Legitimacy plays a crucial role in shaping the interactions and perceptions of various social groups within a community. In many contexts, groups may differ in their perceived legitimacy, resulting in dynamics of conflict, rivalry or marginalization. The process of legitimation is not fixed, however; it is dynamic and can evolve over time, allowing for legitimacy to spill over from one group to another. This chapter explores the fascinating case of the Berlin drag scene, where legitimacy spills over from a subgroup of more established and legitimate Drag Queens to a previously less legitimate subgroup of Tunten. Tunten and Drag Queens are defined as members of the drag community who diverge in their aesthetics and attitude towards politics and commercialism. In short, Drag Queens perform as glamourous and commercial female personas, while Tunten prefer deliberately ‘untidy’ aesthetics and despise commercialism.

The drag community in Berlin has a rich history of changing legitimacy. In the 1970s, drag in Germany was not legitimate in relation to dominant social norms. At that time, presenting female as a man was instantly categorized as homosexual behaviour and thus undesirable (Rubin, 2018 ). Supported by prominent politicians, the general public tended to perceive homosexuality as a form of damage. Today, the public perspective on LGBTQ+ activities in Germany has changed, and the drag community is now legitimate in relation to dominant social norms (Feldman and Hakim, 2020; Workman, 2020). Some scholars even speak of this being a ‘golden age’ for drag (Brennan and Gudelunas, 2017). This can be observed in three instances. One example is the global commercial success of the TV series RuPaul's Drag Race. Its UK edition had over 12 million views at the end of 2019 (McCormack and Wignall, 2022), paving the way for the casting of the German edition in 2022. Second, Berlin's epicentre for drag shows, the club SchwuZ, grew to employ 100 people (Trott, 2020). Lastly, public institutions such as museums also started showing drag (McCormack and Wignall, 2022).

In Berlin, the drag scene encompasses various groups with different legitimacy statuses. One of them is the subgroup of Tunten. A performance by a Tunte is characterized by a political focus, messy expression and dismissive attitude towards commercialism. Naturally, this created a conflict when the US style of doing drag as a drag queen swept to Germany in the 1990s.