Pride Presents: ‘Love is a Drag’

Tyra McClung, Assistant A&E

“Devil’s Den @ 10 p.m.” in Semesters was filled to capacity as the Central Connecticut Pride Club presented the drag ball, “Love is a Drag.” The venue was so packed that the Student Center was forced to interrupt the show and to make a safety announcement pointing out all exits. 

“I think we have probably the best turn out in a couple years, probably like two or three semesters definitely best turnout,” Pride Vice President Anna Sullivan said.

The show was hosted by local Drag Queen Mia E. Z’Lay. The audience reacted loudly with laughter during the Queen’s comedic monologues. She kept with the theme of Valentine’s Day, speaking of love, loneliness and provocatively about the importance of consent warning, that if you touch a queen without her permission, you could get hurt.

According to Pride President Armando Osorio, Drag Ball has been a CCSU staple dating as far back as ’91 and possibly beyond that. The performances included a mix of both amateur and professional queens. The Annual Drag Show’s have been hosted by Queens Mia Easy Lay and CCSU alumni Giganta Smalls for now, and local queens have developed a relationship with the school.

“Drag is all about being loud, drag is all about being obnoxious, it is about being beautiful. It’s all about being the most outlandish version of yourself that you can be, and when you’re constantly being put down by the world and everything its fun to just be free and let it all go,” Osorio said. “I think that’s why people see that and they connect to it and they enjoy it.”

“These are all local Connecticut queens,” Osorio said of the local performers. “Mia actually hosts a show at the bar Chez Est in Hartford that’s really wonderful and other CCSU performers have actually gone to and become drag queens such as, Ben Zigden, who is now Flaminia.”

The lip-syncing performances were loud and proud with music choices ranging from Cardi B to Vogue club mixes and even K-pop. The night was special as Latina Queen Destiny Nations was the first professional Queen of color ever to perform. Osorio felt it important to have that diversity within the setlist.

“Destiny is just so different because she’s like a dancer, she is a performer, she’s so visually appealing and like turns it out,” Osorio said.

The performers were tipped by flattered audience members and there was a collection bin on stage. Personal tips will be kept by performers while some money collected will be donated to the charity sponsored by the University of Connecticut Conference, “True Colors,” according to Sullivan.

If you are interested in attending Pride meetings, you can join the club every Tuesday at 8 p.m. in the Student Center for their weekly meetings.