Okay, so I haven't quite formulated things yet here. But Perez Hilton has just posted this video of a black drag queen performing as Wonder Woman to a remix of Bonnie Tyler's classic song, "I Need a Hero." It's pretty fucking fierce. Check that shit out.

But on to the meat. Perez has been posting to several performances by black drag queens of late -- particularly a performer by the name of Britney Houston. So this leads me to my question: Why are black drag queens in particular so visibly present in popular gay culture right now?

This is intensely complicated, and perhaps not particularly new -- after all, who's the most famous drag queen in the world? RuPaul of course. But there's something about the moment we're in now that makes me feel like black drag queens are much more visibly present that their white counterparts. I have two main lines of thought here:

1) I think black drag queens have embraced popular culture in a way that white performers haven't. Well, embraced is the wrong word. It's probably what José Esteban Muñoz has termed "disidentification" -- they're using / queering symbols from pop culture for their own purposes. White queens seem more obsessed with cult films (Showgirls, Elvira, etc) and female icons from many moons ago (Judy Garland, Joan Crawford). It's good stuff, don't get me wrong. But it's not nearly as legible in popular culture.

2) There's something perverse going on about the relationship between white gay culture and blackness in general. I'm thinking here of my time spent in the company of other white gay boys (and men!). Whereas the white gay man of 20 years ago would conjure a dramatic line from a Joan Crawford movie to express affective emotion (anger, bitterness, ecstasy), the young white gay boys I know today (and even older guys I know) will conjure the black woman. "Oh, snap! No she didn't!" You know what I'm talking about. So I'm wondering here if this is playing into the way that images / performances from black drag queens are being consumed right now...

I need some help thinking this through, though. Any ideas, y'all?