Drag shows typically conjure up images of stick-on nails, sparkly outfits and dance routines that make jaws drop.
But for the queens who took the stage at New York University on Thursday night, drag is about more than just the makeup.
More than 400 students gathered at NYU’s Kimmel Center for University Life to see its second annual drag show, NY(DRAG)U, which was hosted by the school’s LGBTQ Student Center. The queens’ primary message: embrace your sexuality.
The performers included Brita Filter, whose new show on Fusion airs on October 5th, and Alyssa Edwards from “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars.” The event’s host, Brenda Dharling, who sported a nude and black bedazzled bodysuit with black, thigh-high boots for her opening number, spread countless messages about confidence and body positivity.
“My hot dog is between two buns right now; it is the Fourth of July back there!” Dharling said. She also noted that confidence is one of the things she likes, and that while she may not have real breasts, she has a “body, baby!”
The show also included performances from six NYU students. Blaire, the first student performer, similarly embraced her sexuality when she remarked that her dress did not come from her closet, but rather that “it came out of the closet.”
Support was simultaneously radiated from the crowd as the audience went wild after every move the queens made. Dharling joked that even the worst dance move, specifically an exaggerated, rigid gallop across the stage, could elicit a roaring applause, which it did.
“Drag is for everyone… It’s just drag, it’s not that serious. I love everyone and everything,” Dharling said. The show encouraged people of different age groups, sexual orientations, genders and races to embrace their identities. In the words of Brenda Dharling, “we are all unicorns.”