[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.91″ custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px” next_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px” _builder_version=”3.0.47″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_video _builder_version=”3.20.1″ src=”https:\/\/youtu.be\/HQLlPgfDzPA” \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.92″ custom_padding=”2px|0px|37.9062px|0px” prev_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row custom_padding=”0px|0px|18.9531px|0px” custom_margin=”10px|||” _builder_version=”3.20.1″][et_pb_column type=”2_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”News Story” _builder_version=”3.20.1″ custom_margin=”0px||0px|”]<\/p>\n
The LGBTQ + community in Columbia is finding new ways to express themselves by dressing in drag, a culture that dates back to the\u00a0days of underground speakeasy’s.<\/p>\n
Blossoming in the streets of New York City, dressing in drag has been a part of American culture for decades.<\/p>\n
More recently, drag as an art form, which includes lip-sync, dancing and comedy routines, has become its own culture thanks to RuPaul Andre Charles.<\/p>\n
RuPaul is one of the most famous drag queens in the world and has a reality show that airs on VH1, RuPaul\u2019s Drag Race. Drag has become more mainstream and has expanded beyond the LGBTQ+ community.<\/p>\n
\u201cMore people have had the ability to gain access to the world of drag,\u201d said student Natalie Hicks, communications director of USC’s Individuals Respecting Identities and Sexualities Club.\u00a0<\/p>\n
IRIS teams up with Carolina Productions to host the Birdcage Drag Show every April in the Russell House student union to allow students outside the LQBTQ+ community to experience and raise awareness for another culture they typically wouldn’t be aware of.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think as time goes on a lot of sort of things like drag become more popular,\u201d said Jon Ferreira, a USC student. \u201cPeople\u2019s minds are opening up towards it. It\u2019s like comedy, it\u2019s very subversive and rebellious and fun and edgy. I think people love that energy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Local Columbia “Queens and Kings” come out to the Birdcage to perform on the catwalk. Some say they have found their true self through drag.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhen I first came out, I didn\u2019t know how to meet any gay people and I went to a drag show and saw that the drag kings knew everyone and the next week I entered in an amateur night and I performed every week thereafter,\u201d said Oliver Clothesoff, \u00a0a drag king and USC graduate.<\/p>\n This year marked Clothesoff\u2019s ninth time hitting the stage at Birdcage, and he has seen first-hand how drag has become more accepted in the community.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s nice to be invited back every year and see what acceptance has become here because it wasn\u2019t like this when I was in school,” said Clothesoff.<\/p>\n This year the headliner for the show was one of RuPaul\u2019s very own queens, Shangela Laquifa Wadley, who was born Darius Jeremy Pierce and performs as Shangela.<\/p>\n \u00a0Shangela has appeared on three seasons of RuPaul\u2019s drag race and\u00a0made<\/span><\/span>\u00a0her acting debut in the movie\u00a0<\/span>“A Star is Born.”<\/p>\n The legendary drag queen could see the unity in the Columbia audience from the stage.<\/p>\n \u201cIt means a lot to me. Thank you to every person for coming out… to every person that may not always feel included in a world where we are excluded, tonight we are family” said Shangela.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image 1″ show_in_lightbox=”on” show_bottom_space=”off” _builder_version=”3.20.1″ custom_margin=”||2px|” custom_padding=”|||” animation_style=”slide” box_shadow_style=”preset2″ box_shadow_horizontal=”4px” box_shadow_vertical=”4px” src=”http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Screen-Shot-2019-04-16-at-10.17.04-AM.png”]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption 1″ _builder_version=”3.20.1″ text_font=”|600|||||||” text_font_size=”12px” text_line_height=”1.4em” custom_margin=”8px|||2px” custom_padding=”|||”]<\/p>\n Drag Queen Veronica La Blank perfected her make-up back stage before the Birdcage Drag Show.\u00a0<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image 2″ show_in_lightbox=”on” show_bottom_space=”off” _builder_version=”3.20.1″ custom_margin=”||2px|” custom_padding=”|||” animation_style=”slide” box_shadow_style=”preset2″ box_shadow_horizontal=”4px” box_shadow_vertical=”4px” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” force_fullwidth=”off” src=”http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Screen-Shot-2019-04-16-at-10.16.11-AM.png”]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption 2″ _builder_version=”3.20.1″ text_font=”|600|||||||” text_font_size=”12px” text_line_height=”1.4em” custom_margin=”8px|||2px” custom_padding=”|||” background_layout=”light”]<\/p>\n Drag King Oliver Clothesoff performs a medley of songs by King Joffery from Game of Thrones.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Drag culture is finding a place locally in Columbia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":149,"featured_media":20708,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[39,1],"tags":[96,76,796],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20648"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/149"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20648"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20648\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21663,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20648\/revisions\/21663"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}