The Queer Student Association hosted a drag queen tournament in the Student Center on Wednesday.
“The drag queen tournament is a fun event that’s an opportunity for students who love ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ to come together and fill out a little bracket to then do a March Madness-style tournament,” said Eli Phillips, a senior psychology major and vice president of the Queer Student Association.
When students entered the room, they were welcomed by music, snacks and an energetic atmosphere. Everyone was given a bracket with 16 of the most popular queens from “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” a reality show where drag queens compete to be crowned America’s Next Drag Superstar, and told to fill out their predictions for each round with the opportunity to win a prize. Queens from various seasons were chosen, such as Bob The Drag Queen from Season 8 and Plastique Tiara from Season 11.
“Drag is what brought me to this event,” said Aisha Shabazz, a freshman majoring in early childhood education. “Drag brings us together. It shows that we are allowed to be proud and have good things no matter what people around us say. We are allowed to express who we are and wear it with pride. It’s not a bad thing to be queer, and drag represents that.”
Shabazz’s words and the overall event show that drag is an integral part of the queer community. Historically, drag artists have been part of the glue that helps holds the queer community together, and they continue to fulfill that role to this day. “RuPaul’s Drag Race” has launched drag into mainstream culture since its debut in 2009. The show has made drag increasingly visible as it shares the beauty of queer life and art.
“I mostly picked based on vibes,” Raven Leftwich, a freshman majoring in music performance, said about picking queens each round.
The party began as students watched iconic lip-syncs of each queen on the bracket. In “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” lip-syncs are queens’ last chance to save themselves from elimination, so they typically perform to the best of their ability and pull out all the stops. From Anetra’s flip over Marcia Marcia Marcia to Chi Chi DeVayne’s pearl necklace shattering on stage during her lip-sync against Thorgy Thor, the room screamed as unforgettable moments played on screen.
After watching the lip-syncs, students anonymously voted for their favorite by raising their hands and keeping their eyes closed, and the queen with the most votes moved on to the next round. In the end, Bob The Drag Queen reigned supreme.
“This event is really just intended to bring everyone together and have some fun. Drag Race tends to be something that holds a lot of queer people together,” Phillips said.
