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Daahk t1_jdldl00 wrote

Reply to comment by pastesale in Darcelle, world's oldest working drag queen, dies at 92 by PhillipCrawfordJr

Genuine question coming from someone that's ignorant, had she declared that she would like to be called she? Or is that a drag queen thing in general?

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RPDRNick t1_jdlgz9g wrote

Think of drag queens like characters portrayed by actors. You'd refer to Bart Simpson as he/him, but Bart's voice Nancy Cartwright as she/her.

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GlowUpper t1_jdnnzj2 wrote

It's also important to note that there are exceptions to this rule (Joe Black for example uses he/him even while performing). But as a general guideline, this is correct.

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pseudonympersona t1_jdlebvj wrote

Although there are trans drag queens (and kings!) for sure, general convention is to use she/her pronouns when referring to a queen's drag persona.

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savorie t1_jdlzw2h wrote

RuPaul seems to go by he/him all the time, when in drag or not. I’ve never heard feminine pronouns applied to him in any context. I assume RuPaul’s a unique exception because he doesn’t have a separate character name?

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MillyBDilly t1_jdnj9s5 wrote

He is an exception. In fact they have stated you can use either.

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Projectrage t1_jdoq2z5 wrote

Cole was he/him when in person and she when in character.

Darcelle often said Marilyn Monroe was the ultimate drag queen because she was creating a female persona.

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woofiegrrl t1_jdlnsjb wrote

The article establishes this pretty well. Walter Cole was a gay man who used male pronouns; Darcelle was a character he played who used female pronouns.

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whatafuckinusername t1_jdrcrbo wrote

So why is everyone using exclusively female pronouns when it wasn’t just the drag queen who died but the man who portrayed her as well?

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KingGatrie t1_jdled0r wrote

Generally you use she/her pronouns for feminine drag personas and he/him for masc personas. You are referring to the character they are acting out so pronouns don’t necessarily align with the persons gender expression.

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Little-Guava666 t1_jdlwire wrote

It says in the article that while in drag as Darcelle preferred to be called she/her and while out preferred he. His name is Walter Cole, a US army vet at that!

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Thriftyverse t1_jdngj3e wrote

In the article, It is mentioned that they preferred female pronouns when in drag and male pronouns when not in drag.

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