MPAS to ‘expose FIU commmunity to drag culture’

Nia Young/Panther Press

Joshua Ceballos/Assistant Entertainment Director

While homecoming features images of kings and queens as portrayed in mainstream media, the Office of Multicultural Programs and Services is bringing a different type of queen to campus with its annual Drag Ball.

The Drag Ball will be held at MMC on March 30 in Everglades Hall, in the housing quad. The event will feature various performances by local drag queens and drag performers.

Richard Moreno, graduate assistant for MPAS’ office of LGBTQA initiatives, is spearheading this event, and he wants this event to be more than just a performance.

“The purpose of the Drag Ball is to expose the FIU community to drag culture and the various drag queens that we have here in the community, but then we also have an educational component to it… We’re gonna have info on drag culture, drag history and really incorporate that educational component,” said Moreno.

The Drag Ball will feature performances by the HEARTbeats, an a capella singing group from FIU’s Honors College, as well as drag queens such as Tiffany Fantasia, a local performer who has been featured in this event in previous years, according to Moreno.

Moreno feels that there needs to be better awareness about the drag community and what it means to be a drag queen and do this kind of performance. He believes that the lack of education on the subject can yield dangerous results.

“For folks who aren’t educated on the issue, they may just see drag as men dressing up as women, like that’s the point of it, and a lot of times that might be equated to people who identify as transgender… and that contributes to a lot of violence towards trans individuals, especially when they don’t pass as cisgender [identifying as the same sex you were born as],” said Moreno.

There are some programs on television that feature aspects of drag performances, such as “RuPaul’s Drag Race” on VH1, a competition show for drag queens in which they choreograph and create shows to pass challenges set by a panel of judges.

For Moreno, shows like RuPaul’s Drag Race are good in that they expose individuals to the culture, but this show in particular does have its flaws.

“There are some things in there that I wish they didn’t incorporate into the show… there were times when they would incorporate transphobic language into the show, like their use of ‘shemale,’ that [is] a term that is very transphobic, ” said Moreno.

For students who believe that drag is only flashy makeup and men dressing as women on a stage, Moreno wants this event to illuminate the many facets of drag and show that there is a purpose and a deliberate process behind it.

“There are so many different types of drag, that oftentimes it’s all very nuanced in whatever that person’s drag looks like. the makeup, the outfits, the way they walk, the way they move their hands; there’s so many nonverbal aspects to it, where every single component of what they do all comes together to tell a message,” says Moreno.

The Drag Ball will be coming to the Everglades Hall lounge on Thursday, March 30 8 p.m. MPAS welcomes and encourages students to attend and experience something new and learn about a culture that not everyone is aware of.

 

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