offer extensive educational materials to help the public understand gender identity and the historical context of the community. American Psychological Association (APA)
The rise of Drag Race culture has created a complex dynamic. Drag is cross-dressing for performance; being transgender is cross-gender identification for life. Historically, trans women did drag because it was the only way to survive. Today, some trans women feel that Drag Race excludes them (the "transing out" controversy, where queens who transition are disinvited from certain events), while others argue that drag is a distinct art form separate from trans identity. The friction over "who gets to wear the wig" is a microcosm of the larger struggle over territory.
There is no LGBTQ history without trans history. There is no Ballroom, no Pride, no Queer Theory without trans voices. The current friction between "LGB" and "T" is a painful but necessary reckoning—a reminder that a community built on the principle of being "born this way" cannot turn around and exclude those born in the wrong body.