Yet, it wasn’t until recently that these terms passed into common use. This thriving speakeasy scene birthed a broad range of terminology that we still use today. Cross-dressing Masquerade balls became wildly popular, flowing into the Pansy Craze of the 1920s and -30s. In the UK, Yiddish, Thieves Cant, Cockney and other local dialects fused into Polari, which gay men used as a secret code.Īcross the pond, the Harlem Renaissance was kicking off, and with it came the origins of modern drag culture. And no underground movement would be complete without its own language. Despite laws against homosexuality, cities like Berlin, London and New York saw queer pioneers establish secret bars, wild cabarets and even newspapers, in the case of Berlin’s Der Eigene (The Unique). The drag scene as we know it dates back to the late 1800s. But when you throw shade or celebrate your friend’s promotion by yelling “ yas kween, ” you’re inadvertently invoking a rich cultural history - one tinged with ostracization and oppression. Thanks to the popularity of shows like Ru Paul’s Drag Race and Queer Eye, LGBT slang isn’t just for queers and queens anymore.
