Just because a person is straight doesn’t mean he or she can’t enjoy a night of drag bingo.
Friday evening, OUT Queer Grads hosts UNM Drag Bingo in the SUB.
This event is the first of its kind on campus, though not uncommon elsewhere. Christopher Ramirez, the organization’s networking guy, said this is an opportunity to educate the community at large through a popular form of entertainment.
“So we were thinking, ‘what could we do that would be sort of a fun event to kick off the school year?’” he said. “What we want to do is raise visibility on the LGBTQ issues around the University in a fun way while also educating people. We hope that it’ll become a tradition at the University that we can do every fall.”
OUT Queer Grads, a graduate/professional student organization, was created one year ago. Since then, Ramirez said the group has worked with the LGBTQ Resource Center, in addition to sponsoring a slew of events for graduate professional students such as Queer Pilates and the New Mexico Queer Student Summit in partnership with the UNM Queer-Straight Alliance.
The idea, he said, is to weave the educational component throughout the performances and bingo game in such a way that people walk away having been exposed to new ideas and terms like “drag queen” and “transgender” without feeling beaten over the head with information.
Ramirez said that because the organization’s members know they won’t have trouble attracting folks from the LGBTQ community, they’re directing their efforts toward getting straight allies to come out to the events.
“We all count on student allies to be part of the work we’re doing,” he said. “We want to reach out to straight allies because sometimes they don’t think they’re invited to some of these events, but we want everyone to be there. One of the ways we can make this campus safer for all students, not just queer students, is to get allies to be part of the work we’re doing as well.”
For those unfamiliar with the concept of a drag show, PJ Sedillo, a Ph D student who will be performing as ‘Fontana DeVine,’ said it is just like going to any other kind of theater performance.
Many perceive drag queens as individuals who want to permanently become women; however, Sedillo said this is not true of the majority of female impersonators.
“Maybe a little bit campier, but no different,” Sedillo said.
“It’s sort of like honoring women, because you take the best qualities of a woman and try to highlight that, showcase that … For me, it’s playacting. I get to be a different person. Fontana gets to do everything that PJ doesn’t get away with.”
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In the 20 years he has been performing as Fontana DeVine, in roughly 500-600 shows, most of his work has helped raise money for different organizations. Most audiences first see a man acting as a woman, he said, but the question of gender fades from their consciousness as they succumb to the entertainment he provides.
“In my entire career I’ve probably raised, and can account for it by different organizations, probably close to $80,000 to $90,000 that I give back,” he said. “That’s by doing drag; I sing and I dance and do many shows with Musical Theater Southwest, but I’ve found it easier to raise money for the community by doing drag.”
Ramirez said the attraction to drag shows is not necessarily that it’s about a man dressed as a woman, but the kind of energy she brings to the performance.
“You see how much they’re enjoying themselves,” he said. “Whether it’s drag or somebody presenting their research, it’s entertaining, but how great is it to watch somebody doing something they absolutely love that comes across on stage, in any kind of performance?”
OUT Queer Grads Drag Bingo
Friday from 6:30-8:30 p.m.
SUB Ballroom C
