🪐 The Orbit Dispatch: Issue #5
“We’re all born naked and the rest is drag.”
This issue is a love letter to the queens who twirl in spite of the world, who turn pain into punchlines and lashes into legacy. From rhinestones to revolutions, drag has always been about more than looking fabulous—it’s about saying something loud, proud, and entirely original.
📝 Quick Summary:
🧵 Drag through history
👩🏼🎤 Drag Queens' Cultural Influence
📹 Advertising Campaigns Featuring Drag Queens
📚 Monthly editorial pick: A drag-focused recommendation
👑 I Asked a Drag Race Superfan…
🧵 Historical Origins of Drag Performance
It started in ancient times: In Greek and Roman theatre, only men were allowed to perform, so they played all the female roles too. This carried on through Shakespeare’s time in England.
Where the word “drag” comes from: It might come from old theatre slang (skirts “dragging” on the floor), or possibly from Polari (a form of queer slang), Yiddish, or German words for “wearing clothes.”
Vaudeville days: In the late 1800s and early 1900s, drag became part of mainstream entertainment. Performers like Julian Eltinge became famous for their “female impersonation” acts—but many made a point to say they weren’t queer, since being openly gay was dangerous.
Early queer drag scene: William Dorsey Swann, a formerly enslaved man, hosted drag balls in the 1880s in Washington D.C. He called himself the “queen of drag”—making drag part of queer resistance and community building early on.
Harlem Renaissance (1920s-30s): Drag balls exploded in Harlem, especially in Black and Latino LGBTQ+ communities. These events were full of creativity, fashion, and freedom of expression.
Going underground (1950s-60s): As vaudeville faded, drag moved into gay bars and nightclubs. It was more underground, more rebellious, and often very campy.
Stonewall Riots (1969): Drag queens and trans women of colour, like Marsha P. Johnson, played a big part in fighting back against police raids. Stonewall became a turning point for LGBTQ+ rights, and drag was right there in the middle of it.
Ball culture and chosen families (1970s): In NYC, houses like the House of LaBeija formed as safe spaces for queer people of color. They threw balls where people competed in fashion, dance, and “realness.” Voguing also came out of this scene.
A little mainstream moment (1990s): The film Paris Is Burning showed the world what ballroom culture was all about. Then Madonna released Vogue, borrowing the style and making it famous globally.
Drag goes global (2009–today): When RuPaul’s Drag Race hit screens, everything changed. The show brought drag to the mainstream, created superstars, and helped people around the world understand and celebrate drag culture.
👩🏼🎤 Drag Queens' Cultural Influence:
Music
Drag has influenced pop music for decades—just look at David Bowie, Freddie Mercury, or Boy George.
Lip-syncing to diva anthems like “I Will Survive” is a staple of drag performance.
Artists like Lady Gaga and Lil Nas X use drag aesthetics and push gender boundaries in their visuals.
Some drag queens have become full-on pop stars, like Pablo Vittar.
Fashion
Drag’s bold, creative, and over-the-top style inspires high fashion.
Designers like Mugler, McQueen, and Gaultier have all been influenced by drag’s theatrical flair.
The underground ballroom scene helped shape looks that mixed street style with fantasy.
Queens like Violet Chachki and Sasha Velour now walk runways and star in fashion campaigns.
Even beauty trends like contouring and “baking” started in drag.
Media & RuPaul’s Drag Race
Drag Race brought drag into the mainstream and created a new generation of stars.
The show shares LGBTQ+ stories, celebrates queer identity, and spreads drag culture worldwide.
Drag slang—like “shade,” “tea,” and “yas queen”—is now everywhere.
But the show has faced criticism too, for being too commercial or not representing all parts of drag culture equally.
Contemporary Art
Drag themes—like transformation, performance, and identity—are a big part of modern art.
Even famous artists like Duchamp and Warhol explored drag personas.
Today, artists like Victoria Sin and Devan Shimoyama use drag in their visual and performance art.
Drag is now seen in galleries and museums, proving its cultural importance beyond nightlife.
Cultural Impact
Drag is about more than performance—it’s a form of expression, resistance, and community.
It challenges gender norms, embraces queerness, and often acts as a form of protest.
Mainstream success (thanks to shows and events like DragCon) creates new opportunities—but also brings concerns around commercialization.
As drag becomes more visible, it’s also facing backlash, including anti-drag laws and protests in some places.
📹 Advertising Campaigns Featuring Drag Queens:
Vivienne Lynsey and Miss Blair were selected from hundreds of applicants for their genuine enthusiasm and humor, as well as their differing opinions on the best time to eat Corn Flakes. In the ads, they discuss their personal rituals, with Vivienne preferring Corn Flakes as a post-night-out snack and Miss Blair enjoying them around 1 a.m., often in lounge pants and a kaftan.
