Transformance: reading the gospel in drag

Despite the large body of scholarship on drag and its performance of misogyny, mimicry, and masculinity, little attention has been paid to the role of musical genres in Black drag performance and its reception. This essay explores drag performances of gospel music and its relationship with the spectator at the Biology Bar, a Black gay drag site in Chicago. By examining the shift from the club "space" to the church "place," this research locates several possibilities for queer gospel performances. Through the introduction of a theory of transformance, this essay highlights the contradictions, complications, and complexities of the relationship between the Black church and the Black gay community.