While many students dreaded being dragged back to campus, many drag kings and queens decided to take a unique spin on the common phrase.
Prism hosted a drag show, Dragged Back to Campus, at the J.W. Jones Student Union March 11. The show featured four drag kings and queens with a variety of different personas, ranging from a clown to a southern disco performer. Conner Tudeen, vice president of Prism and event organizer, said more drag shows are coming in the future.
“I know that a lot of people have heard of us and are gonna be here, and so we gotta really sell it to keep these going, because I know we definitely want it to be annual,” Tudeen said. “We all (Prism) kind of came up with a drag show, because I remember going to my first drag show, and it was wonderful, so I was like, ‘Why don't we bring this back to campus?’”
Prism is a student-run club on campus set on building a community of LGBTQ+ members and allies of the community, as well as the greater student body. Prism was created on campus in October 2024 and has held other events relating to the LGBTQ+ community, such as trivia and informational sessions. Dragged Back to Campus is the first-ever drag show hosted by the club.
All performers were Northwest students. Tyla Null is a drag king who portrayed a female version of the Big Bang Theory character Sheldon Cooper. Disco Belle is a southern queen, described as a lover of parties. The third performer was Skeeter the Clown, who is described as a lover of chaos. The final performer was Whiskey Midnight, portrayed by the Prism President Ray Leath, who describes himself as a playful, party kind of guy. Leath said a drag performer’s character can reflect deeper emotions.
“It really depends on who they kind of embody, because for a lot of drag performers, they kind of look to see, what do they see in the opposite sex, and then you build your personality,” Leath said. “Some people do the opposite of themselves. Some just choose a character they like. It's all just about creativity, and you kind of find your way with how you want to go about it.”
Tudeen said the show featured 15 songs split between the four performers, along with a lip-synch battle. The show utilized its audience by allowing them to vote on what songs the performers would lip-synch to and who the top three performers were.
Leath said he hopes the event brings clarification to the community about what drag is.
“I hope it brings the tradition back of drag shows,” Leath said. “Especially, the United States, (it) is very polarized about drag shows right now, and that’s very frustrating as someone who is trans (transgender) and enjoys performing in drag, so I would love to kind of give some clarity to people, as well as introduce the idea of having drag as a normal thing, and maybe get people to learn something about drag as well.”
This story comes from our partners at the Northwest Missourian, the campus newspaper of Northwest Missouri State University.