William Dorsey Swann (March 1860 – c. December 23, 1925) [2] was an American activist. An African-American born into slavery, Swann was the first person in the United States to lead a gay resistance group and the first known person to self-identify as a "queen of drag". [1]

Jun 9, 2023 · In the late 1880s, a formerly enslaved man named William Dorsey Swann started hosting private balls known as drags, a name possibly derived from “ grand rag,” an antiquated term for masquerade...

Aug 10, 2023 · He was born William Dorsey Swann in slavery in 1858 and was the property of Ann Murray on her plantation in Hancock, Maryland. This location in Washington County was a convenient route for runaway slaves from Virginia and Maryland to Pennsylvania.

William Dorsey Swann was born into servitude and grew up to become one of the first American activists to spearhead a queer resistance group. He was also the...

Jun 17, 2024 · In less than twenty-four hours, William Dorsey Swann found himself convicted of “keeping a disorderly house” (a euphemism for a brothel) and sentenced to ten months in prison—without a bond to get him out this time.

Jan 31, 2020 · His name was William Dorsey Swann, but to his friends he was known as “the Queen.” Both of those names had been forgotten for nearly a century before I rediscovered them while researching at...

Jun 29, 2020 · On January 1, 1896, William Swann was charged with “keeping a disorderly house” (known to be a euphemism for running a brothel). Newspaper accounts of the day reveal that Swann was actually holding a drag ball (as noted in this clipping from the Evening Star) .

Feb 9, 2022 · A former slave, William Dorsey Swann hosted some of America's first drag balls in Washington D.C. in the late 1800s — and fought for queer rights long before Stonewall. Born into bondage, William Dorsey Swann was robbed of all prospects for …

Apr 8, 2024 · Born into slavery, William Dorsey Swann became the first American to lead a queer resistance group, first to self-identify as a “queen of drag,” and first to use the U.S. legal system to defend the queer community.

Jun 28, 2023 · William Dorsey Swann gained notoriety for hosting clandestine drag balls in the 1880s. Nicknamed the "Queen of Drag," Swann nurtured a social scene for Black working class...