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 was born enslaved and was later jailed for ten months on a trumped-up charge of keeping a disorderly house.
Q 02The first recorded use of the word 'drag' in this sense dates from which year?
1870
Some etymologies push it back to the Elizabethan stage, when boys played the women's roles.
Q 03Which early 20th-century performer was the most famous of the era's 'female impersonators'?
Julian Eltinge
Andrew Tribble found similar fame on Broadway and in Black vaudeville.
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
The Baltimore-born actor was described by People magazine as the Drag Queen of the Century.
Q 06Divine was closely associated with which filmmaker?
John Waters
Their collaborations ran from Pink Flamingos and Female Trouble to a 1988 musical comedy.
Q 07Which 1988 film gave Divine a mainstream breakthrough shortly before his death?
Hairspray
He played Edna Turnblad, mother of dance-show hopeful Tracy, and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award.
Q 08The annual New York drag festival Wigstock was founded by which queen?
Lady Bunny
It began spontaneously in Tompkins Square Park in 1984 and was named as a play on Woodstock.
Q 09Wigstock was revived in 2018 by its founder and which actor?
Neil Patrick Harris
It returned at Pier 17 in the South Street Seaport after a twelve-year gap.
Q 10The Stonewall riots of June 1969 began at a bar in which New York neighbourhood?
Greenwich Village
The Stonewall Inn was Mafia-owned; the site became a National Monument in 2016.
Q 11Marsha P. Johnson, the Stonewall-era activist, was known by which nickname?
Saint of Christopher Street
She co-founded STAR, which housed homeless trans youth in the East Village.
Q 12The 1990 documentary about voguing and the houses of Harlem chronicled which New York subculture?
Ball culture
It introduced words like reading, shade and voguing to a wide audience.
Q 13Who directed that 1990 documentary on New York ballroom?
Jennie Livingston
The film went into the National Film Registry in 2016.
Q 21Which production company makes RuPaul's Drag Race?
World of Wonder
The same company runs the streaming service WOW Presents Plus.
Q 22Who has sat beside RuPaul on the judging panel since season 3?
Michelle Visage
She replaced Merle Ginsberg and had co-hosted The RuPaul Show 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
In later seasons the format has sometimes become a lip-sync tournament before a live audience.
Q 14In ballroom culture, what is a 'house'?
A chosen family that competes together
The first house was founded in Harlem in 1972 and was also the first to raise money for HIV/AIDS awareness.
Q 15Which Harlem drag queens founded the first ballroom house in 1972?
Lottie and Crystal LaBeija
The House of LaBeija was also the first house to raise money for HIV/AIDS awareness.
Q 16In which city was RuPaul born and raised?
San Diego
He studied performing arts in Atlanta before hitting the New York club scene.
Q 17RuPaul's 1993 breakthrough single was called what?
Supermodel (You Better Work)
It reached number two on Billboard's dance chart and was released by the rap label Tommy Boy.
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 19How many Primetime Emmy Awards has RuPaul won?
14
He was named to the Time 100 list in 2017 and got a Hollywood Walk of Fame star in 2018.
Q 20RuPaul's Drag Race premiered in 2009 on which network?
Logo TV
It 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
Contestants impersonate celebrities; RuPaul says it separates the basic from the fierce.
Q 25The 'reading' mini-challenge was popularised by which documentary?
Paris Is Burning
RuPaul introduces it every time by reminding the queens that reading is 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
The prize has grown from a few thousand dollars to $250,000.
Q 28Which season 6 winner became the first drag queen to headline Wembley Arena?
Bianca Del Rio
The New Orleans-raised insult comic started out as a costume designer for the city's opera.
Q 29Which queen alone has won two Drag Race crowns, taking season 5 and the all-winners All Stars 7?
Jinkx Monsoon
She made her Broadway debut in 2023.
Q 30Trixie Mattel is originally from which state?
Wisconsin
Her 1960s-styled act mixes comedy with folk-country songs on guitar and autoharp.