Students Prepare for the Third Annual Love is a Drag Show
By: Taylor Hutchison
The third annual “Love is a Drag Show” will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 14 in the Ballroom. Students will dress in drag and sing, or lip-synch, songs and dance for audience members.
Drewsilla, a drag queen, will return to be the master of ceremonies. She was a gender and women's studies major at Fort Lewis College.
The show will feature a performance by guest Ryan Stone, a dance competition for audience members, a photo booth and a raffle with gift baskets.
There will also be a box for students to submit confessions either to be read to the audience or thrown in the trash. This year, Images is calling it “Confessions, Repressions, and Obsessions.”
The drag show first started when the Native American Center approached the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center.
The Native American Center thought it would be a good idea to host a drag show because Geo Neptune, who is a Passamaquoddy two-spirit basket weaver from Maine, visited Fort Lewis College.
Nancy Stoffer, the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center director, and Brandon Castle, an intern for the center, agreed with the Native American Center. They ultimately decided that a drag show was a good idea.
“I think every community needs a little drag in their life,” Stoffer said.
The drag show is held on Valentine’s day because love can be a drag for those who are single and, sometimes, those who are not, Nancy Stoffer, said.
“Regardless, you won’t be alone when you’re there,” Stoffer said.
The drag show is co-hosted by PRISM, the gay-straight alliance on campus.
PRISM president Alex Hughes will perform in the drag show for the first time. Hughes is still working on their drag name, they said.
As for Castle, he picked his drag name, Main Street Maya, at the first drag show and has used it ever since.
“There’s this formula that we have,” Castle said of him and other performers, “We say that it’s the street that you grew up on and the name of your first pet. So mine was Main Street Maya.”
To prepare for the drag show, Castle finds a song that helps him become Maya.
“I try to get some solid choreography or at least know where I’m gonna go get all the good tips, make sure I know where my friends are sitting,” Castle said.
However, what really helps Castle to prepare is being backstage with the other performers and soaking up their positive energy, he said.
For those that want to support the drag show, but don’t want to perform, the best thing to do would be to show up, Castle said.
“The best way to help support is to come the night of and tip the queens, tip the kings, hand them dollars,” Castle said. “It’s always really appreciated.”
The drag show is free but both Stoffer and Castle said tips are appreciated and benefit the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center.
Stoffer said that the drag show is important because it is part of a long history. For her, it is important to pay tribute to things like the Stonewall Riots. These riots between police and gay rights activists started on June 28, 1969 at the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Greenwich Village in New York City.
“Stonewall was at the heart of the more modern look at LGBTQ liberation and the people who were the ones who stood up and said ‘no more,’ were the drag queens,” Stoffer said, “So to me it’s celebration of strength of the heart.”
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