Diva house is a form of House that emerged in the early 1990s, quickly becoming established as a particularly popular EDM style in gay clubs by the mid-1990s. It is primarily characterized by dominant, anthemic female vocals, the common use of piano stabs, and energetic, driving four-on-the-floor rhythms. With its roots going back to early house and late Disco, particularly Garage House, diva house incorporates major Soul vocal elements, emphasizing triumphant, dramatic vocal performances, sometimes sampled from old soul and Gospel tracks, or even from the Show Tunes of well-known stars like Bette Midler, Judy Garland, and Liza Minnelli, who, among others, are regarded as gay icons. This major characteristic would give the genre its name: "diva house." Divas Crystal Waters, Robin S, Ultra Naté, Barbara Tucker, and Cece Peniston were among the genre's most important artists, having helped to kickstart and develop the genre.

With much of the genre centered around lyrical themes of love, acceptance and liberty, it would become a major element of mid-1990s gay dance culture, later giving place to genres like Ballroom. The genre's major secondary name, "handbag house," likely originated as a derogatory term, referring to the notion of a group dancing around a pile of their handbags. The term would become embraced by LGBT culture, who sometimes viewed it, as well as the explicit sincerity and honesty expressed in the genre, as expressions of camp. Besides being a major genre in gay clubs, diva house would generate significant mainstream appeal and crossovers, sometimes crossing over with more radio-approved dance genres like Euro House or Dance-Pop, and songs like "Show Me Love" would establish its place in the general clubbing culture, extending its reach past LGBT communities. Pop artists like Madonna were inspired by the genre. Diva house gave way to a number of derivatives inspired by its sound, the most notable of which includes Hardbag, a punchier and "harder" variant of diva / handbag house that crossed over with the Dutch EDM scene of its time and with early Hard Dance. As the genre gradually lost its popularity towards the late 1990s and early 2000s and styles like Deep House and Nu-Disco took its place, it remained an influence on later artists such as Disclosure and Duke Dumont. Diva house remixes of contemporary Pop, especially of Contemporary R&B hits, are still regularly made by producers.