Conservative states across the country have had a recent surge in proposed anti-drag show legislation. Most of these bills target the efforts to normalize drag culture for children by depicting it as “grooming,” a NPR article stated. Due to the huge part drag plays in queer culture, the current attempts appear to be a perpetuation of typical, anti-queer sentiment. Amidst this, it is more important than ever to support drag in public spaces.
The University of Oregon’s LGBTQA3 organization put on its yearly drag show. This year’s theme was “Drag Me To Heaven” and was presented Saturday, Feb. 11. The show was presented in the Erb Memorial Union ballroom with more than 400 people coming to watch and support the queens. Performers included well-known Eugene queens such as Petra Etc, Wanda Anne Cosmos and Slutashia. Wanda and Petra performed and hosted this year’s event.
Many of the performances were presented by one of Eugene’s drag houses: the Haus of Blunt. Drag houses root back to ballroom culture and queer BIPOC spaces. A house is akin to a family, but it is chosen. Historically, “houses were their only family, having been rejected by their biological families,” a Contact article stated. But recently, houses have become more inclusive of other queer people under less extreme circumstances since the acceptance of queer people has risen since the 1940s. Houses are founded and named after drag mothers, who serve as “caregivers and mentors” to younger queens, the LA Times article stated.
The opening acts for the “Drag Me To Heaven” show were performed by Petra and Wanda, both members of the Haus of Blunt. 2022’s event was Wanda’s first performance. This year, she celebrated her first birthday with the audience.
Wanda had loved drag for some time but had never performed. One day, “I just said like, ‘Fuck it’ and went for it,” Wanda said. “Finding my drag mother and my drag family now, I feel like Wanda has been created by all these people in her life who have encouraged her and pushed her.”
The night not only celebrated the Eugene drag scene, but allowed students to participate and explore the art form.
Kalleen the Accountant is a third-year accounting major. She first performed “seriously” as a drag artist at the “Drag Me to Hell” show the year prior. This year, she came back more confident than the last. Kalleen said she is the self-proclaimed “hottest and baddest bitch in the office” and needs everyone in the room to know that.
“It was great to meet some of the local queens again,” Kalleen said. “Also, even though I felt less prepared this year I felt more confident, which was a kind of a shock to me.”
This event usually takes a couple of months to put together, Eli Peterson, the new large events coordinator for LGBTQA3, said. Peterson was hired only three and a half weeks before the show. Regardless, the show turned out to be a great success. Peterson credited the success to an Instagram advertisement made by a student volunteer, Syn Johnson, as well as word-of-mouth between students.
“It felt incredibly rewarding,” Peterson said. “I just had this moment of elation where I was like, ‘I did this. I made this happen.'”
In a shoutout to her drag mother Lyta Blunt, who also performed that night, Wanda closed out the show with Lyta’s signature ballad, “Take a Bow” by Rihanna.
“How ’bout a round of applause? A standin’ ovation,” the song goes.
As the lights came on, the room lit up with pride and emotion as everyone stood up and applauded for Wanda.
“For people to actually stand during the line ‘standing ovation,’ I almost just stopped performing right there,” Wanda said. “It was magical.”
The show was all about celebrating this facet of queer culture and “providing opportunities for students who are interested,” Peterson said. It is crucial to not only accept, but support drag.
“That was my favorite part for sure. Knowing my aunt was in the crowd and seeing her afterwards,” Wanda said. “She was crying, and I was like, you can’t cry. I’m gonna cry, and my face is gonna fall off.’”
