San Francisco May Have a New Office of ‘Drag Laureate’

Photo from Queens of the Castro

Well this is absolutely delightful! San Francisco is considering creating the office of Drag Laureate.

Yesterday on SF Gate, Peter-Astrid Kane (also a contributor to this website) wrote that the “Bay Area Reporter noted the idea was one of many in S.F.’s ‘LGBTQ+ Cultural Heritage Strategy,’ a 2018 report that was revised in August amid nightlife’s pandemic near-extinction.”

The report suggests “Innovative programming may also include the creation and funding of LGBTQ+ artist residency opportunities or the development of City Drag Laureate positions to recognize the significant longstanding and ongoing contribution of drag artists to San Francisco’s culture.”

Just like our long history of having a celebrated poet be The City’s Poet Laureate, this would be an honorific title but not much more is known about what it would entail. That said, this suggestion by Peter-Astrid made me laugh out loud: “Instead of novelty oversized keys to the city, perhaps recipients could be presented with a bottle of ‘VHS cleaner’ (which is to say, poppers) on a fine filigree chain.”

Who would you nominate to be San Francisco’s first Drag Laureate? Let us know in the comments.