In a room full of makeup, dresses, and high heels, Ball State University students and friends make a transformation – they enter a dressing room as one gender and leave appearing as another. They all have different reasons for doing it, but they are all participating in drag.
A drag show is when a group of drag queens or kings transform their appearance to represent another gender and typically, their drag persona. On October 24, 2015 Ball State’s LGBTQ+ organization, Spectrum, held a drag show titled “Drag Show in Wonderland.”
Drag Name: Diana Thirst
Real name: Jason Thomason
“Drag kind of happened upon me, really. If you ask my mom, it goes way back. I always had an interest in women’s clothing and the way they present themselves. It started at seventh grade with just putting makeup on myself and it just became more and more. Eventually around my freshman year Diana became a concept and just last year she became a full fledged person. People think that this is just something for fun and that it doesn’t really hold any weight. For a lot of us it’s either a business or an extension of our personality. We really don’t want to be reduced to a sex object.”
Drag Name: Klint Taurus
Real name: Kashja Brown
“A lot of people have heard of drag queens but haven’t heard of drag kings. I guess it’s a little weird for other people but for me it’s badass. Everyone think that I’m trans or that I want to be trans. They assume that I’m trans because I dress like a boy sometimes for fun. But no, that makeup comes off at the end of the night, my boobs are free and socks come out of places. I’m a girl, that’s who I am and who I want to be. That’s the biggest misconception.”
Drag Name: Scarlett Rose
Real Name: Tom Cross
“‘Do you want to be a woman?’ That is the one biggest thing people ask. People get so confused about drag queens and transgender individuals. People don’t understand that it’s so different. Being a drag queen doesn’t mean you want to be a woman, being a drag queen means you want to dress as a woman and put on a good show. It’s a huge confidence booster and it really helped me through a lot. If i’m having a rough day it helps to have a show to look forward to.”
