Can a Woman Be a Drag Queen?

Chappell Roan is suddenly famous. Since her breakout song came out earlier this year, the pop star has been called the next big queer pop icon, the new Lady Gaga, and Gen Z’s Madonna. Her costumes are elaborate, her music is danceable, her lyrics are Sapphic, and, perhaps most interestingly, Chappell Roan isn’t a real person. She’s the drag alter ego of a 26-year-old woman from Missouri named Kaleigh Amstutz.