Over 60 students at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst gathered in Bartlett Hall to watch, perform and celebrate the art of drag.Â
On Oct. 19, a student-run organization at UMass Amherst named “UMass is a Drag” hosted its second annual Halloween drag show. The show, entitled Creature Feature II, showcased 12 student drag performers.Â
“I am A-Manual Kunt and today I am announcing my campaign for president,” Kunt said. “Sadly, the woke mob has taken over.”Â
This drag performance was a parody of conservative politics and President Donald Trump. Kunt’s country accent and American flag bomber jacket caught the attention of everyone in the room.Â
Other performances consisted of lip-syncing and dancing to songs like “Tainted Love” by Soft Cell, “Joy Ride” by Ke$ha, and “Monster Mash” by Bobby Pickett. This event launched many of the performer’s debuts in drag.Â
These performers were dressed in frills, lace, corsets and other eye-catching looks.
Kunt’s performance opened with a mock news segment announcing their campaign for presidency. Then, toward the end of the performance, Kunt suspended his presidential campaign and noted that he had failed to “take America back.”
But not long after the announcement, Kunt took off his tie for his last lip-syncing performance and the excited cheers were heard throughout the whole auditorium.Â
As described by Ary Lazar, the founder of UMass is a Drag, the mission of this organization is to provide students with a safe space to explore and perform the art of drag.Â
“The mission of our group UMass is a Drag is to bring drag by students for students,” Lazar said. “Before I made this group, there wasn’t any organized group for drag.”
Lazar additionally mentioned that their organization strives to create a place where students can perform and audiences can attend free drag shows. He added that UMass is a Drag encourages people who are interested in drag to experiment with expressing themselves through this art form.
For those longing for other queer spaces on campus, Lazar said that the Stonewall Center is a great resource for those looking for community and other venues to see drag performances.Â
According to the Stonewall Center’s website, it is a resource for LGBTQIA+ students and allies throughout the five colleges.Â
“Going to a drag show for the first time must be scary, which is why the Stonewall Center shows are so great because it’s on campus,” Lazar said. “It’s almost all students who are in the audience.”
Robert Cahill, the Stonewall Center program coordinator, said it is the third-largest LGBTQIA+ resource center in the United States.Â
“Our primary goal is to be a resource for the LGBTQIA+ students of UMass,” Cahill said. “We’re there to provide aid with housing, to direct people to legal services or legal aid, and to provide community.”
Cahill went on to say that the Stonewall Center has been a safe haven for drag shows and performers at UMass Amherst.
“For the past few years, we have been throwing some drag shows. There are a lot of drag performers in western Mass that get their start from UMass,” Cahill said. “Like, when I was a student, there were actually several drag performers who lived in Baker.”
In particular, Magnolia Masquerade, is a popular drag queen in western Massachusetts who got her start at UMass.Â
Masquerade hosts the annual spring semester drag show for WMUA, UMass Amhert’s radio station. Additionally, she performs at the monthly drag shows at the Marigold Theater in Easthampton.
Moreover, Cahill went on to explain that the drag bans in the southern United States have impacted the work that the Stonewall Center does.Â
For example, according to the Associated Press, Tennessee signed into law a piece of legislation that prevents drag artists from performing in public spaces and or in front of minors.
“I think the reason why we’ve kind of pushed hard to host these drag shows is a pretty direct response to that [drag bans],” Cahill said. “As well as we do have a lot more out-of-state students who are coming to UMass specifically for the reason that we’re one of the best inclusive campuses for queer students.”
Ashley Ginzburg, who goes by Egg thee Scallion when performing in drag, has performed alongside Masquerade at The Drake in Amherst. They said that to them, drag is a form of social commentary as well as gender subversion, emphasizing the significance of queer spaces.Â
“If it weren’t for the existence of queer spaces I wouldn’t be doing drag,” Ginzburg said.“Inclusion always is the exclusion of people that threaten that space.”
Ginzburg also mentioned that if it were not for the COVID-19 pandemic, they never would have discovered their love for drag.
Lazar, similarly said that his love of drag grew from watching Trixie Mattel and Juno Birch, well-known drag queens, on YouTube during the COVID-19 lockdown.Â
“The point of drag is just to become a character or a persona,” Lazar said. “It’s kinda like becoming something you’re not that is also a part of you.”
local drag resources/performers
UMass Amherst Stonewall Center
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