As more and more conservative states pass draconian anti-trans and anti-drag laws, San Francisco is pushing back by creating a new position of Drag Laureate.

Mayor London Breed appointed D’Arcy Drollinger, co-owner of the Oasis nightclub in SOMA, as the City’s first Drag Laureate on May 18, 2023.

As Drag Laureate, D’Arcy will receive a stipend of $55,000 over an 18-month period to support her community engagement work. Her responsibilities will include:

• Helping develop and promote the role of the Drag Laureate.
• Serve as spokesperson for the LGBTQ+ Community of San Francisco.
• Participate in community-based Drag programs and events that reflect and honor the diversity of San Francisco.
• Partner in an official capacity with various city agencies and community organizations throughout the full 18-month term, including during Pride Month.
• Produce Drag-centered events and programming centered on celebrating and supporting San Francisco’s dynamic and diverse LGBTQ+ community in collaboration with San Francisco Public Library, Friends of the San Francisco Public Library, the San Francisco Arts Commission and community partners.
• Ensure San Francisco’s rich drag history is shared, honored, and preserved.
• Help promote and select the next Drag Laureate towards the completion of their 18-month term.

San Francisco is the first city in the United States to create a Drag Laureate position. The city of West Hollywood in Southern California is creating a similar position. Legislation to create a similar position in New York City has been languishing in the Committee on Cultural Affairs, Libraries and International Intergroup Relations since 2021.

D’Arcy is co-owner of the Oasis nightclub, which employs hundreds of people and has provided a stage for hundreds of drag shows and theatrical acts since it opened on New Year’s Day 2015, where it has been voted Best of the Bay for Best Drag Show and Best Cabaret Venue. D’Arcy is also Executive Director of Oasis Arts, a nonprofit that seeks to raise the impact of queer arts both locally and worldwide. She wrote and starred in the stage and film productions of Shit & Champagne, and created Sexitude, a body-positive, age-positive, sex-positive dance experience. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, D’Arcy created Meals on Heels, which employed local drag queens to deliver food and cocktails and provide socially-distant sidewalk lip-synch performances for customers.

Read More

“Drag Laureate Program,” SF.gov, accessed June 19, 2023.

“Mayor Breed announces San Francisco’s First Drag Laureate,” SF.gov, May 18, 2023.

Chen, Shawna, “Meet San Francisco’s new drag laureate,” Axios, June 14, 2023.

City of West Hollywood Drag Laureate, WeHo.org, accessed June 19, 2023.

Dazio, Stephanie and Haven Daley, “Meet D’Arcy Drollinger, a drag queen who’s now the first drag laureate in the US,” Associated Press, May 18, 2023.

Propper, David, “San Francisco selects D’Arcy Drollinger as first drag laureate in US,”” NY Post, May 19, 2023.

Su, Amanda, “D’Arcy Drollinger makes history as first drag laureate in the US,” Good Morning America, May 24, 2023.

Veltman, Chloe, “Nation’s first ‘drag laureate’ kicks off Pride in San Francisco,” NPR, June 12, 2023.