historical note- the beginning of most LGBT rights in law started with the MIME RIOTS of 1968 over the right to preform lewd plays (it was about a candlestick maker and was openly bisexual, the candles used were exactly what you are imagining) enshrining public displays of sexual identity under the right to free speech

aggressively clowning to destroy the systems of oppression is a noble tradition to keep alive, and historically speaking it works

Of course. In storytelling, that's the Trickster archetype and it's as old as the human race.