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50 free Drag Queen trivia questions with answers — pop culture quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
46 free drag queen trivia questions with answers. Drag has a history far longer than reality TV: Shakespeare's boy players, Victorian pantomime dames, William Dorsey Swann's secret balls in 1880s Washington, the ballroom houses of Harlem, Divine in John Waters films, Wigstock in the East Village, and the queens on the front line at Stonewall. This quiz covers all of that alongside the modern era of RuPaul's Drag Race: its winners, judges, catchphrases, Snatch Game and international spin-offs. The easy questions ask who hosts Drag Race and which toy company inspired a queen's name. The hard ones want the first person known to call himself a queen of drag, the Leeds-born pantomime dame, the New Orleans costume designer who became the first drag queen to headline Wembley Arena, and which film won an Oscar for its drag costumes. Made for a Pride quiz night, a viewing party or a themed pub round. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on the performers, shows and films, and each question carries the sentence that backs it up.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01The first person known to call himself "the queen of drag" hosted balls in Washington, D.C. in which decade?
The 1880s
William Dorsey Swann, born enslaved, hosted secret drag balls in Washington in the 1880s; an 1888 police raid made the papers, and in 1896 he served ten months for 'keeping a disorderly house'.
Q 02The first recorded use of the word 'drag' in this sense dates from which year?
1870
The earliest recorded use dates from 1870, in a London newspaper report on the Boulton and Park cross-dressing case; one theory traces the word to long skirts 'dragging' across the stage.
Q 03Which early 20th-century performer was the most famous of the era's 'female impersonators'?
Julian Eltinge
Julian Eltinge, who headlined Broadway's The Fascinating Widow in 1911 and had a 42nd Street theatre named after him in 1912, was the era's best-known female impersonator.
Q 04The British Christmas pantomime tradition features a man playing which stock comic character?
The dame
Dan Leno was the great Victorian pantomime dame.
Q 05What was Divine's birth name?
Harris Glenn Milstead
Harris Glenn Milstead was born in Baltimore in 1945 and took the stage name Divine in the late 1960s; People magazine later called him the Drag Queen of the Century.
Q 06Divine was closely associated with which filmmaker?
John Waters
John Waters cast Divine in Pink Flamingos (1972) and Female Trouble (1974), Baltimore-made films that built both their cult reputations.
Q 07Which 1988 film gave Divine a mainstream breakthrough shortly before his death?
Hairspray
Hairspray, released in February 1988, cast Divine as Edna Turnblad, mother of dance-show hopeful Tracy; he died on March 7, 1988, days after its release.
Q 08The annual New York drag festival Wigstock was founded by which queen?
Lady Bunny
Lady Bunny started Wigstock in 1984 after a night at the Pyramid Club, when a group of queens performed impromptu in Tompkins Square Park; the name plays on Woodstock.
Q 09Wigstock was revived in 2018 by its founder and which actor?
Neil Patrick Harris
Neil Patrick Harris and his husband David Burtka co-produced the 2018 revival with the festival's founder at Pier 17 in the South Street Seaport.
Q 10The Stonewall riots of June 1969 began at a bar in which New York neighbourhood?
Greenwich Village
The Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village was a Mafia-owned bar; the site became the Stonewall National Monument in 2016.
Q 11Marsha P. Johnson, the Stonewall-era activist, was known by which nickname?
Saint of Christopher Street
Marsha P. Johnson was dubbed the Saint of Christopher Street for her generosity on the Village street; she co-founded STAR with Sylvia Rivera in 1970 to house homeless trans youth.
Q 12The 1990 documentary about voguing and the houses of Harlem chronicled which New York subculture?
Ball culture
Ball culture, the Harlem scene of competitive walking categories and voguing, was the subject of the 1990 documentary, which introduced 'reading' and 'shade' to a wide audience.
Q 13Who directed the 1990 documentary on New York's Harlem ballroom scene?
Jennie Livingston
Q 21Which production company makes RuPaul's Drag Race?
