After D’Arcy Drollinger’s two-and-a-half year reign as the nation’s first ever Drag Laureate, the wig has been passed on to Per Sia, a staple of Drag Queen Story Hour and afterschool arts program teacher.
When Oasis owner D’Arcy Drollinger was named the first Drag Laureate of San Francisco in May 2023, she was the first Drag Laureate ever named to any jurisdiction in the United States. (West Hollywood has since followed suit and named their own.) Drollinger’s Drag Laureate tenure was only supposed to be 18 months, though ended up lasting more than two-and-a-half years. But that reign has now come to an end.
And so on Wednesday, SF Mayor Daniel Lurie announced that SF’s new Drag Laureate would be Per Sia, a trans woman and local drag star. Per Sia has been a frequent Outside Lands Dolores Stage performer, starred in the 2013 viral video “Google Google Apps Apps” (which Youtube has taken down, but you can still see it below), and not unsurprisingly, a target of homophobic right-wing protesters at family-oriented events where she’s performed.
The official announcement is seen below, though regrettably, Mayor Lurie repeatedly mispronounces her name Per Sia as “Persia,” like the former name of Iran, as opposed to the correct pronunciation of “pear SEE-ya.” The action starts at the 4:10 mark of this video.
“Standing here today as your new Drag Laureate brings me so much joy, it really does,” Per Sia said in the ceremony at Rooftop Elementary School, where Per Sia teaches an afterschool arts program. Though in her address, she added that drag performance is “under attack. That means that my — our —existence is being debated and targeted by people who don’t know who we are. They don’t know our community, don’t know our realities, our work, and simply us. They don’t know us.”
The SF Drag Laureate responsibilities may include throwing a first pitch at a Giants game, ringing the bell at the occasional Warriors game, and emceeing on the SF Pride stage. If you’re hosting an event, you can apply to have an appearance from SF’s new Drag Laureate Per Sia at your event via this online form.
While D’Arcy Driollinger’s tenure was an 18-month honorary position, this time the position will last for three years. So Per Sia will be the city’s Drag Laureate presumably until sometime in late 2028.
If Las Vegas had been laying odds on who would be SF’s next Drag Laureate, Per Sia probably would have been a dark horse compared to candidates like Sister Roma or Juanita More. Sister Roma could not win, because she was on the committee to name the new Drag Laureate, and maybe Juanita will be in the running next time.
Image: SFGovTV