for a vast group of individuals to gain their civil rights, but who is ignored in our history. He refused to be anything but himself. He fought police harassment. He endured imprisonment and public shaming. He was a true American activist. He spent his life creating an environment for all to fully express themselves, constructing a safe place where all are equal. What is more American than that? 

Bibliography

“A ‘Drag’ Party Raided.” The Evening Star (Washington, D.C.). April 13, 1888.

Alva French, Dan John. “How a former slave became the world's first drag queen.” bbc.com. October 8, 2020.

https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p08ts62f/how-a-former-slave-became-the-world-s-first-drag-queen

“Colored Men in Female Attire.” The Washington Post (Washington, D.C.). April 13, 1888.

Joseph, Channing Gerard. “House of Swann: Where Slaves Became Queens.” whiting.org. 2019.

https://www.whiting.org/content/channing-gerard-joseph#/

Joseph, Channing Gerard. “A “Drag” Part Raided.” outhistory.org. 2015. https://outhistory.org/exhibits/show/channing-joseph/drag-party

“The Queen’ Raided.” National Republican.13 Apr 1888, Fri.

Zonkel, Philip. “William Dorsey Swann the 1st drag queen, LGBTQ rights pioneer.” qvoicenews.com. March 5, 2020.

https://qvoicenews.com/2020/03/05/william-dorsey-swann-the-1st-drag-queen-lgbtq-rights-pioneer/