What a Drag…Queen. The Queer Student Center partnered up with the Women’s Center for the first annual University of Massachusetts Boston’s Drag Show. Male students put on a show for the audience as they danced to music while dressed as women. Jonathan Bynum was the winner of the pageant and took home an HP Chrome laptop and a beautiful crown. There were also professional drag queens from local drag shows that came and performed for UMass Boston students, and the crowd loved it. These ladies not only performed on stage but they interacted with the crowd by dancing and singing with audience members. All throughout the event, students took photos and recorded the acts. There was never a dull moment during the drag show.
“I was shocked. I really didn’t expect the turnout we had,” said Queer Student Center President Stephen Henderson. “All of three large cheese pizzas and what, maybe 100 wings. I did not expect that many people. It was about 100 or more people. We just did not expect that from UMass [Boston’s] campus.”
Henderson, with the help of Alley, president of the Women Center, handpicked all six of the ladies to come and perform at UMass Boston. The male students at the university who participated in the drag show were persuaded after they found out there would be a great prize for the winner. Although these students were amateurs, they brought the real attitudes of professional drag queens. Things definitely got heated on the stage between the members.
“I really enjoyed the show and like how open UMass [Boston] was to a show like this to happen on campus,” said Shameyka McCalman, a student that attended the show.
“They didn’t give them a hard time or anything, it was awesome.”
UMass Boston’s first drag show was a success, and many people hope that there will be many more to come in the following years.