World of Wonder
World of Wonder, founded by Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey, produces the show and runs the streaming service WOW Presents Plus.
Q 22Who has sat beside RuPaul on the judging panel since season 3?
Michelle Visage
Michelle Visage joined the panel in season 3, replacing Merle Ginsberg, having co-hosted The RuPaul Show on VH1 with him in the 1990s.
Q 23The bottom two queens each week must do what to stay in the competition?
Lip Sync for Your Life
'Lip Sync for Your Life' pits the week's bottom two against each other, with RuPaul sending the loser home ('Sashay away') and keeping the winner ('Shantay, you stay').
Jennie Livingston directed the film, which won the Sundance Grand Jury Prize for documentary in 1991 and entered the National Film Registry in 2016.
Q 14In ballroom culture, what is a 'house'?
A chosen family that competes together
A chosen family that competes together: a house is led by a 'mother' or 'father', and its members walk ball categories under the house's name.
Q 15Which Harlem drag queens founded the first ballroom house in 1972?
Lottie and Crystal LaBeija
Lottie and Crystal LaBeija presented the first annual House of LaBeija Ball in 1972 at Up the Downstairs Case on West 115th Street, Harlem, establishing the house system.
Q 16In which city was RuPaul born?
San Diego
RuPaul Andre Charles was born in San Diego on November 17, 1960, and moved to Atlanta with his sister at 15, studying performing arts there.
Q 17RuPaul's 1993 breakthrough single was called what?
Supermodel (You Better Work)
'Supermodel (You Better Work)', released on the Tommy Boy label in late 1992, reached number two on Billboard's dance chart and number 45 on the Hot 100 in 1993.
Q 18RuPaul became the first drag queen to front a major cosmetics campaign for which brand?
MAC
The 1994 Viva Glam campaign raised money for the MAC AIDS Fund.
Q 19What was the title of RuPaul's 1995 autobiography?
Lettin' It All Hang Out
Lettin' It All Hang Out, published by Hyperion in 1995, was RuPaul's first memoir, covering his early years and the Atlanta and New York club scenes.
Q 20RuPaul's Drag Race premiered in 2009 on which network?
Logo TV
Logo TV aired the first eight seasons from the February 2009 premiere; the show moved to VH1 for seasons 9 to 14 and to MTV from season 15.
Q 24The show's best-known celebrity-impersonation challenge spoofs which classic 1970s TV panel programme?
Match Game
Snatch Game parodies Match Game, the 1970s panel show whose celebrities filled in blanks; contestants impersonate stars while answering RuPaul's prompts.
Q 25The 'reading' mini-challenge was popularised by which documentary?
Paris Is Burning
Paris Is Burning, the 1990 ballroom documentary, brought 'reading' to wide attention through Dorian Corey's explanation on camera; RuPaul opens the challenge by declaring reading fundamental.
Q 26Who inspired RuPaul's sign-off about needing to love yourself before loving somebody else?
His mother
It closes every episode of the show.
Q 27The winner of each season of RuPaul's show is crowned with what title?
America's Next Drag Superstar
Each winner is crowned America's Next Drag Superstar; BeBe Zahara Benet took the first title in 2009 with a $20,000 prize.
Q 28Which season 6 winner became the first drag queen to headline Wembley Arena?
Bianca Del Rio
Bianca Del Rio, the New Orleans insult comic who won season 6 in 2014, played Wembley Arena in September 2019 on her 'It's Jester Joke' tour.
Q 29Which season 5 winner also took the all-winners All Stars 7 crown in 2022?
Jinkx Monsoon
Jinkx Monsoon won season 5 in 2013 and All Stars 7 in 2022, then made her Broadway debut as Mama Morton in Chicago in January 2023.
Q 30Trixie Mattel is originally from which state?
Wisconsin
Wisconsin native Trixie Mattel (Brian Firkus) grew up in Silver Cliff and Milwaukee, and her 1960s-styled act mixes comedy with folk-country songs on guitar and autoharp.