The Pansy Craze was a period of increased

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

visibility in American

popular culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of cultural practice, practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art

f. pop art F is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet. F may also refer to: Science and technology Mathematics * F or f, the number 15 (number), 15 in hexadecimal and higher positional systems * ''p'F'q'', the hypergeometric function * F-distributi ...

or mass art, sometimes contraste ...

from the late 1920s until the mid-1930s. During the " craze,"

drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses Drag (entertainment), drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate Femininity, female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have ...

s — known as "pansy performers" — experienced a surge in underground popularity, especially in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, and

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. The exact dates of the movement are debated, with a range from the late 1920s until 1935. The term "pansy craze" was first coined by the historian

George Chauncey George Chauncey (born 1954) is a professor of history at Columbia University. He is best known as the author of ''Gay New York, Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male World, 1890–1940.'' Academic career Chauncey ...

in his 1994 book ''

Gay New York ''Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male World, 1890–1940'' is a 1994 history book by George Chauncey about gay life in New York City during the early 20th century. An updated 2019 edition commemorates the Stonewa ...

''.

The Craze

New York's first

drag balls Gay balls, cross-dressing balls, pansy balls, or drag balls were (depending on the place, time, and type) public or private ball (dance event), balls that were celebrated mainly in the first third of the 20th century, where cross-dressing and ballr ...

were held in Harlem's Hamilton Lodge in 1869. In the 1920s, female impersonators were hired to perform at cabarets and

speakeasies A speakeasy, also called a beer flat or blind pig or blind tiger, was an illicit establishment that sold alcoholic beverages. The term may also refer to a retro style bar that replicates aspects of historical speakeasies. In the United State ...

in many major cities, including New York,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, and San Francisco. The target audience was straight, which gave the performers broader social acceptance. Gene Malin — known as the "Queen of the Pansy Craze" — achieved relative mainstream success, appearing in both Hollywood films and Broadway shows. Malin worked primarily in New York City in the early 1930s; however, his career was cut short when he died in an automobile accident at the age of 25. Other stars during the Pansy Craze included Karyl Norman and Ray Bourbon, as well as the gay pianist and singer Bruz Fletcher, who gained fame in Los Angeles during the Pansy Craze.

End of the era

Beginning in late-1933 and escalating throughout the first half of 1934, American

Roman Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

launched a campaign against what they deemed the immorality of American cinema. This led to restrictions in the public visibility of homosexuality through the

Hays Code The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the United States from 1934 to 1968. It is also popularly known as th ...

. Police simultaneously began strict crackdowns on the public presence of homosexuals during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, as calls for politicians to "clean up" downtown nightlife came from progressive reformers.

Legacy

Some scholars have argued that the Pansy Craze broadened the range of acceptable behaviors for men, even though restrictions on gender conformity and LGBT visibility were tightened after this period. In later decades, drag queens such as

Divine Divinity (from Latin ) refers to the quality, presence, or nature of that which is divine—a term that, before the rise of monotheism, evoked a broad and dynamic field of sacred power. In the ancient world, divinity was not limited to a singl ...

and

RuPaul RuPaul Andre Charles (born November 17, 1960) is an American drag queen, television host, singer, producer, writer, and actor. He produces, hosts, and judges the reality competition series ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' and has received List of awards ...

again starred in Hollywood films, and performers such as

Jinkx Monsoon Hera Lilith Hoffer (born September 18, 1987), best known by the stage name Jinkx Monsoon, is an American drag queen, actress, singer and comedienne, originally from the Pacific Northwest, and perhaps best-known for winning the RuPaul's Drag Race ...

appeared on Broadway.

References

External links

* Queer Music Heritage
"The Pansy Craze: the Story and the Music
by JD Doyle

Baltimore Afro American contemporary articles
{{Drag performance LGBTQ history in the United States Musical theatre in the United States 1930s in LGBTQ history Drag (entertainment) History of gay men in the United States Great Depression in the United States Prohibition in the United States

The Craze

End of the era

Legacy

See also

References

Further reading

External links