Toyota’s “Go Your Own Way” campaign for the Aygo model in the UK featured four drag queens (Liquorice Black, Stella Meltdown, Le Fil, Alfie Ordinary) who each designed their own photoshoot and creative direction. The campaign was credited with boosting Aygo’s sales and brand awareness and was praised for its bold, creative approach to diversity and individuality.
Orbitz has long been ahead of the curve when it comes to LGBTQ+ representation in advertising. As early as the 2000s, it featured openly gay and drag characters in mainstream TV spots—long before it was common practice. Drag queens like Miss Richfield 1981 became recurring spokesmodels, while stars like Manila Luzon, Latrice Royale, Raven, and Tammie Brown brought sparkle to its travel ads.
Absolut has been a consistent supporter of the LGBTQ+ community since the 1980s—sponsoring Pride events, running inclusive ads, and partnering with shows like RuPaul’s Drag Race. In 2022, the brand launched its #BornToMix campaign featuring Drag Race UK star Tayce and designer Chet Lo, blending fashion, drag, and digital art with a striking physical-and-AR “Second Skin” garment.
🚶🏼♀️ Drag Related & LGBTQ+ Substacks:
Let’s take a look around our own Substack and follow some of these amazing drag and LGBTQ+ creators.
The Math Queen - A unique blend of drag and education, Kyne—a Filipino-Canadian drag queen and math communicator—shares essays on math, science, history, and pop culture.
Good Queer News - A weekly roundup highlighting positive news stories from the LGBTQ+ community across the country.
LGBTQ+ Global - Updates on the global fight for LGBTQ+ equality, providing insights into international developments and advocacy.
Uncloseted Media - A non-partisan, LGBTQ-focused news outlet launched in 2024, aiming to fill the coverage gap in LGBTQ-specific issues with in-depth reporting.
👑 I Asked a Drag Race Superfan…
To make sure we didn’t miss a single wig flip or WTF moment, I turned to my friend Filip, resident Drag Race encyclopedia and passionate defender of all things Alyssa Edwards. When asked about the most iconic lip syncs in Drag Race history, he didn’t hesitate:
Valentina vs. Nina Bonina Brown (“take that mask off!”) and Roxxxy Andrews vs. Alyssa Edwards (yes, the wig reveal) top the list as the most important battles ever to hit the main stage.
He also shouted out legendary moments like:
Jinkx Monsoon vs. Detox and Alyssa —“right up there in the drag Olympics”
Courtney Act’s angel-wing runway in Season 6 (“first really expensive costume on stage”)
Willow Pill’s talent show entrance (“what even WAS that?!”)
Any Drag Race Superfans here? Do you agree with his choices? What would you add? Let us know in the comments! 👇🏼
📚 Monthly Editorial Pick
📽️ Watch This: Paris Is Burning
Paris Is Burning is not just a documentary; it’s a landmark. It was released in the year 1990 and immerses you in the colourful, fierce, and deeply emotional world of the late 1980s New York City Ballroom scene. In addition to meeting the queens, the legends, and the mothers of the houses, you will learn the stories behind the glitter, which include tales of identity, community, survival, and the dreams of being seen. It's in equal parts heartbreaking and empowering, and it laid the foundation for so much of what we love about drag today. If you haven’t watched it in a while—or ever—it’s time.
📖 Read This: Trixie and Katya’s Guide to Modern Womanhood.
Now, after all that iconic realness, let’s lighten things up. Trixie and Katya’s book is exactly what you’d expect from the queens who brought us UNHhhh: pure chaos, camp, and comedy wrapped in a faux advice column format. This is not your typical self-help guide. It’s part parody, part photo shoot, and 100% hilarious. From questionable beauty tips to slightly unhinged life advice, it’s the kind of book you’ll flip through when you need a laugh (and maybe a little bit of… inspiration?). Bonus: it looks fabulous on your coffee table.
🌟 Bonus Content:
Mini Drag Horoscope: What Kind of Queen Are You This Week?
The stars are tucked, beat, and ready for their close-up. Who are you channelling this week, darling? Let’s find out.
🔗 You can find it here.
🌈 Final Words:
We hope this edition made you laugh, think, and maybe even cry glitter. Drag isn’t just makeup and wigs - it’s art, protest, survival, and joy rolled into one. So as you go into your week, remember: “Don’t take life too seriously. It’s only drag.”
Until next time, keep creating! 🎨✨