The drag show had over 100 people in attendance and raised $800 split amongst multiple LGBTQ+ organizations. Co-hosted by Arkansas State University’s Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA) and the Young Democrats, the show aimed to provide a safe space for LGBTQ+ students and allies.

The show lasted from 6-9 p.m. and was in the Simpson Theater of the Fowler Center. The idea for the event came about in response to SB43, a bill sponsored by Rep. Mary Bently and Sen. Gary Stubblefield which, if passed, would classify drag performances as adults-only entertainment, in the same vein as strip clubs. 

Any violation of this bill would be a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a $2,500 fine for each violation. In addition, the bill would keep anyone under 18 from seeing drag shows and bans drag shows from happening on public property or with public funds. 

The bill has been amended. Under this amendment, “age-appropriate” plays and lip-syncing performances would not be affected.

“I thought it was a good idea to have a drag show on campus,” said Christina Smith, a sophomore history major from Cabot who serves as vice president for the Young Democrats. “I had brought that idea up to the GSA executives and there was also an actual drag queen there who goes by Marionna Cross, their drag name. I had approached them and ever since then, we’ve all been working together to create that drag show.”

Smith said when the GSA and Young Democrats were planning the show, they thought around 25 to 50 people would attend. That prospect changed when they sold 30 tickets in the first four hours of them being available. 

Tickets were $5 if they were presale and $10 at the door. The groups said they wanted to have at the door tickets so members of the community could attend. 

“A lot of people there had never been to a drag show before,” Smith said. “People would try to experience that before it might get taken away. Another reason was because a lot of people didn’t feel like there was a community here. When the drag show was announced, I think a lot of people were excited that there was a huge LGBT community here on campus.”

However, the show also doubled as a way to raise money for LGBTQ+ organizations in the state. The money will be split three ways, with $266 going to InTRANSitive Arkansas, the Umbrella of Jonesboro and to the GSA to raise funds for their upcoming Pride Prom on March 31.

The show itself was split into two parts, with the first part’s performers being composed entirely of student drag performers. Many were new to drag, so the idea was to do “new vs experienced” drag performances.

Trin Reppenhagen, a first-year graphic design major from Searcy who is GSA president, was the opening act of the student section. This was their first time doing drag, performing under the name “Vincent Van Hoe.”

“I blacked out,” Reppenhagen said. “I forgot the words to my favorite song in the whole world. I forgot all of my cues. I know everybody enjoyed it and that’s what matters. I don’t care that it was a little not super polished. It was a little goofy.”

This was also Smith’s first time doing drag. She performed under the name “Living Dead Girl.”

“I was very nervous about the whole thing, but originally I wasn’t even going to perform,” Smith said. “Marionna Cross and Trin encouraged me and inspired me to perform drag because if I’m going to be the one setting this up, then I might as well do something anyway.”

With the exception of Reppenhagen, who only had one number, all other student drag queens performed twice, with each act the length of their selected song. Other student drag performers were Lilith Mourningstar and Andrea Cheetah. 

After a brief intermission, the event kicked back up with the Phoenix Drag Show Group, which is a Memphis-based organization, performing. Each queen or king had three acts. The members of the group who performed that night were Rebekah Random, Liv Laflauv, Ricky Riot, Marionna Cross and Pepper SueSage.

Around 8 p.m., Random paused the show to announce the Phoenix Drag Show Group would begin work on raising money to open up Northeast Arkansas’s very first LGBTQ+ space, called the Closet, in 2024. The group will be doing benefits shows over the next year, as well as crowdsourcing. 

After the announcement, Christine Wright, department chair of occupational therapy and faculty advisor for GSA, pledged the first $1,000 dollars to the Closet. 

“We need a safe space in Jonesboro for anybody and everybody to feel welcome and we don’t have that,” Wright said. “If I can, as a citizen of this city and this area, help launch that, then that’s what I want to do. It was spontaneous. I’ve always been an advocate and I put my money where my mouth is and so that’s what I did.”

Reppenhagen and Smith said they want to host more drag shows in the future, whether they be on campus or at the Closet. They both said people approached them after the show, asking when the next event would be or if they could perform. 

“It would be a wonderful opportunity to just keep immersing people in the drag scene and normalize it more, especially in this area where a lot of people are exposed to that unless they watch ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race,’” Reppenhagen said. “There’s potential for there to be another one, I really hope there is.”

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