Stubble, stuffed bras and bad wigs – Oh my! The annual Drag Show held last Saturday in Sophia Gordon Hall may not have had lions or tigers, but it sure was fierce! Hosted by JuJuBee from the 2nd season of Ru Paul’s Drag Race (pictured above), the gender-bending evening thrown by the Queer Straight Alliance was a delight for boys, girls and all those in between with showers of sequins, whipped cream frenzies and maybe some surprise strip-tease audience participation (as seen below).
Raising money for cancer research, QSA’s fabulous night benefitted Relay For Life as cross-dressers abound worked to “drag down cancer” as co-president of the Alliance, Martine Kaplan explained. As a kickoff to Gaypril, QSA also hoped to raise awareness for the presence of our rather vibrant LGBTQ community on campus in a month long campaign to recognize equal rights for same sex couples and shine a light on the circumstances gays and lesbians face worldwide.
Besides the one and only JuJuBee (seen above in another ensemble), many Tufts students donned outfits that made them unrecognizable, although campy and cute. See if you can recognize any of the performers, who elected names such as Kitty Eggrolls, Veronica Betina Manchengo, and Alien Moon Partnerships that sultrily lip synced and strutted their stuff to hits “If I Can’t Sell It, I’ll keep Sittin’ on it”, “Gay Bar”, and “Pretty Girl, Rock”. Although JuJuBee proclaimed “You are all beautiful bitches!” it was clear from an uproarious crowd and his profound vogue-ing skills that “Jayda Knight” (photographed last) stole the show. After his performance, all I could say was “Oh. My. Dodd.” The evening ended, with much glitter strewn about the floor, with a group rendition of “We Are Family” that reminded everyone that – even if we like to dress in dresses, paint on some rouge or fake stubble, or date someone of the same sex – we’re all part of a greater humanity and brought together by our love of good nights out, helping great causes, and of course blaring Madonna tunes.