Not Swann, but an image from a drag ball during that time.
William Dorsey Swann, born into slavery in Hancock, Maryland in March 1860, is the first person in the US to lead a queer resistance group and self-identify as a "queen of drag". After the Civil War, his parents bought a farm and began a job working as a hotel waiter.
During the 1880s and 1890s, Swann organized drag balls in Washington, DC and called himself the "queen of drag". The men attending these drag balls were usually former slaves and rebel drag queens. These events were very secretive and only communicated by word of mouth.
On April 12, 1888, he was arrested for female impersonation, the first documented case of such. Swann stood up to the arresting officer and proclaimed, "You is no gentleman."
By choosing to resist instead of go along passively, Swann's arrest is one of the earliest-known instances of violence in the name of gay rights.
The publicity and public shaming made it even more difficult for Swann to throw his secret drag balls.
Swann stopped organizing drag balls in the 1890s, but his two brothers continued to participate in the drag community for almost 50 years.
Swann passed away in December 1925 in Hancock, Maryland.
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