"If you're successfully living you life, you should not have to question mine." -Bianca Del Rio

October 22nd, 2016, UMD's LGBTQ Alliance had their own Drag Show. I have never personally experienced a Drag Show, or anything of that sort, so I thought it would be fun to try something new. Unfortunately, none of my friends wanted to join me. So, I attended the show alone. Never would I have thought that I would have that much fun by myself! After walking in to the Kirby Ballroom, I noticed the energy almost immediately. It was absolutely amazing how much high-energy was floating around that single room. I'm assuming there was around 120 people seated just from glancing around. Throughout the show, absolutely every body in that room was either laughing, or cheering for the performers. There was no judgement. There was no hate. There was just, love.

So, how a drag show works, is there is a single host. In our case, we had beautiful guest, Esme, from the cities. She would come out in a new outfit she had made every time, introduce the next dancer and make some kind of joke before exiting stage. Something I really liked about Esme is that she would introduce the performers by what pronoun they requested to be called. For example, he, she, or they. As the dancer would come out, their 'Drag song' would start to play, and they would begin dancing or strutting down the catwalk. Throughout the song, audience members are allowed to walk, or run in some cases, up to the performer and hand them money. It's kind of like a super fun strip club. All performers were on stage twice, once the first half, once the second half.

I loved not only that there were over one hundred people supporting the alliance, but the crowd wasn't just gays or queers. There were quite a few straight people there as well. It made my experience more welcoming and memorable. I remember leaving the show, and thinking to myself, "Can you be straight and help out the LGBTQ Club?"

I believe everyone should go see a Drag Show at least once in their life. Yes you should go for the costumes and beautiful makeup that takes hours to do, but also for the human interaction. I know it may feel uncomfortable to some, but that's not the reason you're there. There is so much love flowing through the veins of everyone in that room. The world is becoming a scary, sad place, and we need more love and acceptance. I really wish I could document how crazy the atmosphere is, but I can't.

"If you're successfully living your life, you should not have to question mine." -Bianca Del Rio

This quote is the perfect way to describe a drag show. There is no question why guys are dressed up as women, and why women are dressed up as men. No one cares if you're a straight performer, or a gay performer. No one cares what your outfit is, no one cares who you used to be or who you are out of costume. All anyone cares about is who you are in that exact moment. Who you are smiling and strutting down the catwalk. Who you are in your element. This catwalk is the reason men and woman are able to be okay with who they feel they are supposed to be. I have never seen anyone, let alone multiple people so comfortable in their own skin. The crowd is the reason those men and women are able to feel like themselves.

When the makeup comes off, and the costumes are hung up, the performers go back to their 'lives' and have to pretend they don't feel unwelcome or judged by others. That's not okay. Us straight people, us queers, us gays, us blacks, us whites, even us purples. We are the ones who can change the stigma against Drag and the LGBTQ community. If we're living our lives the way we like, we have no say in how others live theirs. We are all one. We are all equal.

UMD will have another Drag Show in the spring. So, if you'd like to attend, watch out for flyers. I hope I don't have to go alone next time!