I think at the heart of drag culture is paying homage/deconstruction (these things are simultaneous) of a femininity that is over the top and also threatening to femininity because of how powerful these people are in their field. Not all those that do drag are gay but many people assume gay men (men, imo, do the majority of drag) must be feminine – people conflate sexuality and gender all the time. These icons become someone to emulate because they, themselves, are a created persona and a created persona can therefore become anyone’s persona.