The Big Reveal Quotes

“The censorship of drag is much less about the imagined sexual dangers of a drag show than the feared dangers of failing to indoctrinate people of all ages with shame around queerness.”
― Sasha Velour, The Big Reveal: An Illustrated Manifesto of Drag

“I wrote this book to give a little record of one more queer person...I lived, I loved, I was here-mess and all. I wrote this book to prove without a doubt that drag is natural and can disrupt boundaries of masculine and feminine, self and community, art and revolution, past and present, success and failure. Drag belongs on the world stage, like queer people belong in the world!
Now I'm passing this archive on to you. If you are reading this, you're part of my family now-who else would want to read these stories? I hope you can use this book in your own life: as a tool to show how drag can be revolution, camp, and art at the same time; as a textbook to learn the queer histories of religion, drama, and costume; at least as a prop for your bookshelf. I suggest using it as a fortune-telling deck-choose a page at random, then channel the image or phrase you land on for the day.”
― Sasha Velour, The Big Reveal: An Illustrated Manifesto of Drag

“Do we as queer people have the privilege to be seen as part of a real cultural legacy and tradition, or will we continue to be written off as a flash in the pan, a joke, just for fun?”
― Sasha Velour, The Big Reveal: An Illustrated Manifesto of Drag

“Each of us is just a small fragment of a larger picture, whether we admit it or not. Today there are many famous drag performers, but it's not the first time queer art has been visible.”
― Sasha Velour, The Big Reveal: An Illustrated Manifesto of Drag

“If we want to be seen as legendary, we have to weave ourselves into history. If we were to make a quilt of drag, I'd want pieces from all over. A stretched hide from a shaman's tent; silk from Gladys Bentley's tuxedo; sequins from Divine's wiggle dress; hair from RuPaul's wig.”
― Sasha Velour, The Big Reveal: An Illustrated Manifesto of Drag

“Queer history is full of surprises, revealing new stories and complexities with every turn. I love the chaos!”
― Sasha Velour, The Big Reveal: An Illustrated Manifesto of Drag

“Time and time again I saw drag and queer culture bringing brilliant and unforgettable ideas to our own simple, self-made platforms. I loved how drag performances could adapt to any setting: theaters and street corners alike. That's transformation-that's art!”
― Sasha Velour, The Big Reveal: An Illustrated Manifesto of Drag

“Drag has never been about deception; it's about expressing ourselves without shame, and thinking expansively about others. In drag, we reject our assumptions about how a man or a woman "should" act and instead allow everyone to find their own ways of being.”
― Sasha Velour, The Big Reveal: An Illustrated Manifesto of Drag

“Like gender, drag is really just whatever you can get away with. So call yourself a "queen"! There's strength in agreeing to a single word for ourselves, even though we don't conform to singular ideas about its meaning. We should take pride in the full expanse of our community-queens, kings, and queers, and what we've all been through. We are still here, and we will always find a way forward!”
― Sasha Velour, The Big Reveal: An Illustrated Manifesto of Drag

“Make no mistake, queer and trans people may not all identify the same way, but we do share the same mission: to fight back and survive!”
― Sasha Velour, The Big Reveal: An Illustrated Manifesto of Drag