Life’s a Drag

By Shamira McCray
Special to The Johnsonian 

Students and local drag show celebrities come together to show Winthrop what the art of drag is all about. Photo by Sarah Auvil • auvils@mytjnow.comLast week, GLoBAL provided Winthrop students with a fresh outlook on drag with a two part series entitled “Welcome to DragWU.” On Thursday night, over 100 people rushed into Richardson Ballroom to hear a lecture on drag presented by Aaron Sims, president of GLoBAL.

Although the turnout was grand, that many people were not expected.

“We weren’t sure how willing Winthrop was to learn about drag,” said Sims, a sociology major. “We promoted, but didn’t hear any feedback.”

With so many people showing up, the lecture had to be relocated from its original location in a Digs classroom, to the Richardson Ballroom.

In the lecture, Sims explained to the crowd how drag first came into existence as well the overall goal of drag. Drag first appeared in theaters. Women were not allowed to act in theaters which called for men to impersonate them. Still today, the overall goal of drag is entertainment.

The audience was educated on the six different types of drag, which are camp, glamour, pageant, illusionist, alternative and king. In addition to learning the different types, audience members were taught proper etiquette in addressing drags.

“When they’re dressed as a girl, they should be referred as she,” Sims said.

Sims has been doing drag for about two and a half years. He said it was a personal decision and has made him a better person.

“It was personal for me,” Sims said. “I got shown for drag and wanted to make it a point to raise awareness than for people to have suspicions.”

Besides being lectured on the details of drag, three audience members were chosen to have their makeup done. Two of the individuals had their makeup done by student experts, while one lucky individual had his makeup done by Shane Kindley, Miss Gay North Carolina. Kindley, who goes by the drag name Jessica Raynes Starr, has four years of experience and started doing drag because someone told him he couldn’t because he was too much of boy.

The makeup session seemed to be the highlight of the presentation which resulted in several individuals remaining in the ballroom bombarding the participants long after the event was over.

Regardless of the makeup session, the overall lecture was a success. The crowd left with more knowledge of drag than what they came with.

“It was really interesting, and I learned a lot about drag,” sophomore Bria Bethea said. “I understand more about what it is and why they do it.”

On night two of DragWU, students were entertained with a thrilling drag show in Dina’s Place. There were a total of 12 performances that got the crowd wild and excited. Some audience members were so excited that they tipped the performers. Some individuals spent as much as six dollars. However, it was all going to a good cause.

Proceeds from the drag show went to the Trevor Project which is a national organization that provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth.

Performances were done by a mixture of Winthrop students as well as professional drag queens.

For freshman computer science major Courtney Stokes, performing drag for the first time on Friday was inspiring. Going by the drag name of Apollo Bryant, she is sure she will perform again next year.

“It was kind of an all inspiring thing; scary, intense and fun at the same time,” Stokes said. “You forget about the fear of performing in front of a large crowd.”