Ryan Webster, also known as Moltyn Decadence, prepares for the fourth annual So You Think You Can Drag? Season Four: Drag Me to the Circus, hosted by members of People Respecting the Individuality of Students at MSU, or PRISM.
“Drag is the most fun thing you can do with most of your clothes on,” Webster said.
After applying makeup for more than a half hour, choosing an outfit and slipping on shoes, Lansing Community College student Isiah Tweedie steps into a new identity: Karma Vuitton.
As a professional drag queen, Tweedie performs at shows and competitions five days a week to earn a living through tips.
“I started doing drag to escape, to be somebody else for a while,” Tweedie said. “(When I’m in drag) I feel more free. I can be more open with how I feel.”
Tweedie performed alongside three other drag queens and a drag king Monday evening at Wonders Hall Kiva in So You Think You Can Drag? Season Four: Drag Me to the Circus. More than 250 people attended the event.
All the tips the performers received Monday night were donated to the Ruth Ellis Center, 77 Victor St., in Highland Park, Mich. The center is the only agency in the Midwest dedicated to helping LGBTQ youth.
Members of People Respecting the Individuality of Students at MSU, or PRISM, the South Complex LGBTQ caucus, were the primary organizers of the event. The Case, Wonders, Wilson and Holden halls governments and the Case Black Caucus co-sponsored the event.
Attendees waited for the performance to start while eating popcorn and listening to songs including Britney Spears’ “Circus.”
Red and white fabric was draped across the ceiling of Wonders Hall Kiva to create the illusion of being in a circus tent.
International relations freshman Devon Edgerton met some drag queens at Spiral Video and Dance Bar, 1247 Center St., in Lansing, which piqued her interest in drag shows.
“It’s interesting to see how people can step out of their comfort zone and the social norm to do what they’ve always dreamed of doing,” Edgerton said.
Tweedie said although her family is supportive of her career choice and has attended her shows, sometimes other drag kings and queens do not have support from their loved ones.
“I know a lot of girls in the industry don’t have a lot of support from their friends and family,” Tweedie said. “But to see my family come to support me at shows and competitions, it means a lot.”
Tweedie said sometimes drag queens face prejudice from the community.
“Drag queens know what it’s like to be persecuted,” Tweedie said. “Being gay is one thing; being gay and a drag queen is a completely different story.”
Linguistics sophomore Bailey Doolittle stepped onto the stage for the first time as Justin Sheeber Monday night.
Dressed in a baseball cap and her brother’s jeans, Doolittle lip-synched to Justin Bieber’s “Somebody to Love” and collected money from audience members.
When Doolittle came out as a bisexual to her friends, she said they were supportive of her choice and later supportive of her decision to perform in the drag show.
“It makes me feel like I chose the right kind of friends,” Doolittle said. “They’re accepting and respecting of me. A lot of my friends really encouraged me to keep being involved in the (campus and LGBTQ) community.”
For Cheetah Jameson, a professional drag queen who performed during Monday’s show, drag has a different meaning. Jameson is in the process of physically becoming a female. For Jameson, drag is a form of personal expression.
“It’s my life, it’s my world,” Jameson said. “It’s a form of art … it’s kind of like painting.”
Stepping on stage, Jameson gets an adrenaline rush listening to the yells and applause of the audience.
“When they scream you can’t compare it to anything,” Jameson said. “I love what I do.”
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