“I Don’t Want to Have Sex as a Woman”: A Qualitative Study Exploring Sexuality and Sexual Practices of Drag Queens in Germany

ABSTRACT

Drag queens are typically gay men who perform as caricature-like women. They thereby publicly challenge “naturally” binary gender role categories, though it remains unclear how that interplays with their private (e.g., sexual) lives. This study seeks to answer this question by exploring the sexuality and sexual practices of drag queens. Employing a critical realist approach, ten semi-structured interviews were conducted in Germany, with questions focusing on the drag queens’ views on sexuality and sexual positioning. By adopting a thematic analysis, three main themes were identified: natural versus artificial identity; advocacy for sexuality; and rejection of heteronormativity. Results suggest that the primary intention of drag queens is to challenge heteronorms, while they regularly adhered to these privately. This illustrates the distinction made by the participants between their “public” persona, an artificial character that lacks sexuality, and their “private” life (e.g., sexual practices), shaped by an “inborn” sexuality.

KEYWORDS:

• Sexuality
• drag queen
• sexual positioning
• sexual health
• qualitative
• LGBT health
• sexual identity

Acknowledgments

We thank the participants of this study for their trust and courage to share their experiences and thoughts on this sensitive topic.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.