Once a hub for touring performers from around the country, Kansas City has a long history with...

Since Kansas City was established, drag in various forms has evolved from entertainment for power and control into a liberating art. Attempts to regulate the practice have also persisted.
Drag has been a form of entertainment in Kansas City for nearly 200 years, but it didn’t start out with the flamboyant performances drag queens are known for today.

Lawmakers attempting to regulate and ban the practice isn’t new either. States across the country, including Missouri, are experiencing a wave of legislation targeting drag performances, some of which would make it a misdemeanor for drag entertainers to perform in front of children.

“If people would study their history, they would realize that we had laws against this 150 years ago and they didn't really take, and they're not going to take again,” says Stuart Hinds, curator at the Gay and Lesbian Archives of Mid-America, which works to collect, preserve and share material that reflects the histories of the Kansas City region's LGBTQ+ communities.