The Pride Alliance Welcomes Back Members with a Drag Show
BY TRAVIS MCMILLAN, STAFF WRITER
Pride Alliance wanted a big opener for Mason’s first semester back in person, and they brought it with their Back 2 School Ball at the HUB on Sept. 3. Pride Alliance, one of the oldest LGBTQ+ organizations at Mason, has always made it their goal to create a place where students from any walk of life can feel safe and at home.
“We want to establish that there is a space at Mason that is a safe and inclusive space that people can express themselves in, can express their queerness, and celebrate it as well,” said Jo, the president of Pride Alliance, who has requested that the Fourth Estate not use their surname.
The ball opened with a dance floor for students, playing upbeat songs like “Cha Cha Slide” by DJ Casper and “Wobble Baby” by V.I.C. Students had fun dancing together, and even created their own catwalk to strut down.
Once things had calmed down, the lights came down, and out came the queens. MasVusi, one of Mason’s very own drag queens, came out to rampant applause and danced her heart out on stage, even making her way into the crowd to dance with the students. During the whole event, students were able to hand off dollar bills to the drag queens as tips for their performances.
MasVusi was followed by sets from VeeVee Majesty, Tiara Missou and Echinacea Monroe, one after another. Each one gave an equally beautiful performance — bending over backwards, doing the splits, mid-dance outfit changes; they pulled out all the stops.
As VeeVee Majesty finished her set, she told the audience, “My favorite part is that I can come out looking stunning… We wouldn’t be able to do this if it wasn’t for Mason people like you guys — giving us your energy, your time, your ones.”
This finished off only the first half of the night. While the other drag queens went backstage to change outfits, MasVusi held a catwalk competition with audience members on the stage. The one whose strut garnered the most applause was crowned winner of the competition, earning them a tiny, glittery and pink cowboy hat.
The second half of the night began with each drag queen emerging in an entirely new outfit, with a new song to dance to. Students continued to ball up and throw their dollar bills to reach the stage, ensuring the dancers got their well-earned tips for the night.
The drag queens tied up the event with a group performance, making sure to tell students about how important events like these are in keeping the LGBTQ+ community strong.
When asked about future events in the works for Pride Alliance, the organization’s president said, “We actually do have another drag event happening soon in October. I can’t share too much about it yet, but it’s going to be an experimental one where we go through the eras of drag in the U.S.”
Pride Alliance holds weekly in-person meetings in the Johnson Center Room B on Thursdays at 4 p.m., as well as biweekly online meetings Tuesdays at 7 p.m.
