William Dorsey Swann
Full Name
William Dorsey Swann
Date of Birth
Not available
Place of Birth
Hancock, Maryland, USA
Date of Death
Not available
Place of Death
Not available
Education
Not available
Spouses Names
Not available
Children Names
Not available
Parents Names
Not available
Known Affiliates Names
Not available
Affiliated Organizations’ Names
William Dorsey Swann was a pioneering figure in LGBTQ+ history, known for being the first person in the United States to lead a queer resistance group and the first known person to self-identify as a “queen of drag.” Born into slavery, Swann gained freedom after the American Civil War and became known for hosting drag balls in Washington, D.C., in the 1880s and 1890s, attended by other formerly enslaved men and other men who were part of what would now be recognized as the LGBTQ+ community. Swann’s gatherings were among the earliest recorded instances of what would evolve into the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement. In 1888, after a police raid on one of his gatherings, Swann was arrested and convicted, making him also one of the first recorded Americans to legally contest anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination. He sought a pardon from President Grover Cleveland for hosting a drag ball, marking a significant, though largely unrecognized, moment in the early struggle for LGBTQ+ rights and recognition in the United States. Despite the lack of extensive records on his life, William Dorsey Swann’s legacy is an important part of LGBTQ+ history, highlighting the resilience and resistance of queer individuals in the face of societal and legal persecution during a time when their identities were criminalized and pathologized.