Approximately 3.4 percent of American adults define themselves as LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, or Transgender) even fewer people decide to devote their lives to being performers as female impersonators.

These female impersonators are known by a more common name, Drag Queens. Drag Queens are revered within the LGBT community for their unwavering confidence. Walking out into the hypercritical world as a man wearing heels, makeup, dresses, and wigs requires nerves of steel.

High school can be a very difficult time for young gay boys who aspire to be like the legendary drag queens of the past. These ‘Teen Queens’ are just beginning to dabble in makeup and female impersonation as a whole, meaning their look may not be perfect. Their look may not even be believable, and it is so hard to keep your head held high when the world is beating you down for being a ‘faggot’ or a ‘gender-bender’.

“At school I am treated really different by everyone…” former student Carlos Sierra said. “The other people tend to get into my emotions by giving me dirty looks or talking about me behind my back.”

But going through these hardships as a child can help prepare them for the real world and how society will view you; experiences make you who you are and rough experiences make you stronger as a human.

Many discredit drag as a real art, or even as real entertainment because it falls into a societal category of the abnormal. The term ‘drag’ was coined during Shakespearian times.

To dress in drag was to act out a female role during a play, because women were not permitted to be actors during this time, leaving all the female roles to male actors who became the first ‘Drag Queens.’

Drag is a piece of human history and should be regarded by society as such. Historians only recently began crediting African American culture such as the Harlem Renaissance, and hopefully the LGBT community will be given the credit and rights they deserve.