Drag Balls

 So called 'Drag Balls' have been going on for a very long time and often a cause of controversy, these days they are just another night out and often under more correctly descriptive titles. The
Drag Balls I am going to talk about here are the ones that took place in the 1960's through to the late 1980's in London, in particular those that were staged at the Porchester Hall in West London and Tudor Lodge in East London. The only reason I have centred on these two locations is that up until the age of 9 I lived in West London and often passed Porchester Hall and sometime after we moved to East London Drag Balls were held at Tudor Lodge not five minutes from where I lived. Obviously at that age I had no idea of what was happening at Porchester Hall. 

What is a 'Drag Ball'? well, basically it could now be described as 'Big Night Out' at pink Punters or 'Leeds First Friday', a night where crossdressers, can be themselves and enjoy a night out. These days events such as this happen on a monthly basis without any drama, but it was very different in the 60's. Probably in order to fend off any attention from the authorities these Drag Balls were often subtitled as 'Fancy Dress' and as such a person could attend in whatever attire they wished.  Drag Queens often attended, no doubt partly because the events at Porchester Hall were hosted by Jean Fredericks a professional drag queen herself. The events allowed Drag Queens, crossdressers (at that time referred to as transvestites) and gay men (often under the cover of drag) to meet socialise and have fun in relative safety. The events could attract as many a 800 people and often locals would gather outside to to watch the arrival of the participants in their flamboyant costumes. It would seem these gatherings at the entrance were generally in good humour. At times these events were reported in the papers the Sunday Times did an interesting report in their colour Sunday Magazine (link below if you want to read the article) interesting in todays eyes in that the reporter used the male pronoun when describing the hostess as 'Mr Jean Fredericks'. 

Porchester hall with thanks to Yvonne Sinclair

We moved to East London in the mid 60's and then sometime in the late 1970's /1980's the events ended at Porchester hall and in a slightly different format appeared at Tudor Lodge in Bow only five minutes from our home. For some reason the Tudor Lodge nights didn't seem to attract the drag queens it was more of a crossdresser event. This may seem odd as Drag has quite a following in East London and there now seems to be a huge drag culture prevalent here. At that time I was struggling with my gender identity, although I perhaps didn't realise that was what was going on at the time. As a result I was in denial and wanted to keep as far away from such things as I could. Having said that I had a curiosity about what went on there but too frightened  to take things further. As there was no internet, it was difficult to discover anything about it without actually asking someone, and there was no chance of that happening! 

Then one day when in the Blue Anchor pub just a few doors away from the Tudor Lodge, I discovered that a number of the ladies from the Lodge would drop into the pub from time to time, often on a Sunday night. My family often used this pub and I would drop in for a drink with them, but I never ever saw any of the ladies from the Lodge. To be honest I don't know what I would have said to them, probably nothing, I was a long way off from accepting who I really am but it just might have changed the course of my life, we will never know. I do know the ladies were treated like anybody else in that little pub, the landlord would certainly not stand for any abuse or jokes at the ladies expense. 

Tudor Lodge with thanks to Yvonne Sinclair

Events such as these have largely disappeared in the UK as society has changed and trans venues are much more common today. Remember the law was very different in the 60's, 70's and 80's and society in general viewed transvestism with disdain and the press were even worse. Fortunately we live in a much better society, it is certainly not perfect and has a long way to go, but we are in a better position than we were in those far off days. Events such as the Drag Balls brought crossdressing, homosexuality and trans issues into the limelight and no doubt helped to change society's attitude toward the trans community. 

You can find out more by following the links below:

Sunday Times Magazine article: qj72p722r (digitaltransgenderarchive.net) 

Yvonne Sinclair / Tudor Lodge: Yvonne Sinclair's Home Page